However, last Sunday I had the pleasure to attend another screenwriting event, a lecture lead by Tony Gilroy.
As I did with Susannah Grant, here's a list of his greatest works:
The Cutting Edge (1992)
Dolores Claiborne (1995)
The Devil's Avocate (1997), co-writer
Armageddon (1998), co-writer
Proof of Life (2000)
The Bourne Identity (2002), co-writer
The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), co-writer
Michael Clayton (2007), writer and director
Duplicity (2009), writer and director
The Bourne Legacy (2012), director and co-writer
Nominations and Awards:
Academy Awards Nomination for Best Direction and Best Original Screenplay for Michael Clayton
Saturn Award Nomination for The Devil's Advocate
BAFTA Awards Nomination for The Bourne Ultimatum
BAFTA Awards Nomination for Michael Clayton
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards (2nd Place) for Michael Clayton
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Nomination for Michael Clayton
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Nomination for Michael Clayton
Directors Guild of America for Michael Clayton
Edgar Allan Poe Awards Won for Michael Clayton
Edgar Allan Poe Awards Nomination for The Bourne Supremacy
Online Film Critics Society Awards Nomination for Michael Clayton
Satellite Awards Nomination for Michael Clayton
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards Nomination for Michael Clayton
USC Scripter Award Nomination for The Bourne Supremacy
Venice Film Festival Golden Lion Nomination for Michael Clayton
Writers Guild of America Nomination for Michael Clayton
First of all, Mr. Gilroy decided to give a lecture about the thing he knows the most: how to build an original screenplay.
We have to remember that screenwriting is an imaginative work, and because of this it is unteachable.
This is why it's always good to start from something small and specific. Our characters have to rise from the dialogue.
But here is what made me think the most: to be a good screenwriter, one must know human behaviour, one must have empathy and when writing the outline be able to feel every scene as real. One has to see what he/she is writing.
Tony Gilroy has had an interesting family life: son of a screenwriter who didn't want his children to end up in the industry, and here they are now: three sons, one editor, two screenwriters. Having a brother as a screenwriter, from what I understood during the meeting, is also very funny in terms of working on each other's work, advicing, and especially formatting: Mr. Gilroy described both his brother and him as "formatting freaks."
He sold his first screenplay when he was 30, before he had been doing the most different kinds of jobs, and, especially, that of musician. At some point he realized he could do much better as a writer, however the musician job earned him a great skill, fundamental to the film industry: he learned how to be a very good collaborator, which as screenwriter, and part of the film process, is something one should always be.
A very good exercise he and his brother did was reading screenplays, try to find the most of them, and read, learn through them. In fact, the more experienced you are the more you realize your screenplays become less and less dialogue, and more and more camera work.
During the Q&A he said two things I will add to my quotes Moleskine:
1. We have to get visually excited about what we're writing. (that's the way to make it work)
2. We should be directing every script we're writing before the director.
Last, but not least, his advice on writing action scenes:
This is why it's always good to start from something small and specific. Our characters have to rise from the dialogue.
But here is what made me think the most: to be a good screenwriter, one must know human behaviour, one must have empathy and when writing the outline be able to feel every scene as real. One has to see what he/she is writing.
Tony Gilroy has had an interesting family life: son of a screenwriter who didn't want his children to end up in the industry, and here they are now: three sons, one editor, two screenwriters. Having a brother as a screenwriter, from what I understood during the meeting, is also very funny in terms of working on each other's work, advicing, and especially formatting: Mr. Gilroy described both his brother and him as "formatting freaks."
He sold his first screenplay when he was 30, before he had been doing the most different kinds of jobs, and, especially, that of musician. At some point he realized he could do much better as a writer, however the musician job earned him a great skill, fundamental to the film industry: he learned how to be a very good collaborator, which as screenwriter, and part of the film process, is something one should always be.
A very good exercise he and his brother did was reading screenplays, try to find the most of them, and read, learn through them. In fact, the more experienced you are the more you realize your screenplays become less and less dialogue, and more and more camera work.
During the Q&A he said two things I will add to my quotes Moleskine:
1. We have to get visually excited about what we're writing. (that's the way to make it work)
2. We should be directing every script we're writing before the director.
Last, but not least, his advice on writing action scenes:
- write what you know
- write what you see
- keep it real
- be specific
I was pleased to notice some similarities in explaining how the screenwriter's works during the two lectures I attended. Even though these two screenwriters couldn't be more different, they both underlined the pros and cons of the job, the risks one has to take, but, they both showed the love for their job, which should be everyone's goal in life. Not to end up doing something for money or to please others, but reach what you love because that is where you'll succeed.
I leave you with my favourite quote from The Bourne Identity, and the unforgettable Al Pacino's speech in The Devil's Advocate:
"How could I forget about you? You're the only person I know."
"Let me give you a little inside information about God. God likes to watch. He's a prankster. Think about it. He gives man instincts. He gives you this extraordinary gift, and then what does He do, I swear for His own amusement, his own private, cosmic gag reel, He sets the rules in opposition. It's the goof of all time. Look but don't touch. Touch, but don't taste. Taste, don't swallow. Ahaha. And while you're jumpin' from one foot to the next, what is he doing? He's laughin' His sick, fuckin' ass off! He's a tight-ass! He's a SADIST! He's an absentee landlord! Worship that? NEVER!"
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