Darren Star Event
Darren Star came to my school to participate in this event that it has where a writer (or someone else, I guess; we've only had writers so far) shows one of his or her favorite movies and then discusses it and does a Q&A afterwards. Here are my notes:
Hannah and Her Sisters
- Feels like a novel, very real
- Examines the depth if the human heart and the lengths one will go for love despite how it will hurt others.
- It's thematic; not to many American films are thematic.
- He asked the question of the meaning of life...and answered it! The Marx Brothers are the meaning of life.
- Unlike all the crime shows, Allen shows a more romantic version of NYC.
- SATC comparison: a story about women, searching for love and the meaning of life. Also, the VOs.
Other Allen films he likes: Annie Hall, Manhattan,
Allen was very conscious of contemporary society, edgy even.
Writers he likes : Hemingway (the economy of the way he writes), Phillip Roth (makes him smarter)
Movies he likes: Shampoo (the sexuality of it; not pornography but adult sexuality), Starting Over, The Breakfast Club
TV Shows he likes: Mary Tyler Moore, All in the Family, 30 Something,
He wanted 90210 to be like a 30 Something for teenagers, taking their issues very seriously. Something that The Breakfast Club also did.
How he got going: Sold a screenplay right out of college. He knew the head of drama at Fox, who asked him to write a pilot about a BH high school. He wrote it as a 2-hr movie.
Writing for tv is like what writing for the old Hollywood studio system bc you work so much. With TV, you get better faster and have much more control.
TV is a writer's medium, the top dog is a writer. You're involved in all aspects of production. You're directing the director.
Advice: You have to write and write something original. Express your own voice.
When he's hiring writers, he likes to read both an original piece (a pilot, a play, a feature) and a spec (for a different show, so that he can't inadvertently steal something, a standard practice).
Specs: even when writing hour longs, include humor.
Q&A
Arron Spelling: He was a great mentor. A master storyteller. Great at giving notes.
When sharing scripts, share it as much as you can! But with sharing student films to get noticed for directing, it's not really gonna happen because networks are so tight. Having a short film as part of a writer's portfolio is never gonna hurt.
Writer's assistant jobs: the best way to break into TV writing. You're in the room, taking notes, even contributing. Then you can hired as a staff writer. You could start as an intern to get in the door and network.
Any key words for scripts: make your script look professional, get all that stuff right.
Adapting SATC: he was originally familiar with Candace's column. He loved the title and what it suggested. The column wasn't about 4 friends in NY, but it was enough of a prompt. The column-structure of the series helped give each episode a theme and helped make them stand-alone episodes.
When adapting: finding the essence of the work and adding your style, your voice to it.
With SATC: he wanted to tell a story of these 30 year old women who were not on an immediate path to marriage. (Eventually SATC did get to marriage.)
About SATC movies:
- "Do we speak of the movies?" "We can speak of the first one."
- "After the first one, there just wasn't a lot to say anymore. Don't quote me on that." [whoops]
Girls: Lena Duhman's voice is so strong and that's why it's doing well.
SATC: the halting of the breaking the 4th wall was a natural evolution. It was no longer needed.
Writing female characters: He doesn't differentiate. He thinks of all of them as him, through the voice of the character. They might be more emotional and expressive which is more fun as a writer. And a leap of imagination for a male writer.
When to write ideas and when to not: with a series, you'll have a room full of writers that can vet your ideas and what's worthy. With a pilot, you have to come up with an idea that can last, can sustain your interest and ideas. Your ideas have to have a purpose; you need to have something to say about our world.
Conflict: you always have to have an antagonist. Something must go wrong. Always.
Female writers: he's always had a lot of women on his staffs. This is important for writing female characters and just in general.
- He had this idea to have Carrie get her diaphragm stuck and have one of the girls help her get it out. And Darren needed at least one of the women in the room to say that that could happen.
- You need women in the writers room to validate your ideas about female characters and also just in general.
His favorite character to write: Carrie, bc she's a writer and her voice is a writerly voice.
Before you write: a beat sheet; knowing your characters (FIRST); structuring;
Spec triumphs: must have emotion; the story takes an unexpected turn and the emotion is earned; comedy.
Characters: need a goal, have a desire-->drives a story.
When to stop revising: if you have an outline and a first draft, you show it to others. If everyone says the same thing, take that into account, but trust your instincts.
Difference between working for Hbo compared to a network [This was my question.]
- Cable shows want originally over anything.
- Network shows want (or almost require) formulaic storytelling. Unlike cable shows, network shows must have acts, typically 6 or 7 at that due to commercials. So every 5 to 6 minutes, there has to be a climax and/or building to a climax which can result in artificial storytelling.
- With cable shows, there's no acts and therefore no limits.
- There can be original ideas that break through on networks, like Glee, but most often, the ones that succeed are more formulaic.