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_AOLiveMC2: Tony, welcome ! would you like to
introduce yourself and tell us
_about Screenwriters Online?
_Tony Greco: Hello everyone!
_Tony Greco: I'm the Webmaster of
Screenwriters Online on the Worldwide Web.
_Tony Greco: Our URL is
http://screenwriter.com/insider/news.html
_Tony Greco: We're a professionals screenwriters
resource.
_Tony Greco: Our focus is twofold: how to write
great scripts and how to sell
_them.
_Tony Greco: We publish the SCREENWRITERS INSIDER
REPORT, which is $36:00 per
_year, and it features interviews with
_Tony Greco: major screenwriters, powerful agents
and studio executives.
_Tony Greco: For the people who visit our sight
tonight, we will e-mail them
_an exclusive article, "THE ANATOMY
_Tony Greco: OF A SCRIPT AUCTION."
_Tony Greco: Its a an article in The Screenwriters
Insider Report telling how screenwriters get their screen
play prices up in
_the six and seven figure market.
_Tony Greco: Now, I'd now like to introduce an
extraordinarily talented
_screenwriter WESLEY STRICK.
_Tony Greco: He started as a rock critic for
ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE.
_Tony Greco: He has written some of the best
movies in the last few years.
_Tony Greco: He wrote CAPE FEAR, directed by
Martin Scorscse starring Robert
_DeNiro and Nick Nolte.
_Tony Greco: In the summer of 1991, Strick wrote
BATMAN RETURNS.
_Tony Greco: In 1992, he wrote FINAL ANALYSIS with
Richard Gere and Kim
_Bassinger starring.
_Tony Greco: In 1994, he wrote WOLF starring Jack
Nicholson and Michelle _Pfeiffer, directed by Mike
Nichols
.
_Tony Greco: Right now he is doing THE SAINT for
director Phillip Noyce (CLEAR
_AND PRESENT DANGER)
_Tony Greco: Wesley is the featured interview in
the current interview of
_SCREENWRITERS INSIDER REPORT.
_Tony Greco: He made his directorial debut in THE
TIE THAT BINDS starring Daryl
_Hannah, Keith Carradine, Moria Kelly a
_Tony Greco: and Vincent Spano.
_Tony Greco: There's a lot you can learn from
Wesley, by watching his movies
_and hearing him talk., or
_Tony Greco: in this case, chatting online with
him.
_Tony Greco: Its with great pleasure that I
introduce SCREENWRITERS ONLINE's
_SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR,
_Tony Greco: WESLEY STRICK.
_Wesley Strick: Hi Guys! What do you want
to know?
_Question: Why did the Batman Sequels have two
villians in them, in my
_opinion, wouldn't it be
_Question: better to keep one villian per movie to
develop to its max?
_Wesley Strick: Who would you have cut out,
DeVito or Michelle??
_Question: What pursued or lured you to writing?
Where did you go to school?
_Wesley Strick: I graduated from UC
Berkeley. I was an English major.
_Wesley Strick: I started writing short
stories when I was about 7. My father was my
_editor and he was tough.
_Question: Did you sell your first screenplay, or did
it take you a few?
Wesley StrickI sold my first. I was lucky to have a
friend in LA who already knew
_an agent.
_Question: Do you have the actors in mind when you
write the script?
_Wesley Strick: Often I do. But that doen't
mean they're the actors that wind up in
_the film.
_Wesley Strick: However, it's a good system
for finding specific voices for each
_character.
_Question: Did the FINAL ANALYSIS script go through
an extended re-write
_process? If so, were you
_Question: invovled with any of them?
_Wesley Strick: I was involved with all of
them until the final shooting script. By
_that time, the director
_Wesley Strick: had lost contact with
reality and I consequently refused to do the
_revisions he asked for.
_Wesley Strick: He ended up bringing his
brother-in-law in to write several hideous
_scenes.
_Question: What was it like collaborating with
Scorsese?
_Wesley Strick: A dream. At first Marty was
reluctant to let me watch him direct.
_Wesley Strick: But he broke down and in the end I
sat next to him for the entire
_shoot.
_Wesley Strick: We cracked jokes together for three
months that no one else found
_funny.
_Question: I find it easy to rewrite the work of
others but much more
_difficult to rewrite my own
_Question: screenplays. How do you approach your own
rewrites?
_Wesley Strick: It's painful.
_Wesley Strick: I make a copy on my hard drive of
the previous draft before I start
_in, because I'm always sure
_Wesley Strick: I'm about to screw up the new
draft.
_Wesley Strick: Psychologically that gives me the
freedom to just start messing
_around - and I've never yet gone
_Wesley Strick: back to the old version.
_Question: Do you keep the actors in mind when you
are writing the script?
_Question: When you write something horrible like the
cheek-biting scene in
_Cape Fear (which I
_Question: understand De Niro insisted on?), do you
worry about giving some
_sicko another way to hurt
_Question: someone? (The Money Train issue again, I
guess.)
_Wesley Strick: Yes, always.
_Wesley Strick: I didn't write the cheek-biting,
per say.
_Wesley Strick: You're right, it was DeNiro's idea.
But it came from research he had
_done into the MO's of
_Wesley Strick: serial rapists. Had it just been
included to shock the public, I
_would have fought hard against it.
_Wesley Strick: Even so, it made me nervous; and
the day we filmed it, I composed a
_mental letter of apology to
_Wesley Strick: all the women of America.
_Wesley Strick: Still, I havent heard of any
real-life cheek-biting since then.
_Question: I'm a big fan of WOLF; I've heard Mike
Nichols and Jim Harrison
_fought quite a bit over
_Question: the script. Is that true?
_Wesley Strick: Everyone involved fought with
everyone.
_Question: I have just recieved a Sundance grant for
a script that they will
_help me develop,what do
_Question: you think th chances are for Independent
film?
_Wesley Strick: There will always be independent
film, just as there will always be
_Hollywood.
_Wesley Strick: They are Yin and Yang.
_Wesley Strick: Incidentally, I was a advisor at
Sundance last June - it's a
_wonderful program.
_Wesley Strick: You're in for a treat!
_Question: I find it relatively easy to rewrite the
work of others, but I have
_a difficult time
_Question: rewriting my own screenplays. How do you
approach rewrites of your
_own work?
_Question: Was Arachnophobia your first screenplay?
And are you afraid of
_spiders now that you have
_Question: written it?
_Wesley Strick: Arachnaphobia came late in the game
(at least three screenplays in).
_Wesley Strick: I was asked to rewrite it two weeks
into shooting when the production
_shut down for Christmas.
_Wesley Strick: Because I'm Jewish, I felt free to
take the job.
_Wesley Strick: I have no fear of spiders. If I
was the typical audience member, the
_movie would have made
_Wesley Strick: five bucks.
_Question: Is it more difficult to "recreate" an old
standard like Cape Fear,
_than starting from
_Question: scratch with a new script?
_Wesley Strick: In the case of CAPE FEAR it was
relatively easy for two reasons:
_Wesley Strick: The outline of the story was quite
simple, and the original movie (in
_my opinion) wasn't a classic.
_Wesley Strick: My theory is that people confuse it
with a masterpiece called NIGHT
_OF THE HUNTER, in which
_Wesley Strick: Robert Mitchum also plays a very
bad guy.
_Question: Is there one script where you've said "I
wish I'd written that"...?
_Wesley Strick: Yes.
_Wesley Strick: Chinatown.
_Wesley Strick: Although the proof that I coouldn't
have written it is that,
_twenty-some years later, I'm still trying
_Wesley Strick: to work out the plot.
_Question: Do you research the subject before you
start writing?
_Wesley Strick: Yes. One of the pleasures of
screenwriting is that each project
_becomes a kind of graduate seminar,
_Wesley Strick: and for a few months at least, I
become an expert in something new
_and obscure.
_Question: do you see the trend in films heading more
toward technology and
_away from relationships
_Question: and humanity?
_Wesley Strick: I don't like to forecast trends. I
suppose that techniques like CGI,
_as they become cheaper and
_Wesley Strick: better, become more and more
irresistable.
_Question: How do you discipline yourself to write
everyday? What's your
_schedule?
_Wesley Strick: Because writing is so painful and
boring and horrible, I start
_everyday at 8:15 a.m. (as soon
_Wesley Strick: as my wife drives my kids to
school).
_Wesley Strick: I force myself to keep going
regardless of whether or not I'm
_inspired until lunch time.
_Wesley Strick: On very bad days, I eat lunch at
10:15.
_Question: You write very dark material...did you
have a ruff childhood?
_Wesley Strick: No, but I watched too many episodes
of THE TWILIGHT ZONE.
_Wesley Strick: It's true, my parents have both
asked me 'What did we do to you?'
_Wesley Strick: Perhaps if I really had suffered, I
wouldnt be able to write about it
_so freely.
_Question: How old are you, and does a first-time
screenwriter over 35 have a
_realistic chance to
_Question: break into the business these days?
_Wesley Strick: I'm 41, but I don't look a day over
40.
_Wesley Strick: Of course, who else is going to
break in but a first-timer?
_Question: I have written a book....how on earth do i
get someone interested
_in writing a screenplay
_Question: for it?
_Wesley Strick: Do a mass mailing to the agencies.
If your cover letter is both
_succinct and coherent,
_Wesley Strick: your manuscript just might get
read.
_Wesley Strick: If it's any good, you'll be getting
a call from somebody. I
_guarantee it.
_Question: how important is it in the development of
concepts for live action,
_and the subsequent
_Question: "pitching" of ideas, to have an
accompanying script?
_Wesley Strick: If you have a script, you don't
need to pitch. The script pitches
_itself.
_Wesley Strick: In terms of pitching action, story
boards might be helpful.
_Question: Could you tell me who are your most
favorite horror writers are?
_That is, if you have
_Question: any, otherwise your favorite authors, in
general. Thanks. I
_love all the work I've seen of
_Question: yours.
_Wesley Strick: I don't read horror, although I've
written it.
_Wesley Strick: My favorite modern authors are
Philip Roth and John Updike. But
_neither of them have anything to
_Wesley Strick: do with film. Perhaps that's why I
enjoy them so.
_Question: What did you learn most from writing for
rock magazines?
_Wesley Strick: How to sell all my used
records.
_Question: Where do you look, for the most part, for
inspiration for your
_writing?
_Wesley Strick: All over the place.
_Wesley Strick: I listen to conversations. I
suggest you all do the same.
_Wesley Strick: I read magazines voraciously.
_Wesley Strick: New themes and especially new
anxieties (a great source for movie
_ideas) are always in the air.
_Wesley Strick: Talk radio's not a bad place to
pick up on the current obsessions.
_Question: How important do you think music is to the
cinema?
_Wesley Strick: Enormously.
_Wesley Strick: Certainly Scorsese has a great ear
- he has the most extensive
_collection of music I've ever
_Wesley Strick: seen.
_Question: Did Jack Nicholson or any of the other big
stars in your films
_change much of their own
_Question: lines (or request it) ?
_Wesley Strick: Nicholson had input into the
structure of Wolf (he spoke to Mike
_Nichols, not to me).
_Wesley Strick: But the lines, once written, were
rendered faithfully.
_Wesley Strick: DeNiro, on the other hand, was
always calling me into his trailer
_with a large stock of vague
_Wesley Strick: ideas and a big pot of strong
coffee.
_Wesley Strick: Several hours later, we always had
a more intense and twisted version
_of the scene.
_Question: We all want to be you...are YOU glad you
are you...and what else do
_you want to accomplish?
_Wesley Strick: Actually I'm depressed for no good
reason.
_Wesley Strick: Or maybe I do have a reason. I
want to direct, and the movie I did
_direct got trashed by most critics
_Wesley Strick: Undoubtedly, it will be
rediscovered after I'm dead.
_Question: Who are your favorite screenwriters?
_Wesley Strick: Robert Towne, Scorsese, Coppola,
Polanski, mostly directors who write
_their own scripts as opposed
_Wesley Strick: to career screenwriters (with the
exception of Towne).
_Question: Did you ever have to deal with "Writers
Block? If so, how'd you
_handle it?
_Wesley Strick: I deal with it every day.
_Marigo1014: (1)someone ask him what he thainks about
tarrintino...i can't
_spell it
_Wesley Strick: And as I said, my solution is to
keep regular hours, whether I'm
_cooking or just typing.
_AOLiveMC2: We have time for one more
question.
_Question: What kinds of writing do you do simply for
pleasure, for yourself?
_Wesley Strick: I like to help my kids, Jake and
Sam, with the stories they work on.
_Wesley Strick: Since I haven't written a movie yet
that they can see (they're 7 and
_9), it's the least I can do
_Wesley Strick: and the most fun.
_AOLiveMC2: All good things must come to an end,
and we've run out of time
_folks.
_AOLiveMC2: Our thanks to both Wesley
Strick, and Tony Greco,for such an
_enjoyable evening.
_AOLiveMC2: Thank you too audience for your great
questions. Goodnight All!
_Wesley Strick: Now go to bed, you've got to start
writing tomorrow at 8:15!
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