GITS birthday suggestion #1: Interviews

GITS has its first birthday on Saturday. One of the main reasons I started this blog was to create an online resource center for screenwriters, aspiring and professional. Many readers have been visiting the site for much of the year, but I’ve had a spike in unique visitors in the last 2 months (the site now averages about 800 UV’s a day), and it occurs to me that some of the newer readers might not be aware of the resources available. So every day this week, I’ll spotlight something you can do to immerse yourself in and enhance your understanding of the craft of screenwriting.

First, have you checked out the interviews? Currently there are over 70 video interviews featuring such writing luminaries as Tom Stoppard, J.J. Abrams, and Callie Khouri. They range from short interview excerpts, like this one with Guillermo Arriaga to in-depth interview, like this 5-hour session with James L. Brooks to magical Internet finds, like this piece on Francois Truffaut.

Then there are over 20 written interviews including Q&A’s with The Coen Brothers, Scott Frank, and Quentin Tarantino.

There are several paths toward screenwriting ‘enlightenment’ and one of them is listening to and reading interviews with working writers. Back in the late 80s when I first broke into the business, I would literally type up notes from the interviews I came across. In fact, I’m still quoting from those notes in my screenwriting classes today and on this blog.

Here’s the deal: You never know when something a writer says will gobsmack you.

You never know. It could be something incredibly simple or complex, something about character or something about plot, something about their personal writing habits…

You never know when something you read or hear may connect with your Creative Self… and set you on a whole new approach to writing.

Here’s an example — and I’ve mentioned it before on this blog. I read an interview once with Robert Towne and he said something to the effect, “One of the best ways I’ve found to zero in on the essence of a character is to ask them, ‘What are you afraid of?’”

What are you afraid of?

I have used that “advice” for decades — because it makes so much sense. We’re all afraid of something.We all have fears to varying degrees, minor issues to major phobias to existential terror. Doesn’t it make sense that if you dig into a character and learn what they’re afraid of, you will discover not only that essential aspect of who they are, but how they gone about constructing their psyche to avoid their fears?

And I learned that by reading an interview with Robert Towne in a book.

Over the course of the next year, I’ll be adding both video and written interviews. A request: If you find some that I haven’t featured here yet, please email them to me (scottdistillery@gmail.com). I’ll happily give you a h/t. And you’ll get a healthy dose of positive karma as well.

But in the meantime, you’ve got nearly 100 interviews here on this site waiting for you to listen to or read them.

Video interviews here.

Written interviews here.

Go. Seek. Learn.


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