Are you a screenwriter in the Phoenix area? Join Richard Walter with a small group of writers for an exclusive presentation he is giving on Saturday, 10/2 in Scottsdale, AZ. Space is limited to 28 writers (8 seats remaining) and the cost is $45.00 for the whole day 10:00am to 3:00pm (lunch is included). If you are in the market to take your writing career to the next level, then RSVP ASAP via this link.
Legendary Navajo weavers, when they create their blankets, intentionally include a mis-stitch. They consider it a sin against God even merely to try to craft a perfect blanket.
What, you ask, does this have to do with screenwriting?
Read on to find out. You’ll see it has everything to do with how to write the perfect screenplay by never expecting your screenplay to be perfect. I hope you enjoy this second issue of the newsletter and thank you for your support of my new book Essentials of Screenwriting.
Please visit this link to read the full issue online.
This review of Essentials of Screenwriting was submitted by Jeff Leisawitz:
Some teachers teach because they love school and never want to leave. Others teach because they get summers off. But the best teachers in the world do it because they have an insatiable desire to master a subject and share it with anyone who’ll listen. If you’re ever fortunate enough to find yourself in the same room (or book) as one of these types, it can be a life changing experience.
Professor Richard Walter, UCLA’s Screenwriting Chairman, is one of these guys. He’s been pondering the dynamics of story and structure every day for the past several decades and doesn’t break a sweat referencing everything from Aristotle to Avatar in the same breath.
Essentials of Screenwriting covers all the big stuff in detail— theme, conflict, character, dialogue, etc. But this book goes deeper, exploring the interplay of psychology, art and commerce before defining a ‘foolproof, shockproof, waterproof, tamper resistant’ method for reaching an agent.
Throughout these pages Richard also lays out a series of Screenwriting Principles. They are short and sweet, barbed and brilliant. These sixty odd philosophies (along with the story of the clueless Kindergarten teacher) are alone worth many times the cover price of this book.
Essentials cuts to the chase with more style, wisdom and funny than all of the other screenwriting books I’ve ever read… combined. It’s a fun and informative read packed with practical knowledge about the biz along with profound insights on every conceivable subject, mistake, obstacle and/ or challenge a screenwriter is likely to face.
Professor Walter knows that movies are much more than just a way to kill a few hours on a Saturday night. Great movies express the love, pain, suffering, joy, triumph and tragedy of the human experience. That’s why we love them.
This book will help you write them.
Excerpt from the Our Man in Los Angeles Blog:
Like most other writers, I’ve read too many books on screenwriting. In fact, it’s normally a problem – much like people with substance abuse problems, you just need to stop and move on with your life. In our cases, we just need to write. But recently I had the opportunity to read Richard Walter’s book Essentials of Screenwriting. I had heard him speak at an event a couple years back and as he and his concepts were interesting enough for me to remember him out of all the people I’ve heard speak in the last almost-five years in LA, I decided to check it out.
And I’m glad I did. What I liked about it was that it wasn’t trying to regurgitate the same How To rigmarole. Or inundate me with rules and special unlocked secrets of blah-blah-bullshit. Essentials of Screenwriting is, shockingly, for writers who actually write. It saves its pages for the basic building blocks of a writers day and trade. Writing schedules, character, the business of screenwriting, where one’s story should actually begin, etc. It handles the tools of screenwriting with an intelligent and readable grace that I found refreshing. Without boring me or lecturing me on the emperor’s new clothes of writing, it dealt with things I actually care about and helped me review the tools of our trade. It sharpened some of my pencils, so to speak.
I had the chance to ask Richard Walter some questions over email, and I’m going to share his responses in Q&A form here. Enjoy.
For the full Q&A – visit the blog posting here.
The below posting is an excercpt from Lee Matthias’ blog The Last Reveal:
For the unfamiliar, a “reveal” in screenwriting parlance is the placement of key, revelatory information in a story. Most times, the last reveal is the most important revelation of all.
FADE IN:
INT. TIBETAN MONASTERY – DAY
Through the open entryway, SNOW swirls over a rocky promontory. The HIMALAYAS spike the sky in the distance.
The SOUND of struggling IS HEARD (O.S.). Then a gloved hand holding an ICE HAMMER punches up from below. A PITON is thrust up and to the edge where the hammer pounds it in. A CARABINER with ROPE LINE is snapped in place.
Then, a FIGURE, A MAN, pulls himself up and onto the flat surface and stands.
The heaving, exhausted climber reaches up and removes his GOGGLES.
With effort, he staggers into the monastery.
A MONK sits in meditation before him. After a moment, he opens his eyes, a look of questioning in them.
MAN I seek… enlightenment.
The monk beckons him forward as a DOOR in the wall behind him magically OPENS.
Inside is a SCREENING ROOM, filled to capacity with laughing MONKS. Everyone watches Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? with TIBETAN SUB-TITLES.
At the front, bathed in ethereal LIGHT, is the monastery’s HIGH LAMA, the GURU, RICHARD WALTER. He turns, smiles.
GURU RICHARD WALTER Just… entertain me.
Essentials of Screenwriting: the Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing,
—Richard Walter, Plume, 2010.
From the author’s website:
Richard Walter is a celebrated storytelling guru, movie industry expert, and longtime chairman of UCLA’s legendary graduate program in screenwriting. A screenwriter and published novelist, his latest book, Essentials of Screenwriting, is available in stores July, 2010.
While he may not remember it, Mr. Walter and I were on a screenwriting conference panel in Madison, WI back in the ‘90s. I recall that he was a great guy, an engaging and illuminating panelist, and he even signed and personalized my copy of his first book.
Richard Walter is also a preeminent proponent of screenwriting and screenwriters. While some screenwriting experts aspire to be seen as authorities on the craft, oftentimes limiting and controlling what it is, Mr. Walter facilitates screenwriting, striving to help screenwriters and screenplays become what each can be. The darker side of screenwriting gurus, a group along with its disciples, of whom I have referred to in this space as “the Screenwriting Priesthood,” are all about their own power and control. Richard Walter (and others like him) is only about his student’s potential, and their scripts’ power to affect and move audiences. The Yiddish word, mensch, comes to mind: a man of integrity and honor. He is a screenwriter’s champion.
To read the full posting – visit The Last Reveal.
Interview with Richard Walter, Chair of the UCLA Screenwriting Program
By Patrick A. Horton, PhD
the story coach / wind & thunder productions
I met with Richard Walter, legendary chair of UCLA’s screenwriting program in anticipation of the release of his new book, Essentials of Screenwriting (available in stores now). The notion of interviewing him came up in a telephone conversation about trends in the industry in teaching, creating, and promoting story as well as his impending return as a revered speaker at the Screenwriting Expo in October. I looked forward to the encounter in its own right, and felt privileged to be able to help promote one of the enduringly influential and important voices in our industry – in part because I very much agree with so much of what he has to say and think it important to be heard.
Anyone who has ever spoken with him knows in advance, it was a wide ranging and occasionally careening conversation with an expansive mind at its peak and a heart so full of passion for what he does. He often speaks with hands raised and gesturing as though conducting a symphony of words and images, a genuine love of story filling the room. I share the following portions of that conversation not so much just to promote a single book (as singularly important as it is), but as a reminder of the importance of the voice behind it and as an additional reminder to heed its timeless and timely dedication to story, craft, and the enduring essentials of narrative. All I can say is, you should have been there. This is truly a man who takes delight in story, our industry, and guiding others through their intertwined personal and professional journeys of life, craft, and creativity.
Read the full interview with Richard Walter.
Get on the LOT with Richard Walter – Storyboard Development Group – 20th Century Fox Studios, Monday, Aug. 9
Join Richard Walter as he leads an in-depth discussion at the monthly meeting of Storyboard Development Group on Monday, Aug 9 at 7:30PM at 20th Century Fox Studios (10201 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles). The group, founded in 1981, is dedicated to the mastery of screenwriting and feature film development skills. The screenplay to be discussed is The American adapted by Rowan Joffe (28 Days Later, Last Resort) from the novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth. The film, scheduled to be released by Focus Features on Sep 1, stars George Clooney and was directed by Anton Corbijn (Control). Reading the script ahead of time and pre-registration ($35) is required. For further information contact Scott Burnell directly at 323 205 0773 or sburnell@earthlink.net. Hope to see you there!
Question: Is 3D really the next wave in filmmaking?
Answer: No.
Prior to 1966, some studio films were made in color; many were still made in black and white. After that year, however, ALL studio films had to be made in color. Why? Color TV saturation had reached fifty percent of households. Movie sales to TV represented a substantial portion of the profit for films, and studios calculated that audiences with color TV sets wouldn’t watch a movie in black and white. It was, therefore, nothing about film or audiences but technological changes in another medium, television, that drove film to color.
Today we’re dealing with 3D. When will all movies be produced in 3D? Not too soon. I predict it will occur when holographic moving images, which require no glasses, can be projected. It will, again, not be public preferences that cause the change but technological advances.
Successful 3D movies (for example Up) succeed not because of the gimmicks of their look but the brilliance of their writing. The Toy Story franchise (3D and 2D) was launched not on the basis of the then-new clever animation techniques from Pixar but the brilliant writing. For all their superficial fun and sizzle and dazzle, they are essentially well scripted tales that probe deeply into the nature of existence and identity. I expect that, as in the ‘50s (the last time there was a surge of 3D fare) a number of films now being produced in 3D will be released in 2D, as the fad will by that time (perhaps less than a year from now) have been revealed to be just that: a fad. Audiences are not stupid; they’re smart. They seek not special effects and upscale imagery so much as worthy stories.
Is Your Screenplay Ready to Sell? Find out by attending one of Richard Walter’s Bay area workshops THIS Week – Borders (San Francisco) and A Great, Good Place for Books (Oakland)
Professor Walter asserts that one of the biggest mistakes writers make is to market their scripts before they’re truly ready. If you attend and buy a book at an upcoming event, you will be qualified for a free read of your script by Richard. If he deems it ready, he’ll refer it to a potential representative or directly to a production company. If he feels it is not ready, he’ll send you a letter in which he cites its essential strengths and identifies those issues that in his view require further consideration.
Richard Walter’s Workshops for THIS Week Follow:
Thursday, 7-22-10, 7PM: BORDERS – 400 Post Street , San Francisco , CA 94102
RSVP via Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=134482629920016
Friday, 7-23-10, 7PM: A Great Good Place for Books, 6120 La Salle Avenue , Oakland , CA 94611 , RSVP via Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=139535639407002
If you do not have a Facebook account and prefer to RSVP for any of the above events via phone, please do so by calling Kathy Cabrera, Media Manager for Richard Walter at 310-571-3766.
Thank you! Hope to see you there!
UCLA Professor Richard Walter asserts that one of the biggest mistakes writers make is to market their scripts before they’re truly ready. If you attend one of the upcoming workshops Richard is offering in Los Angeles and buy a book at the event, you will be qualified for a free read of your script by Richard. If he deems it ready, he’ll refer it to a potential representative or directly to a production company. If he feels it is not ready, he’ll send you a letter in which he cites its essential strengths and identifies those issues that in his view require further consideration.
Two upcoming workshops with Richard Walter are listed below:
Saturday, July 17, held at 2PM at:
Samuel French Bookshop – 7623 Sunset Blvd. – Hollywood, CA 90046
To RSVP register here on Facebook. Or if you do not have a Facebook account, contact Richard’s media manager Kathy Cabrera at 310-571-3766 to RSVP.
Wednesday, July 21 held at 7PM at:
Book Soup – 8818 West Sunset Boulevard – Los Angeles, CA 90069-2125
To RSVP register here on Facebook. Or if you do not have a Facebook account, contact Richard’s media manager Kathy Cabrera at 310-571-3766 to RSVP.
