Interview (Part 6): Andrew Friedhof (2015 Nicholl Winner)

Andy Friedhof wrote the original screenplay “Great Falls” which won a 2015 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Andy about his background as a writer and his award-winning screenplay.

Today in Part 6, Andy shares some thoughts for aspiring screenwriters:

Scott: I know you mentioned earlier this idea of character is action and it reminded me just based on your comments of a quote I heard somewhere, that in a novel you’re exploring what characters think, in a play you’re exploring what characters say, and in a movie you’re exploring what characters do. Does that ring true?

Andy: Absolutely, yeah. I think that’s the power of film as a visual medium. The fact that you can have close‑ups on people’s expressions but it’s left up to the audience to connect the internal dots.

A book you can delve into a person’s mind and are given an insight into their psychology. You can’t really do that in cinema. Even with voice‑over it doesn’t really work because audiences absorb and process images much more efficiently than what they hear on the soundtrack. That’s why film is such a fantastic way of exploring a character through action.

Scott: Speaking of a visual medium, that’s one thing that’s very striking about the script, is your embrace of that in seeing the scripts. It’s a very strong visual sensibility and lots of specific and vivid images. How aware are you of that and how much of that is just instinctive?

Andy: That’s something that’s developed over time. You probably noticed for example that I don’t use conventional sluglines in my script.

Scott: Yes.

Andy: I think it’s an act of folly to write a screenplay as though you’re going into production tomorrow. The first thing you should aim for is to provide a fun and enjoyable reading experience for the reader.

What I really want to do with my scripts is take people through the experience of watching the movie. You might have noticed that I often start scenes with close‑ups on objects or specific details in the scene. That’s how films are shot, basically. When a film is edited together they generally don’t start scenes with wide shots of the interior of a room. So it doesn’t really make much sense to start every scene with some variation on INT. ROOM — DAY. For me, it’s really important to capture the energy, movement and spirit of film.

There are quite a few screenwriters who do that already. Those are the screenwriters I admire and those are the screenwriters I’m always excited to read. I want people to look forward to reading the scripts I write.

Scott: This gets back to that screenwriting guru thing, where there are these supposed rules about, you’re not supposed to include camera shots or directors’ lingo and what not, in a spec script. While that is true in a certain way, screenplay format and style has evolved over time, and if you compare selling scripts nowadays as compared to shooting scripts in the ’50s, like the Hitchcocks, in which you’ll have camera shots and the 25‑line paragraphs, camera shot after camera shot…

Yes, that’s true, but if you get caught up on that, you lose the fact that we can still “direct the movie.” It’s a visual medium. That’s one thing that you do very, very well in your script. You’re not stepping on a director’s toes. You’re simply trying to create images in the minds of the reader to help them get into those scenes and to entertain them. Is that a fair representation of what you’re trying to do?

Andy: Absolutely. In many ways the screenwriter is the first person to watch the film. They do that in their mind’s eye. What you’re doing is watching the completed film in your head, and then describing the scene as you see it.

Another thing I’ve also tried to do is put a lot of white space in my scripts as well. I want people to feel a sense of forward momentum when they’re reading. I try to be generous to the readers as much as possible.

Scott: Make it a ‘good read’. It wasn’t this laborious thing that had all of these tons of black ink. It had some white space.

Andy: Yeah. This is specifically relating to spec scripts. If you reach a stage where a script goes into production it’s very easy to add all that technical detail after the fact. But in the initial stages, when your script is circulating around the industry, what people are looking for is, as you said, a good read, a great story and to be transported visually into the world you’ve created.

Scott: What about dialogue? Your characters had that in “Great Falls”, had that wonderful sense of place, subculture, obviously you did your research on that, but beyond that, the individual voices that each of the characters has. How do you go about finding your characters’ voices?

Andy: That’s probably one of my greatest strengths, I think. I have the ability to inhabit characters and get a sense of their worldview and write for them accordingly. One of the things I’ve generally gotten praise for with Great Falls, is that I managed to make each character sufficiently distinct from one another. That comes from having a good understanding of who your characters are. I don’t think you need to write complex back stories for them. You just need to have a certain degree of empathy and an understanding of the psychology of human beings.

If you have that ability it’s very easy to slip into the character and work out how they would respond naturally to other people and situations. I’m not sure whether that’s a skill you have naturally or a skill you have to develop but it’s pretty obvious if you don’t have it.

Scott: How would you define theme? How important is that to you? Do you start with theme or do you find them along the way?

Andy: Often I don’t discover the theme until after I’ve written the initial draft. I think it’s sometimes good not to think too much about it in those early stages because it can tend to make your writing a little too didactic.

It’s better to approach theme a bit more naturally, so you don’t try to wedge it in artificially.

Obviously, “Great Falls” has a central theme relating to the morality of the death penalty. But, as I said, I want people to interpret the material for themselves and reach their own conclusions. If you reach an alternative view from mine then that’s completely fine. That’s why I’m attracted to the medium of film. It’s accessible to pretty much anybody and everyone’s interpretation is valid. As I said, I’m always happy to hear people’s thoughts on any script that I write.

Scott: What about when you write a scene? Do you have any specific goals in mind?

Andy: There are some good rules of thumb I try to follow in terms of getting into a scene late and getting out early. There are only two rules I follow when writing: one, keep it interesting and, two, keep it moving. The second one is important. A lot of people fall in love with pieces of dialogue or expressing their personal opinion through the characters.

It’s important to understand the point of the scene in the wider narrative and character journey and then get to the point as efficiently as possible. Sometimes that can be tough to do especially if you’ve got a particularly funny joke or exchange of dialogue that you’re attached to, it can be very hard to let that go.

I think you need to take a helicopter view and say, is this really necessary to the story I’m trying to tell?

Scott: What do you love most about writing?

Andy: I’m not someone who, as you can probably tell from this interview, loves thinking on my feet. I really like to spend time alone contemplating difficult ideas and developing considered responses. For me, screenwriting allows you to do exactly that. It allows you time to carefully craft a world, a concept and characters that mean something to you and, once you’re happy with them, to present them to others and say “This is who I am and what I believe.”.

I also really enjoy the process of just sitting down and writing. To me, it’s very meditative act.

It’s a very special feeling, creating something you’re proud of and then sharing that with the world. Initially, writing was the way I dealt with my social awkwardness. You are allowed to be whoever you want to be when you’re writing. That’s something that has always appealed to me.

Scott: Finally, this is a question you are more than likely going to be confronted with as you move forward, not that you’ve broken through that membrane and are working away into the business. What advise can you offer to aspiring screen‑writers about learning the craft and breaking it to the business?

Andy: That’s a little difficult to answer because part of me feels like I’m still an aspiring writer in many ways. All I can say is, as I said, read screenplays, watch films, listen to the working screen‑writers, and just keep working. I think that one mistake a lot of writers make is to write one script and then spend 5 to 10 years just trying to perfect it.

What you need to do is write as often as possible, and once you finish your project, after making it as strong as possible, recognize when it’s time to move on to the next one. You need to develop a work ethic and treat screenwriting like a job.

Also, seek out objective feedback on your work wherever possible. For me, that sort of feedback gave me a sense of whether I was improving as a writer and also offered moments of encouragement along the way.

If you’re not getting that sense of forward momentum then maybe it’s worthwhile asking at that point whether screenwriting is the career for you. There’s certainly no harm in at least trying. Look for those signs of improvement and moments of encouragement and keep pushing on.

For Part 1 of my interview with Andy, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Part 4, here.

Part 5, here.

Andy is repped by ESA and Circle of Confusion.

Twitter: @andrewfriedhof.

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