Interview: Chris Borrelli (2009 Black List) — Part 5

Christopher Borrelli, who wrote the 2007 Universal / Gold Circle horror thriller Whisper and co-wrote the 2009 Fox / WWE action film The Marine 2, sold the spec scripts “The Vatican Tapes” [Black List] to Lionsgate and Lakeshore in 2009, “Wake” to Hammer Films / Exclusive Media Group in 2010, and “Sad Jack” to Code Entertainment in 2011. In addition he has worked on the remake of Bad Influence for MGM, an adaptation of the French horror film ILS (“Them”) for Gold Circle, a live-action series “Necessary Evil” at the Cartoon Network with partners Jonathan Davis and Max Burnett, and has a blind deal at Focus / Rogue. In 2012, Chris adapted Joe Hill’s “Twittering from the Circus of the Dead” for Mandalay Pictures.

In April 2013, “The Vatican Tapes” was greenlit for production with a July 15th start date. In May, Chris agreed to terms on the sale of another spec, the announcement is forthcoming.

Today in Part 5, Chris shares some insights into his approach to the craft of screenwriting:

Scott: I’d like to ask some craft questions. You start your process with characters. How do you go about developing your characters? Any specific tips or tools you find yourself using regularly?

Chris: Well, do you know the quote it’s always that either the times make the man or the man makes the times? To me it’s your character and it should be something you don’t have to think it thorough. You don’t have to be thinking this every moment you’re writing. In the beginning, your character should be the perfect character for the story you want to tell. By perfect, I mean he or she is challenged, he or she may have a skill that’s necessary so that they can succeed where others would fail.

Scott: What about story concept? How do you develop story ideas.

Chris: This is a challenge, because to me it’s really so much about the story. There’s a fair amount of really good screenwriters out there…there’s always a shortage of really good stories. But the more you train your brain to look for stories…to put two things together, that haven’t been put together before…to read up on articles…to do research in what’s coming out in science, or art, or looking back to stories from 1,000 years ago…myths, fairy‑tales.

The more knowledge you have, the more the stories will come. They’re still elusive. There’s not an easy answer for it, but you just get better and better at it. Right now I have a few stories I want to tell, and I’ve had times, even when I started to have success as a screenwriter, where I felt like I had no story to tell, and I had to search.

It’s frustrating, because you don’t feel you’re necessarily making process when you’re reading and searching for it.

It’s something you should always be doing, in my opinion. You should always be open to ideas and stories. I have an idea file. I look back over it and it’s 400 pages long of different ideas. I’ll try to put them together.

There are a lot of tricks to it. The number one thing I say to a writer is being open to different ideas. When something interests you, you write it down and maybe you go and look at it three months later, six months later.

Maybe there’s an angle on it you haven’t seen. Thinking about your favorite films, is there a way that you could take some of your favorite films and match them up with another kind of film?

I’m open to films that aren’t my favorite films. I’m interested in creature movies from the ’50s, if it has something there. I read a lot of short stories from the 1930s, some of them. It doesn’t matter to me.

I’m always searching for that idea and it’s a way of training your mind to be open to it. It’s not easy, but they will come.

Scott: How important do you think the story concept is to the overall viability and commercial prospects of a spec script?

Chris: I think it’s number one because it doesn’t mean it has to necessarily always be the most high concept idea ever. To me, it is about the story because otherwise, you have, no offense to anyone, but you have a writing sample. If you take it and move into it, it isn’t much of a story, but you put love into it, you put your character, you put great dialogue into it, that might get you a re‑write job, that’ll get you some meetings.

To me, to really sell something, I’m always thinking, what is the story, because the person behind the desk is thinking, what’s it about? The person who’s two years later going to see the movie, who’s not in our business, they’re asking their wife or their boyfriend, whatever, they’re saying, “What’s it about?”

That to me is the number one thing, and that’s what some of your time as a writer has to go to, is being open and searching, and sometimes it’s hard to search for something…it’s always hard to search for something where you don’t know what it is. But you’ve got to be open to it, and in some ways the ideas can find you.

Scott: How about prep writing ‑ brainstorming, character development, plotting? How much time do you spend doing that, and which of the aspects to prep do you tend to devote the most time to?

Chris: Well, that depends. Some of the actual writing actually happens when I actually write. I can be a little trigger‑happy to just start writing, but sometimes it works for me too. It kind of goes hand in hand. I won’t set out unless I have a general idea of the three‑act structure. If I’m working with somebody, they’ll have at least a three‑page, two‑, three‑page outline. At the same time, I’m taking a pitch out soon here, in the next week or two. It’s more than 20 minutes long. That’s what it has to be. I know it sounds very long. But with where we’re going, what we’re doing with it, people really want to hear essentially every detail of it. That’s not my favorite way to write, but sometimes it’s fine for a pitch.

I always think what the theme is, and I’m always thinking, what’s the emotion I’m trying to convey and get across, and what’s the fun of the movie? Even if it’s a dark horror movie, or sometimes in a drama, what’s the fun, what are the moments?

I have my own little system, and it’s a little goofy, but I have my $12 test, which is, whatever the price of a movie ticket is, is what my test is. I’m really trying to think about people spending money to go see this movie, that they get their money’s worth. It’s a funny, very basic way to do it, I realize, but that there are enough moments that either shock them, excite them, make them laugh, whatever the emotion you’re trying to get across, at the end of the movie, they’ll feel they get their money’s worth. As base as that sounds, it does help me and it is something I use.

Scott: That’s so funny. I have my own test. I call it the Barcalounger test. Is this moment, this scene, this sequence or whatever, is this enough to motivate someone to get their ass off the Barcalounger, drive down to the theater, and actually see it?

Chris: That’s great, I love that too…I love that too…absolutely. You know, a lot of writers think trailer, which I do too. I think of what the trailer’s going to be, but I don’t let any of that stuff cripple me, I don’t let any of that stuff stop me from wanting to write, and wanting to write what the basic story is. If my log line, for myself, is too sentences and not one, I don’t mind. I don’t really like execs that think that somehow it’s got to be exactly one, or two is too long. People fall for these hard and fast rules, and it can hinder you creatively.

I’m just open to what the story is, what the emotion is, how much fun is it, and the customer…are they going to get what they paid for, and is it going to be worth it to them?

Scott: You mentioned theme…what do you mean by theme?

Chris: I know there’s a very basic definition for it. For me, I would almost say, what am I trying to say? What am I trying to…and there is something I’m trying to say, in whatever I…and sometimes there’s multiple themes…one will stand out for me. But I keep it in mind as I write, and again, I love to work in genre, but I still will have that thing in the back of my head, of kind of say something about the characters, human condition, something we can relate to, and so I use it.

At the same time, I would agree in a lot of cases, if you don’t have a theme as you write, then you are writing blind. I think that is a fair statement. Sometimes the theme presents itself. Usually other themes present themselves as I write, and I’ve had a theme or two change as I write, but still become something I care about…I want to say.

That’s the jumping off point for me…something I care about…something I want to say.

Scott: What about dialogue? What do you think are some of the keys for a writer to develop their ability writing dialogue?

Chris: There are a couple of easy, quick ways, which is that basic idea that most of your characters have to have their own unique voice. So when you have that funny line you want to put in somewhere, and it doesn’t fit with one character, you shouldn’t be able to just change it to another character…they should sound different enough. But really, to me, dialogue, a little of it is an emotional, inherent thing. I like listening to people talk. I have a very funny family, and there are some gems I get out of them. I almost collect it sometimes and then I change it to fit my writing.

But for me, it’s just like an ear you have to have for dialogue, you should be listening and open. But the really, really quirky cool dialogue, you don’t need to do on your first pass. You really, again, you’re a screenwriter, so you’re really trying to get that story across. It’s OK to put in temp dialogue and then try to make it sound as cool as possible.

Except for like, for instance, Mamet might do, except for that, really, I’d say story is first and the dialogue serves the story. Not the other way around. I’ll see that, too, in younger writers, where they really wanted to put in some lines and they really want to have these scenes and they think this is funny or interesting or quirky or cool. But if it doesn’t serve the story, it’s just noise.

Tomorrow in Part 6, Chris provides more tips on the screenwriting craft.

For Part 1, go here.

For Part 2, go here.

For Part 3, go here.

For Part 4, go here.

Please stop by comments to thank Chris and ask any questions you may have.

Chris is repped by WME and DMG Entertainment.