A-List Ticket Logo (lrg)
A-List Screenwriting's
Craft & Career
Greetings!

Welcome to the premiere issue of A-List Screenwriting's Craft & Career, a free monthly newsletter.  Craft & Career offers exclusive craft articles from A-List Screenwriting's Jim Mercurio and career advice from revolving guests.

We want to be the kind of newsletter that you refer to over and over during the month.  There will be lengthy journal-like articles and extensive interviews along with some quick tips and light columns like Attitude Adjustment, a short, no-nonsense reminder on how to keep your perspective.
 
This month's Craft article explores a seldom-taught topic and shows you what Memento and Freaky Friday have in common.   Our Career Corner is an interview with Michael Lent about how his work in various media - film, graphic novels, spec screenwriting and video games - helped to land him a huge book deal with Disney/Hyperion.
 
"We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school," are the words from one of my favorite storytellers, Bruce Springsteen.  Jesus hasn't written a hit song in years, so you will have to settle for Bruce.  He's not God, but Bruce Springsteen is definitely the Boss.  So check out the premiere of the column WWTBD? -- What Would the Boss Do?  
 
If you like the craft content and want more of it, check out A-listscreenwriting.com and get one of the few seats left in the weeklong Immersion classes in New York City and Los Angeles at the end of the year. 
 
The basis of my consulting and teaching is interaction and dialogue.  So I want to hear from you.  Questions, comments, suggestions, or, heck, even compliments, I will take 'em.
 
Enjoy!
 
 
Sincerely,
CRAFT:
EXPLOITATION OF CONCEPT 
by Jim Mercurio

Jim Mercurio

 
Exploitation of concept just isn't addressed by most screenwriting guides.  It's one of the last skills that I see amateur writers develop.  One reason might be that the writers aren't aware that this is a necessary craft.  Ironically, it may be one of the most important principles to understand.
 
It's this lack of skill that allows me to assert that 99 percent of amateur writers could not write Blades of Glory.  Oh, such controversy.  I am not trying to uphold that film as a dramaturgical masterpiece, but the whimsical decree is meant to pique your interest in examining the implicit craft behind many Hollywood movies. 
 
Exploitation in this sense means the clever usage of your resources to maximum effect.  Exploitation of concept means that the story premise and situation you set up must be the basis for all that follows, and that you must take it "all the way" within those boundaries.  One reason this skill does not develop quickly when beginning screenwriting is that a  stylized approach to storytelling is not what interests people when they begin their love affair with writing.  There is a romantic notion that, as an artist, the magic is in using your creativity to take the story anywhere you want.  But the truth is, the magic in commercial concept-driven screenwriting is the methodical and calculated exploitation of the very narrow "what if" of the premise with which you begin. 

CAREER CORNER
 
INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL LENT:
HOW TO BE THE ARCHITECT OF YOUR OWN FATE

Michael in the Arctic

Why is Michael in the Arctic?  Read on...
 
  
I am so excited to interview Michael Lent for our premiere issue. He literally wrote the book on the business side of screenwriting, Breakfast with Sharks. He and I met and became friends back in the late '90s when we were both wrote for Creative Screenwriting. We started a small-stakes home poker game with some of the other CS alums that has continued for more than a decade. When he co-produced Hard Scrambled with me, Michael impressed me with his resourcefulness. I knew he had an old-school East Coast work ethic and was a great storyteller, but I found out he is a guy who finds his way to yes and makes things happen. I have learned so much from him and I am happy that I can share with you his insight and, more importantly, his amazing attitude. I will let him tell you about how busy he has been. Like a good scene, here we are in media res...
 
 
MICHAEL LENT: Before the writers' strike of 2007, I had been branching out and stretching myself as a writer to include a variety of mixed media forms including game writing, animation, graphic novels and reality series programming.
 
JIM MERCURIO: To keep busy?  Sane? 
 
ML: Well, I've learned to go green and leave a smaller carbon footprint as a writer. By that I mean: if something doesn't hit in one medium, then I retool, recycle, and try another. Prey: Origin of the Species was a failed screenplay because the budget was too big, but Marvel published it as a graphic novel in 07. I was a producer on two feature films: Witches Night, a horror film, and Naked in America, a documentary. Christmas Letters from Hell was a sketch idea that we sold as a book to Simon & Schuster. I wrote a lot of the dialogue for the Xbox 360 game Vigilante 8: Arcade, which in turn, qualified me to work on both the game design platforms and digital graphic novel for SCAPS Agent, an MMORPG due out this year. The graphic novel alone was 230 pages on that one. I've written, directed and produced three computer animated shorts that were mainly used to promote the other mediums. Brian McCarthy (Wide Awake) and I have been writing and producing Brimstone, an amazing horror/western graphic novel/movie project that's currently in production.
 
 
ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT:
KEEP AT IT, SPORT 
by Jim Mercurio
 
My 11-year-old-stepdaughter, Emma, played fast-pitch softball for the first time this year.  When she decided that she wanted to learn to pitch, I knew there would be zero chance she would let me -- someone who makes most of his living from being a teacher and mentor -- help her learn, so I hired a pitching instructor.  The instructor focused on the proper technique for throwing which temporarily ignores speed and accuracy. 
 
I got aggravated when one of the coaches on her team saw her practicing with what the coach called "advanced technique" and admonished her. The coach then proceeded to show her a simpler technique to "force the ball" into the strike zone.  In the short run, this easier method has the advantage of slightly more control.  However, this would only allow her to be competitive for a few months. 
 
The coach's constrained technique did not allow for growth: It doesn't allow her to increase her speed or develop endurance.  She will soon need to learn the real way to pitch.  It's a similar process with writing.  I don't teach concept so you can hark back to the '90s spec market and write a hollow script that only has a cool premise.  And I am not the only person with a product about theme in screenwriting in the marketplace, so I can encourage dry, didactic and deeply meditative snoozefests.  Why do I do it?   Let me explain it with a story.
 
I was playing automatic QB with my stepson, Wilson, and his friends during a touch football game.  Near the end of the game when his team was down by a couple of touchdowns, they called a play by looking at one another and simultaneously saying, "GBGH."  They clapped their hands and broke from the huddle. I didn't want to look uncool and ask them what that was, so I headed back toward the line of scrimmage.  I added a few extra "hut-huts" before the "hike" to give myself a chance to figure it out.  Fortunately, it hit me: Go Big or Go Home.
 
That's what really bugged me about my stepdaughter's coach.  The coach was conditioning her to think small, to believe that what's good enough for right now is good enough.  It's not.  You have to aim higher. You can't read the mediocre spec script that sold last month and use it to justify lowering your standards or to give up learning.  You have to strive to write something better than what you saw at the megaplex this weekend. There is a better you as a writer and, inside you, there is a better script right around the corner. 
 
I made Emma throw the right way for the entire season.  I encourage you to do the same.  Keep studying storytelling, learn everything you can and keep writing.  Learn the technique and do it over and over again.  And like my stepdaughter, you might look up in three-four games (or scripts) and be throwing heat.  And nothing but strikes.

CraftContinuedEXPLOITATION OF CONCEPT  (Continued)
 
Let me start with an example from a story of sorts, from a song that was played on The Conan O'Brien Show by Rocket Me Nowhere called "My Hopeless Manatee."  When it was up on YouTube it had thousands of hits.  I know the song references a series of running jokes on the show and even a website, but I am going to ignore that context and the emotion, power, and momentum of the performance and music so that I can look at the lyrics as a stand-alone text.
 
You can find the entire lyrics here, but here are a few of them to give the gist of the song
 
 
EXCERPTS FROM "MY HOPELESS MANATEE"
By Rocket Me Nowhere

Lonely as I could be
I logged on to my fantasy
... hornymanatee.com

... before my eyes ...
800 lbs of paradise


PART OF CHORUS
...
And now I want you
And not just for your body
Together we can
Live like we're near extinct
We'll fall in love
And we'll keep falling right off the brink


But just when I was sure I'd fail
I got an automated thank-you email ...
 
I'm in captivity
To your love manatee
And also by the bay area police
They caught me when I tried to steal you from your tank

CHORUS REPEATS

Watched a manatee
My dead heart began to breathe
I'll be your vanity
If you'll be my manatee ... tonight
 
In the song, a guy falls in love with a manatee.  The song well highlights the absurdity of their love.  The jokes that reference the size/weight of the manatee are funny, as is the idea of captivity - physically (in its tank, in jail) and mentally (in love).  Comparing the love to extinction - "And we'll keep falling right off the brink" - is probably the thematic highlight for me.
 
Although it's not the topic for today, I think the song is missing a sort of last act epiphany/surprise.  The "love" is clear near the beginning and never wavers.  So there is a lack of progression/momentum.  Even Andy Samberg's viral video Jizz in my Pants in the (pardon the pun) climax has a reversal and epiphany: "You say I'm premature/ I just call it ecstasy."  However, in keeping with today's topic, there are some other ways that this song doesn't go all the way.  As a story, it makes a few promises upon which it doesn't deliver.
 
One strong idea that the song sets up is that this love started as a cyber relationship.  If this is the/a hook for the song, then wouldn't the song owe reference to the web and cyber-dating aspect?   Only the line about the "automated email" pays off that idea.  If you are not going to pay off the Internet aspect of the genesis of their relationship, then why include the reference at all?  Cut the line about "logging on" and the website.  It's underused and possibly not necessary. 
 
The more audacious and attention-grabbing premise is that this website happens to be HORNYmanatee.com.   The relationship is not just between a human and a manatee, but a human and a horny manatee.  From a dramaturgical standpoint, that concept is not explored completely.  One way would be to establish the lust more and then let the love take over as the relationship grows. 
 
But a stronger way to take the humor and the premise of the horny manatee all the way would be to deliver on their, ah, consummation.  Maybe a line like this near the end: "We meet on the high seas/Tryin' to create a new species."  This would give the ending the twist/surprise it needs.   And, more relevant to today's topic, it would exploit the horniness in the concept.  Got a better line about man-on-manatee action?  I want
to hear it.
 
What does a sexually needy sea cow have to do with screenwriting?  Everything.  If you can cut your supposed concept and your story stays the same, then either cut the fat from the setup or exploit it better.  Use it or lose it.
 
Understanding this principle could have really helped the writers (can I even use that word?) of Land of the Lost.  If the unique premise/concept of your story is that these characters are time travelers stuck in a land with dangerous dinosaurs and lizard men, then how in the hell do you justify a sequence where the characters get high by a motel pool?  That scene could have (and has) been in a bunch of other movies.  Even if it's the funniest thing ever, it's generic and doesn't belong in this movie.  Concept-wise, it's a non sequitur.
 
I have read body-switching movies with a Ten-Little-Indians whodunit mystery where the person who solves the crime does it with deductive reasoning just like Columbo or Sherlock Holmes.  The problem is that he or she also solves the mystery without any special insight from the body-switching complication.  Here's a hint for that story: If the solution isn't tied to switching bodies, don't switch bodies.
 
If you take the Freaky Friday premise of a daughter and mother switching psyches, you don't then have them go after Indy's Lost Ark, do you?   No.  Why?  Because the concept has no intrinsic connection to the eventual goal/plan.  However, the somewhat recent remake of Freaky Friday is a short and clever film that does a fantastic job of exploiting its concept.  The scene that starts Chapter 5 on the DVD puts the mother and daughter (having already switched psyches) and the younger brother and the mother's boyfriend in the car on the way to school.  The scene advances the story, complicates the situation, and foreshadows.  But more importantly, notice how EVERY single line of dialogue relies on the premise of the switched psyches for its meaning and humor. 
 
Here is a transcript of the scene.
 
Mother is in the front seat with her feet on the dashboard.  She battles for control of the radio station with the boyfriend.
                               
DAUGHTER (mother's psyche): (to mother) Feet down. (to son)   Harry, could you settle down?
                    
SON: Bite me!  
 
MOTHER (daughter's psyche): See?  Do you see what he does behind your back?

DAUGHTER:  Anna!
  
MOTHER: Mom!  Excuse me.  And while I'm apologizing let me just say to the whole car how truly sorry I am for being such an insane control freak all the time.  
 
DAUGHTER: You're not controlling, Mom.  I'm the one who should be apologizing for my flagrant disregard for anyone's feelings but my own.
 
MOTHER: Well, at least you have a great sense of style.  Not like me.
 
DAUGHTER: Enough.
 
MOTHER looks at "her" credit cards.
 
MOTHER: Platinum, cool.
 
DAUGHTER: Don't even think about it.
 
MOTHER'S BOYFRIEND: Am I supposed to follow this?
 
MOTHER: It's nothing, darling.
(Note: the word "darling" is this line's raison d'etre and why it fits in with the concept.  A-list screenwriters see there is no point to the line if it's just "It's nothing.")
 
He grabs mother's hand
 
MOTHER'S BOYFRIEND: One more day.
                     
MOTHER: Yeah, it's great we're getting married, isn't it?  Even though my husband died.  How quickly I've been able to get over it.
                     
DAUGHTER: Just pull up here.  Mom, out of the car.
  
 
Notice that except for perhaps the son's line ("bite me" - which is a catalyst to complicate the situation), there isn't a wasted beat or conflict.  Even the boyfriend's lines use the dramatic irony that we know more than he does.  Everything is driven by and faithful to the concept.  And as soon as they get out of the car, the next moment mirrors this scene where the daughter (mom's psyche) now has to interact with the teenage male love interest with a continuing clever exploitation of the body-switching.  Consider watching this movie or studying this scene if you are writing a script with a strong fantasy conceit: Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor, The Mask, etc.
 
However, these gimmicky comedies are not the only sort of stories where this skill is important.  Another movie that exploits its concept very well is Memento.  In the story, Leonard Shelby has no short-term memory and is on a quest to find his wife's killer.  However, his condition makes him easily manipulated and his decisions very untrustworthy.  The morality and authenticity of his quest come into question.
 
Let's look at the scenes/sequences in Memento from around minute 46 to minute 73 of the movie.  We'll focus on the scenes that are in color.  To show you how elegantly and seemingly simply the story exploits the premise that he has no short-term memory, I will describe them in chronological order:
 
Natalie - who is pissed off because Leonard killed her boyfriend - removes all of the pencils from her home and then gets Leonard mad by telling him she is going to use his condition to manipulate him.  She pushes his buttons by saying that maybe he is a freak/retard due to getting an STD from his wife, who she calls a whore.  He hits her.  She runs out the door.  He struggles to find a pencil to record the fact that she is lying.  She goes outside, gets in her car, and just sits there. 
 
He struggles to find a pencil but can't.  She sits in the car for a moment and then comes back in and says Dodd hurt her and gets him worked up to help her.  She writes him a message reminding him to get rid of Dodd.  He notices his fist is bruised but doesn't figure out he is the one who hit her.  He leaves and is freaked out that Teddy is in his (Jimmy's) car.
 
He freaks out when he gets in his (Jimmy's) car and finds Teddy. "Who the fuck are you?"  Teddy warns him about Natalie - that she will use him and has ulterior motives.  Leonard writes the warning down.  But without any context, he later sees his own note about not trusting Teddy, so he scratches out the comment on Natalie's picture about not trusting her.  Ironically, he does take Teddy's written advice in the scene about which hotel to stay at.
 
He checks into Discount Inn on Teddy's advice.  He meets a prostitute and asks her to place some objects - comb, clock, stuffed animal - around the room.  He tells her that after he is asleep, she should to go into the bathroom and slam the door.  (He is trying to remember the night his wife died by reenacting some of it.)  He falls asleep.  She slams the door.  He gets up.
 
He sleeps.   A door slams.  He gets up and notices the stuff around the room.  He opens the bathroom and sees a prostitute, who recounts to him what he told her.  He tells her to leave.  He gets in car.
 
Leonard gets in the car.   He burns the items at a bonfire.  He wonders if he has done this before.  Flashback to his wife, with a self-reflexive thematic touch: He chides her about reading a coverless book multiple times.  "I thought the fun was in finding out what happens next?"
 
Leonard drives his (Jimmy's) car and Dodd pulls him over because he recognizes Jimmy's car and clothes.  Dodd pulls out a gun.  Leonard takes off.  Dodd breaks the window.  Leonard runs away.
 
Leonard runs but he's not sure why and whether he is being chased or chasing.  He sees the note about Dodd and then assumes he is the chaser, so he moves toward him.  But when Dodd fires a gun at him, Leonard realizes that he is the one being chased.  So he runs away and decides to hijack Dodd at his motel.  Leonard finds the room, grabs a bottle of alcohol for a weapon, and waits.  Soon, he loses his memory and is confused about why he is holding the bottle.  "I don't feel drunk."
 
"I don't feel drunk."  Oblivious to why he is in Dodd's bathroom, Leonard takes a shower.  Then, when Dodd comes back, Leonard attacks and overtakes him.   And then when he sees the note to "get rid of him" from Natalie, Leonard tapes up Dodd and calls Teddy.
 
Do you see how it's all an organic extension of the premise?  Look at the specificity in the first scene.  The concept/premise allows the femme fatale's actions to be original and unique: hiding pencils, asking him what will make him mad, telling him her plan.  And he can't escape her trap because he uses a contextless note on a picture of Teddy's as a reason to ignore his warning.
 
All of the obstacles to capturing Dodd are specific to the character: He is spotted because he thinks Jimmy's car is his; he can't remember if he is the one chasing or being chased; he forgets that he is lying in wait in his hotel room and the comical obstacle to the battle with Dodd is that he decided to take a shower since he was in the bathroom and couldn't remember why.  It's not just that the Nolans are creative.  Their gift is their creativity within the context that they set up. 
 
Now the other important part of the concept is that the story is told in reverse chronological order.  Let's look at a chunk of these scenes to see how they are shaped to accommodate and exploit this part of the concept.
 
Here are the scenes in the order they appeared as well as comments about them.
 
Leonard runs but he's not sure why and whether he is being chased or chasing.  He sees the note about Dodd and then assumes he is the chaser, so he moves toward him.  But when Dodd fires a gun at him, Leonard realizes that he is the one being chased.  So he runs away and decides to hijack Dodd at his motel.  Leonard finds the room, grabs a bottle of alcohol for a weapon, and waits.  Soon, he loses his memory and is confused about why he is holding the bottle.  "I don't feel drunk."
 
Note: Telling this story backward creates a convention-bending chase scene and some spry humor: a chase scene where the character is not sure if he is the hunter or the prey.  And he accidentally breaks into room 6 instead of 9 because he reads the note upside down.  In the background, we hear a car commercial with a bunch of numbers - years and prices.  Together, they are an ironic reminder of how untrustworthy numbers and facts are without context.
 
Leonard drives his (Jimmy's) car and Dodd pulls him over because he recognizes Jimmy's car and clothes.  Dodd pulls out a gun.  Leonard takes off.  Dodd breaks the window.  Leonard runs away.
 
Note: There is nothing super special about this event.  But it's much more interesting in reverse order because it answers the question: How the hell did Dodd end up chasing him?
 
Leonard gets in the car.  He burns the items at a bonfire.  He wonders if he has done this before.  Flashback to his wife, with a self-reflexive thematic touch: He chides her about reading a coverless book multiple times.  "I thought the fun was in finding out what happens next?"
 
Note: This works as more of a mystery/suspense beat.  What are those items?
 
He sleeps.  A door slams.  He gets up and notices the stuff around the room.  He opens the bathroom door and sees a prostitute, who recounts to him what he told her.  He tells her to leave.  He gets in car.
 
Note: Once again, this moment piques our interest because we don't understand it yet.  Also, since this is the first time we see the items and they are in a dark room, it allows us to have the same subjective disorientation as Leonard.  We are not sure where we are, and we think that maybe we are in his house or in a flashback with the wife - which confuses us because it's not in black and white, but color.  Also, note that if this were told chronologically, it would be redundant to have the prostitute explain what he asked her to do.
 
He checks into Discount Inn on Teddy's advice.  He meets a prostitute and asks her to place some objects - comb, clock, stuffed animal - around the room.  He tells her that after he is asleep, she should go into the bathroom and slam the door.  (He is trying to remember the night his wife died by reenacting some of it.)  He falls asleep.  She slams the door.  He gets up.
 
Note: Because we already saw the event he is discussing, it could be very boring to watch him explain it.  So the conflict in the scene takes a slightly different angle: He struggles to get the prostitute to understand what should be simple instructions.  At one point she even tries to use the brush.  He stops her quickly - which is a nice way of showing us that it was his wife's.
 
He freaks out when he gets in his (Jimmy's) car and finds Teddy.  "Who the fuck are you?"  Teddy warns him about Natalie - that she will use him and has ulterior motives.  Leonard writes the warning down.  But without any context, he later sees his own note about not trusting Teddy, so he scratches out the comment on Natalie's picture about not trusting her.  Ironically, he does take Teddy's written advice in the scene about which hotel to stay at.
 
Note: It's not clear who he should trust.  Because the story is told backward, we, like Leonard, don't have the context and information on which to decide whether to trust Teddy.
 
He struggles to find a pencil but can't.  She sits in the car for a moment and then comes in and says Dodd hurt her and gets him worked up to help her.  She writes him a message reminding him to get rid of Dodd.  He notices his fist is bruised but doesn't figure out he is the one who hit her.  He leaves and is freaked out that Teddy is in his (Jimmy's) car.
 
Note: The pencil hunt is a great big question that piques our interest.  And in the film, this scene raises more questions.  What is really going on?  We, like him, actually believe she just showed up and that she was hurt by someone else.
 
Natalie - who is pissed off because Leonard killed her boyfriend - removes all of the pencils from her home and then gets Leonard mad by telling him she is going to use his condition to manipulate him.  She pushes his buttons by saying that maybe he is a freak/retard due to getting an STD from his wife, who she calls a whore.  He hits her.  She runs out the door.  He struggles to find a pencil to record the fact that she is lying.  She goes outside, gets in her car, and just sits there. 
 
Note: Not only is this a great scene with surprising choices, it pays off the sequence by giving concrete answers to the last two sequences, which raised questions and doubts. Finally, we get some resolution and it's pretty satisfying.
 
 
The challenge in telling this story backwards is that you have to shape scenes so that they withhold information that would be revealed if the story were chronological.  This creates suspense but also mimics the protagonist's limited and frustrated point-of-view.  You also have to find alternate angles or focus for scenes -- like the prostitute who is confused by his instructions -- to avoid repetition or information that becomes boring exposition when the story is told in reverse order.
 
Every story has its own parameters within which it must stay.  The cleverness in Blades of Glory is its exploitation of the skating world: rules of the league, training, partners, loopholes to the rules, the stuffy judges, dangerous and infamous ice tricks, the implicit sexuality of skating pairs (the homophobic main pair and the incestuous rivals) and a chase scene on ice skates.  If I dared to watch the film again, I am sure I could point out more ways that it exploits its concept.  If you need more examples from it, consider it your homework.

Memento and Freaky Friday are very different movies, but I hope that I have shown the implicit and shared craft at work in both scripts and the resulting movies.  Each of these scripts treats its concept like a piece of dough or clay and then proceeds to kneed it and mold it into every possible cool shape without ever breaking a piece off.  These principles transcend genre or tone.  Watch how the filmmakers set up (and pay homage to Memento) Dory in Finding Nemo.  
 
Your challenge is to retain your material's underlying honesty and passion while you cleverly wrap it up in a bundle that explores all of (and only) the interesting permutations of your setup. If you can do this and take your concept all the way then you will be on yours.
CareercontinuedCAREER CORNER  (Continued)
 
JM: There's a DIY aspect to a lot of what you do.
 
ML: It's a 50/50 mix. Since about 2005, I've been fortunate enough to be always working for hire on someone else's project. Sometimes, that work slows to a crawl or the pay is so-so, but that's when I ramp up and hit deadlines on my own material. The balance keeps me fresh and prevents me from pressuring any one project to be the end-all, be-all. I've seen some people put all their eggs in one basket. I think you end up making bad business decisions, too protective or desperate, or feeling crushed when the project doesn't come through. I try not to be beholden to any one situation. A lot of these on-assignment gigs aren't the big home run waiting-for-Denzel-to-sign-on projects but rather lots of singles and sac flies that kept the creative juices flowing and strengthened relationships and track records.
 
JM: It seems like we all gotta be leadoff hitters nowadays...or maybe that's not the perfect metaphor... we have to change our expectations of where work might come from
 
ML. It's funny, about 18 months ago, my accountant noticed a schism among her clients that hadn't previously existed. This was 2007, and many of her Old School writers had had rough years financially. They were waiting, waiting for projects that had been in development hell for sometimes years. Meanwhile, her mixed media clients were having solid years. They would mention a project in January and when she asked in March how the development was going, the accountant was stunned to hear that the project had been completed already and was out there as a webisode series, gamelet, etc.
 
 From Brimstone
From Brimstone
 
JM: Singles, doubles, sac flies. I want to get to the home run, this book deal for On Thin Ice.
 
ML: Ah, okay.
 
JM: Homerun is my word.
 
ML: Thank you.
 
JM: How did this Disney deal come together?
 
ML: From Christmas '08 until this past mid-March I put together a package based on the lead character Hugh Rowland of the History Channel's Ice Road Truckers series that my book agent then sold as a pitch/proposal to Disney's Hyperion, the parent company of IRT. Now, I'm writing the book first and we're hoping there will be a movie, too. As soon as the deal closed, I was on a plane, well, actually, a series of increasingly tinier planes headed to the Arctic Circle where I literally froze my pen off. It was an amazing adventure ... 50 below zero temps, whiteout conditions, and a crash that were all fun once you've survived them. People were walking around in wolverine or seal skin. I even ate bear which tastes nothing like chicken but is close to dog (or so I'm told). 
 
JM: There was that Chinese place in Burbank....
 
ML: It was my turn to buy you lunch. Who could fault me for thinking inexpensive buffet?
 
JM: Fair enough. Back to the Arctic...
 
ML: The Northern Lights were spectacular, as was the opportunity to meet Eskimos. The Inuit women are very sturdy and let's just say that more than once, I came within an icicle's width of becoming an Eskimo bride. I'm married with two kids, but any woman who can kill a walrus with her bare hands is likely to have her way with me.
 
JIM: Nanookie of the North?
 
ML:  Luckily, even in muklucks and a parka, I am fleet-footed
.
 
 
Michael's Picture
Fleet-footed, indeed!
A picture from Michael's trip 

JM: How did all of those other experiences help you land this gig?
 
ML: Creatively, my background as a pop culture action writer of fiction came into play.They loved that I had done multimedia, they knew I knew how various media are integrated and they were confident that I'd do a good job. My producer sense also had to kick in. The thing is: if I just went in and said that I wanted to write a book/movie about the Ice Road reality series, the deal wouldn't have happened. They would have said, "We've seen the show. Why would we read the book or see the movie?" Or maybe someone would have said, "Fine, but why don't we just do this in house?" By focusing on the main subject, Hugh Rowland, who is the real deal and has led a larger than life existence, we were presenting a new angle on a proven commodity. Disney had the rights to the show but not rights to Hugh's life story. So I worked out a deal where I partnered with Hugh we walked into Disney together.
 
JM: So what is Hugh's story?
 
ML: Hugh is a natural-born storyteller with three decades of incredible life experience that's beyond the imagination of most of us. Besides the ice roads, he's been a rodeo cowboy, and wilderness road builder for Arctic oil fields -- places so remote you had to be dropped in by helicopter. So Disney needed to know there was material beyond the television series, and we needed to focus on one small part of that big life he's had.

JM:  Reality TV is such a different beast. What are the challenges for a 250-page book?
 
ML: Anyone who has seen the show knows that Hugh can deliver an anecdote in three sentences. That's what the format requires. Early on, I told Hugh that I saw him as a modern-day warrior of sorts and that my job would be to give as full as possible account of his battles. Not to be overly dramatic but I tried to put myself in the role of a chronicler like Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey. Hugh got it right away and would start an interview with "One time ten years ago, I was in ..." He would then launch into a cool story that could never fit within the confines of a reality show but was perfect for the page or a movie.
 

Michael and Hugh

Michael and Hugh on the ice road.
 
JM:  That's awesome. So, tell us. Should all of us screenwriters be looking for book deals? 

ML: Book deals are tough to land; however, marketable concepts are rare. When an agent, publisher or producer, etc. hears them, a bell goes off above their head because the concept is simple and easy to understand. The good thing about being a writer is that we're comfortable with research and that's where you can pan for gold. I'll never forget the story of the guy in Maui who had a copy shop and a credit for writing a book about how to give your cat a massage. He saw a little item about how Random House had let lapse the audio book rights to Bishop Desmond Tutu's autobiography. He called the Bishop in South Africa. 90 days later he was on Oprah's private jet being flown to Chicago for the release of the audio book.
 
JM: How can screenwriters use their skills in other productive and possibly money-making ways?
 
ML: People always buy into conventional wisdom which isn't wisdom at all. If you listen to it, you'll never get out of the starter's box. People say, "It's all who you know." However, Hollywood is littered with the offspring of famous people who never make anything happen out here. Or people say, "If I had a million dollars, I could do ____," but I remember this business magazine survey from a few years ago that cited many of the top 150 new companies that had started with $5000 or less in capital. We all have the same 24 hour clock and that's really what levels the playing field. How you use that time is what creates opportunity.
 
JM: What are the pros and cons if a writer wants to jump into a DIY Project or mindset?

ML: Well, you lose the right to blame your agent when things don't happen. For me, I want the responsibility of my career to be squarely on my shoulders. Back in the early days, everything was filtered through my agent, manager, and lawyer so I waited for the phone to ring a lot. I hated that. Now, I develop projects and only bring in the rest of the team when things reach a certain critical mass. These days, I make the calls and am less inclined to wait for them. Of course, you have to be comfortable with risk and taking chances. If calling the shots or putting your own money down ties your stomach in knots, then DIY isn't for you. And you have to develop a critical eye for material, develop it carefully and patiently, and surround yourself with people who know how to move projects forward to the next level. Also, DIY doesn't work for people who can't sublimate their egos. About five years ago, a guy came to me with a $250,000 project he wanted me to produce that he would write, direct and star in. I passed even though he offered me $10,000 up front with no strings just to sign on for 90 days. At $250,000, you have no margin of error and this project was essentially a two-legged dog.
 
JM: I always tell people on that type of project, if you can't fill the other 4-5 key roles with people who are way better than you in those areas, you are doomed.
 
ML:  Yeah, by wearing so many hats as a first-timer, this would-be filmmaker was eliminating all of the objective points-of-view that would raise the project out of the ranks of vanity projects. Also, If you just like to write and don't want to get your hands dirty in production, I guess DIY doesn't work well, either. You'll be working with actors, editors, effects people, etc., and that means stretching yourself and expanding your comfort zone. Of course, all of that immersion will help you as a writer.
 
JM:   Do tell. How does it help?
 
ML: It's nice not to be tied to three act structure all the time and to be able to look at paradigms and mediums in a Rubik's Cube way. My son is 5 years old and is already a gamer who is naturally comfortable in nonlinear storytelling. It's amazing to see. On the playground, I watch him create scenarios, then blast through them, which, in turn, changes the rules of the game. Things transform into things, etc., but it's logical and not random. His friends quickly catch on and they start doing the same thing. I'm still trying to catch up to him. For a writer, the end result is a movie like the last Die Hard, where if you know game logic, then the movie feels like that calculations of the brain scene in A Beautiful Mind.
 
JM: Ooh, all I have in this room is a car. Hmm, how am I gonna stop that helicopter out there?
 
ML: Yeah but for the mass audience, you still get a full meal experience in terms of a traditional action genre story.
 
JM: Speaking of traditional....where is the old school spec market? Does it exist any more?
 
ML: I haven't set up a purely spec script in a long time. That's why I have been creating cross-platform material that I can cheaply launch first as a comic book, etc. and build to a movie or TV series. Remember, execs don't get fired for saying "No." They get fired for saying, "Yes." You can take the risk away by having some success in another medium first, say, a webisode series that you produce for nothing that has 50,000 viewers. For an exec, then it's more of a business than a highly subjective creative decision. They can point to the numbers and write you a check. Meanwhile, you're working the material out, honing and crafting it.
 
JM: Thanks for taking your time today and I want to thank you again for being willing to spend some time with one of the winners of the Champion Screenwriting contest.
 
ML: I look forward to that. As always, nice talking to you, Jim.
 
JM: Any last advice for aspiring storytellers?
 
ML:  Luck plays its part in Hollywood and many events are the result of happy accidents, but the bottom line is: if you want to make things happen, then you have to be the architect of your fate.
 
 
Michael Lent is currently writing On Thin Ice for Disney. He is the author of the industry bestselling book, Breakfast with Sharks published by Random House. He has produced the feature films Hard Scrambled, Witches' Night and Naked in America. He wrote Prey: Origin of the Species, published by Marvel Comics. He was a writer on the Xbox 360 game Vigilante 8: Arcade released in 2008. As a screenwriter, he has sold, optioned or been assigned to ten feature film projects including The Hellseeker for Miramax Studios.
wwtbdcontinuedWWTBD? (Continued)
 
Here is the chorus to a little-known song of Bruce's called Loose Ends:
 
 
It's like we had a noose and baby without check
We pulled until it grew tighter around our necks
Each one waiting for the other, darlin', to say when
Well baby you can meet me tonight on the loose end
 
The term "loose ends" has its own meaning outside of the song, which probably applies.  But the chorus has now given it another specific meaning, associating it with the constriction or strangling of a neck and, by extension, relationship. 
 
To show how each verse "stays on track" and tells its story through the given concept, here is a quick excerpt from each of the three short verses:
 
We met out on open streets when we had no place to go
....Then little by little we choked out all the life that our love could hold
 
And when the night closed in I was sure your kisses told me all I had to know
But oh no
 
Our love has fallen around us like we said it never could
Well how could something so bad, darling, come from something that was so good, I don't know
 
See how the idea of noose/constriction is threaded through the song in the story, in the images and in the word choices.  It's a somewhat serious song, so I think it would be inappropriate overkill to think that every line could be a pun or play on words.  However, it might be interesting to think about a way to incorporate the concept into the last sentence above, to give it a final oomph. 
 
Songwriters and screenwriters have a lot of the same responsibilities in sticking to their concept.  In the song, notice, that the concept is more of a thematic idea and a motif, whereas in screenwriting, the concept is usually a premise with which you complicate the conflict and story.
 
If you want to check out a song that flawlessly exploits its concept, click here. Bruce didn't write it but he recognized its awesomeness and covered it once.  And it's proof that Bruce isn't the only singer who can write about cars.
 
In This Issue
Craft: Exploitation of Concept
Career Corner
Attitude Adjustment
WWTBD? Column
Quick Links
 
 
 
______________
 
 
A-List Ticket Logo
 
THE IMMERSION
 
 
The weeklong life-changing class formerly known as Killer Screenwriting
 
New York City
November 7-11
6 Seats Left
 
Los Angeles
December 7-11
5 Seats Left
 ______________

WWTBD?

What Would the Boss Do?
 
Whenever someone asks me what my favorite movie is, before I can even blurt out my typical boring responses: The Godfather, Annie Hall, Chinatown, Bicycle Thieves and sometimes 48 Hours, the answer that always wants to roll off my tongue is Born to Run.  Problem is, it's an album.
 
That 8-song masterpiece opens with a vision of morning in Thunder Road and closes with the haunting images of a night punctuated with the silent strobe of ambulance lights in Jungleland.  Rather than bore you with all of its cinematic qualities, for now I will just say storytelling is storytelling.
 
If Bruce Springsteen can fit a major dilemma, foreshadowing, rhyming subplot, caesura before the climax, and coherent theme into a 3-minute story, we better make sure our 90-minute ones have at least the same.  Over the next few months, I will look at several topics relevant to the screenwriter -- dilemma, theme, character -- in his songs.  And next month, I am going to discuss writing vs. rewriting and the power of the transformative ending in his song about (scout's honor) cunnilingus.  But since today's craft topic was Exploitation of Concept, let's look at how a songwriter faces the same issues as s screenwriter in trying to stay on track...

 
______________
 
 
Champion Logo 
 
$20,000 in cash and Prizes
 
Deadline July 15
 
Champion Screenwriting
Competition
 
Winning is just the beginning. 
 
 
______________
 
Inter. Screenwriters Assc. 
 
______________
 
Use David Gillis - veteran editor and award-winning screenwriter - before end of July and save.
 
______________
 

Killer Endings 

 
Killer Endings and
 T-Word: Theme.
DVDs
 
Free Shipping!
 
 
Unless otherwise noted, all content is copyrighted by A-List Screenwriting, LLC or James P. Mercurio.