Screenwriters Roundtable, Parts 1–6: Chris Borrelli, F.
2011 Screenwriters Roundtable
My conversation with screenwriters Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Jeremiah Friedman, Nick Palmer, Justin Rhodes, Greg Russo, and John Swetnam.
Between them, they have sold more than a dozen spec scripts and have multiple original screenplays on the Black List. Here is the 2011 conversation featuring Chris Borrelli, F. Scott Frazier, Jeremiah Friedman, Nick Palmer, Justin Rhodes, Greg Russo, and John Swetnam.
Entire Roundtable Conversation
If you haven’t had a chance to read all or part of this roundtable, now’s a great chance to do so. It flew around the online screenwriting community as well as much of Hollywood, and each part offers terrific insights into what it takes to be a professional screenwriter.
We were also fortunate to have several of the roundtable writers answer questions in each post’s comment section. Here are a few:
Meetings are usually either a “general” which means the exec liked your writing but has no specific project to hand you or one that is specific to a project they are working on, and hopefully looking for a writer. No matter what, you should have SOME idea what the company has produced but plan on finding out more as you sit down = what they are looking for right now, the exec’s tastes, etc. Leave the more impolite questions you may have for your reps = do they self finance or have a development fund, etc. The only other prep you should do, what you should be doing anyway, is have a few ideas ready if the conversation turns to what you want to do next, etc. I would say don’t overthink these meetings, some are close useless — just an exec filling out their schedule or hoping to stumble on the Holy Grail of an idea — but others are worth it. Lastly, many of these meets seem like a waste of time but in my experience, when “Sad Jack” went out in December, nearly all the producers that fought for territories were people I had met with in the last year or two. So there is a kind of lagging benefit to going on them. — Christ Borrelli
As far as serendipity vs. talent, I feel you have to both, but the ratio is different for every person. There are so many factors in building a career, you never know what you’ll need on any given day. That being said, I am a firm believer that the cream does rise in this business, and having that lucky break will only go so far. If you suddenly find yourself with an “in” because of your cousin’s roommate, if you don’t have a good script to back it up, you’re dead in the water. — Scott Frazier
In my view, genre and structure are the places where you don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel. The tropes are there because they provide a grammar the audience speaks and can use to understand your story. What hopefully isn’t cliché is the unique perspective, handed down in the voice of your character, on whatever situation your structure demands of your protagonist. It’s fine to have a meet cute in a romantic comedy, because, after all, they do have to meet. But what transmutes you from someone going through the plot motions to someone who’s creating a genuine emotional experience in your audience is the choice to experience these moments from a singular point of view. For me, that’s how I’d define voice, and that’s actually what people pay you for. They don’t pay you for structure; they can buy that for $15 from Syd Field. — Justin Rhodes
For more Go Into The Story interviews, go here.