Exclusive GITS Q&A: Pen Densham (Part 2)
Today I continue with an interview I recently conducted with screenwriter, producer and director Pen Densham who has written the new book “Riding the Alligator: Strategies for a Career in Screenplay Writing,” published by Michael Wiese Productions.
ON HOW HE ENDED UP WRITING “RIDING THE ALLIGATOR”
I went to USC and had absolutely no idea what working in that kind of environment was, but I was offered the opportunity to teach the MFA students who were people leaving the academic system building a road into the business world. I was to teach a class on pitching they called, ‘Create Stories and Learn How to Sell Them.’ I looked at the syllabus — I’d never seen a syllabus before — and everybody in the class of thirty was reading the same book on screenwriting. I said that’s a waste of time. I found eighteen books, had the students read them, and each student had to come up and pitch the book they’d read and take the ten most important points of that book and share them with the class. That was my goal, to start a joint infusion of knowledge right away — by reading that book and pitching, they were learning to sell ideas.
What I concluded was there were great books out there, but there wasn’t a book covering the things I wanted to communicate. And so I’d write an essay, give it to the students, get their feedback, and as I realized there was a need for another essay, I’d write that. And so the book sort of assembled itself as I was responding to the things students were giving me feedback on. At a certain point, I had enough chapters to go, “I think I’m going to finish this thing.” So it wasn’t that mountain to climb of “I’ve got to write a book,” but I could certainly write some essays.
Some of the things that motivated me… I had a student one day that panicked and left the classroom. I felt so badly because he was about to pitch and he couldn’t face it. And so I sat down and wrote a whole thing on stress. It was really addressed to that one guy because I realized that what I was now comfortable with [pitching] was still an enormous personal obstacle for him. I sent the essay to him first, then he came in to class the next week, and pitched perfectly.
So the book assembled itself around the needs of my students.
ON WRITING FROM PASSION
If you don’t believe in what you’re creating, no one else will. If you create things where you basically try to copy what other people do, how will you feel when they pass on it? Don’t waste your time. Fight for the things you really believe in and you’ll find your voice doing that.
I fervently believe that because I look at my own successes. The projects I gave up on were the ones where I didn’t feel a personal need to write. I’ve got plenty of scripts that haven’t sold, but more of the scripts I wrote for myself did sell and get produced. The movies that went on to success all came from out of the stories I wrote for myself.
For more information on Pen and his new book:
The book’s website.
Michael Wiese Productions website.
Amazon website here.
More tomorrow from Pen Densham.