Hi There,
This fortnight – some recommendations of writing about writing. I’ve recently read these excellent books –
LIKE BROTHERS by Mark and Jay Duplass
Part memoir and part instructional book for budding filmmakers and writers. If you know anything about the Duplass brothers’ body of work, you will be interested to read this and it doesn’t disappoint. It’s a really entertaining, accessible and insightful window into the working methods and relationship of these two brothers and their incredibly distinctive and impressive work. It also (reassuringly!) tells you about the many creative dead-ends they went down, the difficulties they faced and came through – and continued creative and career struggles.
The Duplass brothers between them have been a massive part of US indie TV and film, as producers, writers, directors and actors. You may know Mark Duplass’s face from his lead role in Apple+ TV’s The Morning Show and Jay Duplass from his role in Transparent (among many other roles for both).
Between them, here are just a few of the brilliant shows the Duplass Brothers have played a part in creating and producing – Somebody Somewhere (I thoroughly recommend this show if you haven’t already seen it – it’s utterly original and beautiful); HBO series Togetherness and Room 104; Jeff, Who Lives At Home; Paddleton, Table 19. Also as producers – Safety Not Guaranteed, The Skeleton Twins, Tangerine, and the Netflix documentary series Wild Wild Country. Most recently Mark Duplass has created and produced new Netflix show Penelope which sounds great – but frustratingly isn’t yet available to watch in the UK (Please let me know if you discover a – legal! – way to watch this in the UK!)
Just writing out this list reminds me of both the volume and incredible quality of their output – I can pretty much unequivocally recommend all of these shows. (and there are quite a few more I could list).
HITS FLOPS AND OTHER ILLUSIONS by Ed Zwick
As with the Duplass Brothers book, this is also part memoir, part filmmaking / screenwriting manual and also full of invaluable craft and career advice. I was attracted to this book as a fan of Ed Zwick and (long-time collaborator Marshall Herskovitz)’s show thirtysomething which at the time I loved and was inspired by – although I also suspect that if I revisited it now it may be the sort of show that has not aged well?!
The book charts Zwick’s career in film and TV as creator, producer, director and writer. Star actors do not come out of this book particularly well. Many of them come across as very difficult to work with – a lot of abuse of power!
At the end of each chapter Zwick comes up with a list of tips under various headings – many of which are gold-dust. Here are a few examples of those tips (in brief) to whet your appetite –
‘A good idea can come from anywhere.’
‘No movie can be funny enough.’
‘The audience’s attention is even shorter than yours – fill every moment. Be generous. Give them gifts: jokes, secrets, surprises, truths. The minute they’re bored, they’ll check their emails.’
‘Everything is happening for the first time. There’s never time in real life to think. Throw in a curve ball…if something is easy, it’s usually wrong.’
‘It’s possible to make a bad movie out of a good script. But impossible to make a good movie from a bad script.’
This is just the tip of a massive iceberg of brilliant ideas and insights. And the rollercoaster story of Zwick’s career journey is very entertaining.
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An interesting footnote about both the above books is that the authors have in common being part of long-term creative partnerships – I’m sure the fact that they have deeply trusted, creative allies with whom they can share ideas and experiences is part of the recipe for their longstanding success.
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WRITE IT ALL DOWN by Cathy Rentzenbrink
This book is actually specifically about memoir–writing. But it is of great value to any sort of writer and there are many valuable ideas and applications for screenwriters. There is so much here about creativity, about how you approach and take control of the telling of any story; and loads of creative prompts and exercises to spark your writing. Above all, this book is really good in the way it will get you to sit yourself down, get inside your own head and just write.
The book confronts the essential reality of just how hard it is to commit to writing time, the everyday difficulties of getting your words onto the page. It addresses the stark reality – that the act of writing can be scary and exposing – and comes up with ways to tackle this creatively and practically.
Some recent articles about writing –
In last Sunday’s Observer New Review there was an excellent article about the inspiration and writing of his film Joy by Jack Thorne. This gives a lot of insights into the inspiration and creation of ideas, into the need for research and about how you tackle and dramatize true stories (some connections to what I wrote about biopics in my October 18th newsletter)
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/nov/10/screenwriter-jack-thorne-ivf-joy-film-netflix
Another really helpful Guardian article by writer Katie Ward – about what she learnt from her friendship with the late, great Hilary Mantel – particularly timely as Wolf Hall: The Mirror & The Light has just come out – available to watch on BBC iplayer! This piece contains some clear, simple, valuable thoughts about writing.
SCRIPT READING & DEVELOPMENT Q&A – on zoom 6-8.30pm Tuesday December 10th
https://script-consultant.co.uk/script-reading-development-qa/
I’m now taking bookings for this 2 ½ zoom session for a max of 8 people. This is the last session of the year and gives you a chance to explore the opportunities of working in script reading, script development and script-editing. It also enables you to be part of a private facebook group only open to people who have done one of these sessions – a great forum in which to extend your contacts and ask questions of a growing (now 100+) peers, many of whom now have extensive industry experience and knowledge.
The next newsletter will be on Friday November 29th
Best wishes
Phil
PHILIP SHELLEY
www.script-consultant.co.uk
Twitter: @PhilipShelley1
NB Now also on – Bluesky: @philipshelley1.bsky.social
Friday November 15th 2024
