Writers of WGA and Academy Awards nominated screenplays were in the spotlight as the Writers Guild of America, West and Variety presented “Beyond Words,” an opportunity for the scribes to share their thoughts about their respective films.
Represented were two Aarons—Stockard of “The Town” and Sorkin of “The Social Network,” who were both shooting in Boston at the same time, Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko of “The Kids Are All Right,” Mark Heyman of “Black Swan,” Nicole Holofcener of “Please Give,” Eric Johnson, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy of “The Fighter” and John Requa and Glenn Ficarra of “I Love You Phillip Morris.” The panel was moderated by screenwriter John August.
Cholodenko explained her process. She starts an original screenplay not really knowing where it will go and without the characters fleshed out—simply putting one foot in front of the other. Most of the other scribes use index cards in their scripting after a lengthy process of thinking about the story, often while driving or running at the beach.
Nearly all faced a difficult road getting their scripts to screen. “A story with two 50-something lesbian leads? The studios were jumping all over it,” Blumberg recalled.
The gay-themed “Phillip Morris” was similarly challenged, and its co-writers recalled being asked to make the lead character a woman. Laughter ensued.
For “The Fighter,” the writers and producers recalled how even when Brad Pitt was attached as the lead, no one was buying. They credited Mark Wahlberg’s passion for making the real-life “Rocky” become a reality. Meanwhile, they became very close to the actual people on whom the story was based, and after two years of research before filming, still feel protective of them.
Mark Heyman said he didn’t know anything about ballet before starting “Black Swan,” and spent months attending rehearsals of the American Ballet Theater before he figured out the relationships in the world of dance. “It could have never been a comedy,” he said. “It’s an obsessive, harrowing world that lends itself to horror.”
For “The Town,” Stockard—who’s been friends with co-writer/director Ben Affleck since high school—spent time with the FBI researching the kinds of robberies on which the film is based. Before that, he couldn’t conceive of those kinds of crimes in broad daylight.
“The Social Network” moved quickly from conception to production, according to Sorkin, who discussed some of the changes David Fincher made in his script to make it even better. He said the two went over it line by line, reading it page by page aloud–and revealed that it was the first and only draft that was shot.
“We had three weeks of rehearsal, and once we started shooting, I was in charge of morale,” Sorkin said, recalling that Fincher really did make the actors do 50-100 takes. “I’d step in every five takes and say to Jesse, Rooney or Mara, ‘just great.’” He said the effect of so much repetition had the actors tossing off lines as if they were their phone numbers, and instead of being intimidating to have so much material in the post-production process, it was comforting.
As for awards season, it gives the writers an extremely good reason to procrastinate on their next projects—and to worry about what to wear.
No one mentioned acceptance speeches, but since they are writers, that part should be a breeze.
