The Day Clint Eastwood Made My Day
October, 12, 2012 3:51 pm | Comments On #Clint Eastwood, Movies, Trouble With the CurveI’ll never forget the day my buddy and former student Randy called me to tell me that Clint Eastwood was going to star in his movie, “Trouble with the Curve.” This was his first script. His dream came true, and it was really happening.
I was sitting in a café doing a dialogue polish for an animated movie (“Tad, the Lost Explorer”) I’d been working on for a group of renegade Spanish producers. The next day, I was flying to London for a dubbing session. Now mind you, working on Spanish animation wasn’t exactly what I thought I’d be doing at this point in my 25-year Hollywood screenwriting career, but I was/am exceedingly grateful to be a working writer. I...
Read MoreMake Your Movie Leap Off the Page
April, 08, 2010 5:20 pm | Comments On #Neil LandauEven the most accomplished, brilliant screenplays are, by definition, unfinished works, as they require a director’s vision to be made whole. Consequently, what you are writing is a written document first, which, God willing, will find its way into the hands of enthusiastic P.W.M.s (People With Money).
You, as the screenwriter, must find a way not only to tell a story, but also to present that story in an engaging narrative style from page one.
1. COMMAND THE READ.
You must develop your voice and attitude as off-screen narrator to lead your reader by the hand through the entire script.
Without mentioning the camera or using any other cinematographic language, find a way to “direct” your movie on the page. Your goal is to make your incomplete movie a complete, satisfying read. Excise all unnecessary...
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Description
Neil’s film and television credits include the cult teen comedy "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead” and the new 3D animated feature “Tad, the Lost Explorer,” on which he served as co-writer and co-executive producer. He is currently working on the sequel, as well as on a new animated movie for the same director.
He’s the author of "101 Things I Learned in Film School" (Grand Central Publishing, 2010). His second book,"The Screenwriter’s Roadmap," arrives in bookstores in September, 2012 from Focal Press. The book features nuts-and-bolts screenwriting guidance from Landau, plus interviews with 21 A-list Hollywood screenwriters, including Tony Gilroy, David S. Goyer, Scott Z. Burns, Billy Ray, Melissa Rosenberg, David Koepp and Eric Roth.
Landau is now working on a new book for Focal Press entitled "The Showrunner’s Roadmap" – on the art and craft of creating, writing, and sustaining episodic TV series – which also includes interviews with today’s top TV showrunners.
Neil is a professor in the MFA in Screenwriting and Producing Programs at UCLA School of Film, Television and Digital Media, and a guest lecturer in the MFA Screenwriting Division at USC School of Cinematic Arts.
