Writing for the Screen by Anna Weinstein

Author:Anna Weinstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Could you explain how that works? A screenwriter is working with a producer who is working with an executive producer who is giving notes …?

Well, that may or may not happen. I’ve had projects like The Hawk is Dying where Ted Hope was an executive producer, but he would definitely also give script notes. So it depends. It just happened to be that my path into Pariah was with its producer, so I was there to help the project. My primary relationship was with Nekisa, not with Dee. But as an executive producer, when I take on that role, I think my job is really to support the producer and the director’s effort more than try to bend it or change it. I have my notes and my creative opinion and I give them, but it’s different than if I’m producing.

As a producer, what are you looking for in a project? What are you impressed by in a script?

I’m looking to have a real gut reaction to something. It has to really strike me in a way. In a sense, it’s a little bit like falling in love. I can read something and really enjoy it, but it doesn’t mean that I want to produce it. It’s something I’m going to be involved with for two to three years, so I need to have that connection. It has to be something that I feel like I am bringing something to creatively, otherwise I’m just sort of facilitating. And that’s okay, but it’s not so interesting. If I’m going to put together the financing and bring the cast on board, I have to feel that there’s something I can bring to it that betters it.

And I have to be able to see its path to production. That’s key. I have to see how it starts with me and ends with the movie in front of an audience. Otherwise, I’m not the person to do it either. If I have no idea of how I would do it, then I shouldn’t do it. I can’t just be like, “I love it. I have no idea how I’ll get it done, but I’m going to do it and I’ll figure it out later.” No, I have to have some idea of how to get it done.

Does it help if the writer comes to you with her own ideas about that? Or would that be annoying because it’s overstepping?

It does help to have that conversation, because if our expectations are different, then we’re going to be fundamentally making a different movie. So if I read something and think it’s beautiful and think its budget should be $500,000, but the writer thinks this is a movie that Fox Searchlight will do, then that’s good to know. I would love for that to happen, but if I don’t believe it, then I’m not the person to pitch it to them, because the writer is going to be disappointed. We may make the movie for $500,000, and

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.