Interview (Part 6): Craig Mazin

Craig Mazin is a successful screenwriter in the comedy genre whose movie credits include RocketMan (1997), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006), Superhero Movie (2008), The Hangover Part II (2011), Identity Thief (2013) and The Hangover Part III (2013). With fellow screenwriter Ted Elliott, he hosted the informative writing blog “The Artful Writer” from 2004–2011. Currently Craig and screenwriter John August co-host the popular weekly podcast Scriptnotes for which the pair recently celebrated their 100th recording.

I recently spoke with Craig about his background, some of his writing projects, the state of the movie business and the screenwriting craft. Today in Part 6, Craig delves into key aspects of the craft of screenwriting:

Scott: Some craft questions for you. How do you come up with story ideas?

Craig: I’m the worst. I’m the worst at it. You mean, like the big idea of a movie?

Scott: Yeah, like a story concept.

Craig: I was like “Oh man, that was my good idea. I get one every ten years.” You just settle into what you’re good at. Some people are starters. Some people are relievers. Some people are closers. I tend to do best when I’m given a concept and a blank slate to start fresh with it again, like with Identity Thief.

Scott: OK, so you get this concept and a blank slate on what to do with it. How much time do you spend on preparing and what do you in terms of brainstorming, character development, and plotting?

Craig: Usually, about a month of kind of breaking the story out into big pieces and little pieces, then scene by scene. I like to think about the theme and characters first, what their problem is and what they need, what they want, what’s wrong with them. What they believe in the start, and what they must believe in the end. I let those things indicate what should happen as best as I can.

Scott: How about developing characters? Are there any tools that you use regularly in terms of developing characters?

Craig: I like to think of characters as struggling with something philosophical. I think we’re all philosophical by nature. I think that we believe things because they’re comfortable and they work for us. Yet, there’s a price for that comfort. I like to think about people who have achieved some sort of state of acceptable imperfection. Their philosophy keeps them safe, but at a cost.

Then I ask, “How could I make them unsafe? How could I force them to confront the nature of their own personal philosophy and whether or not it’s true? What can I do to lead them, or instruct them into another possible way of living? What choice can I give them that would prove their faith in a new philosophy and a new way of living?”

If I can follow that sometimes, I start to see how this character can change. That’s all internal. The external, the things that we see, I really do take a lot from the actor. To me, everything is about casting, and so even if I don’t know who the actor is that I’m writing, I pick one.

Scott: Star‑casting, right?

Craig: Yeah. I want to know who my actor is. I need to see their face. I need to know, do they talk slow, fast? Are they tall, are they short? Are they wired, are they laconic? I need to get some sort of specificity from a person rather than just a name on a page.

Scott: I’ve talked to a lot of screenwriters this year, and several of them said the same thing. They cast it in their minds.

Craig: Yeah, because if you don’t, then when you’re writing the scene there’s just this weird blank‑spaced cipher in it. It’s funny; there’s not a face against which to hold the words accountable. I don’t know how else to put it.

Scott: And so riffing off that, what about dialogue? How do you go about finding your characters’ voices?

Craig: Again, I look at who they are. I think of the actual actor. And then I just listen to them. I think of the actor and I listen to how they talk and I find their rhythms. Hopefully, I can just get to know them. Just sitting in a room with an actor for five minutes will teach me a lot about their rhythms. You start to basically mimic in your mind as you’re writing for that person their rhythms. So I know how Zach Galifianakis talks. I know how he talks when the camera’s off and I know how he talks when the camera’s on. I know how he talks as Alan and how he talks as Zach, but it’s all very informative. And there is a connection. Ed Helms is not Stu Price. But there is a connection. It’s clear, when the camera’s off, and he’s just being Ed, there’s some Stu in there, because he is Stu. You know what I mean?

So I try and pick up on these little things, just little quirks and rhythms and inflections, pauses. Dialogue is a very auditory thing. It’s kind of a musical thing. You just try and get it as best you can, and trust that eventually the actor will deliver it. And if it’s not right when they read it, then we change it so it is.

Scott: You mentioned earlier, when you were very early on in the process of Identity Thief, you came up with a thematic hook in terms of Sandy’s character. How often does that happen, where you land on a central theme of a story early on, versus it emerges as you’re writing?

Craig: Well, I try to have something early on, because I’m not sure how to really begin without it. But I will grant that it evolves. And you just have to be open to it evolving. You have to be open to your story pointing you to a slightly different direction, or a completely different direction. You’re going to have to be open to it. The script that I’m writing right now, there’s a general dramatic argument there and it’s sort of stayed all the way through. It hasn’t changed. And I don’t think it will, at least not through this draft. And that’s the thing that I’d like to protect. If that’s the thing that the studio says, “Well, we don’t like that,” then I think, “Oh, well, I probably shouldn’t be working on this anymore.” Because that’s the “that” that made me do this. So I try and start with something.

Scott: What do you think about when you’re writing a scene? Do you have specific goals in mind?

Craig: There’s a point to each scene. There’s a takeaway. There’s a reason that scene exists. If there isn’t, then you shouldn’t be writing that scene. It doesn’t belong in the movie. So I want the scene to have a purpose. I want there to be a takeaway, and I want that scene to drive me to the next one inexorably. I think of the scene as its own little movie, with a beginning, middle, and end. I think of the scene as having a back‑and‑forth, a shift in the power dynamic. I think of the scene as something in which a character enters on one end thinking or believing or doing one kind of thing and leaving the other end of the scene changed somehow.

I think of a scene as finishing with “so then,” rather than “and then,” and in this way we keep moving through.

Now, scenes don’t always translate to the screen. Sometimes they do. I think about transitions a lot. Not every director is going to follow your choice.

Scott: You’re in a unique position in that you’re not writing spec scripts. Yet, in a way, aren’t you still writing a selling script, so therefore you have to pay attention to things like scene description and make that as entertaining as possible?

Craig: Always. Everything that you’re doing is designed to create a movie. If you write a screenplay that bores the people who decide whether it’s going to be a movie, then it’s not going to be a movie. I want people to enjoy reading the script. The screenplay exists to be converted into a movie. It doesn’t exist to be read by anybody other than the people who will be converting it into a movie. If they don’t enjoy it, then no movie.

Scott: What’s your actual writing process? Do you write every day or sporadic bursts? Do you work in private? Do you go to coffee shops?

Craig: All of the above. I have goals, and I just feel like it doesn’t matter how I get there. If I get there I get there. I have an office. Sometimes I write at home. Sometimes I go to the office. Sometimes if I’m feeling antsy I’ll go write in a public space. Sometimes I write at night, sometimes during the day. Sometimes I write hours at a time. Sometimes it’s 20 minutes. The one thing about me that’s been consistent in the 17 years I’ve been doing this is in eight weeks I’ll have a screenplay. I’m very good that way. I don’t dick around. Knowing that, I can say to myself, “Well, not happening today. Not writing,” Because I know that doesn’t mean the script is not going to get written. The script always gets written.

Scott: Here’s something for you. What’s your single best excuse not to write?

Craig: I don’t need one. That’s the truth. If I don’t feel like writing, then I’m not writing. I mean, there are things during the day that I kind of look forward to, like lunch with a friend. My son plays baseball. He has his baseball practices, and I go out there and I run around and get my exercise on the field, but also I’m avoiding writing. But then I do it. Then I write. For instance, today I haven’t written anything today, but I’m about to. I can just tell. It’s like one of those days where I just know this is like an evening thing where I’m going to sit outside, and I’m going to write four or five pages. I just know it.

Scott: What do you love most about writing?

Craig: Surprising myself. There is a certain strange thing where you are consciously creating something, but then sometimes you’re not. Sometimes just stuff happens. That’s fun, because it’s a surprise. It’s as much of a surprise as a dream. We all dream, and in our dreams things happen that surprise us. But it’s our minds that are creating those surprises. There’s nobody else in there. I like that part. I like the part where I kind of surprise myself with something. I always feel like if I can surprise myself, I have a decent chance of surprising an audience.

Scott: Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?

Craig: Oh man, I don’t know. I’m really enjoying what I’m doing right now. I’m enjoying this moment. I’m enjoying working with directors and meeting really interesting actors. I’m comfortable in the progression I’ve been making. I want to be better. I want to be a better writer. I want to do better work, and I want to make better movies. But I also like what I’ve been doing. In five years I’d like to be doing what I’m doing right now but maybe just a little bit better, or a lot a bit better, you know? But if I’m just the same, that would be okay too.

Scott: Finally, I’m sure you get asked this all the time, but I’d like to hear what you have to say on the record. What advice can you offer to aspiring screenwriters about learning the craft and breaking into Hollywood?

Craig: One piece of advice I always give is don’t spend money on so‑called screenplay consultants and advisers. They’re all charlatans. If they knew how to write screenplays, they would. Read screenplays that you like. Watch movies that you like, and really think about them. Really, really think about them. Don’t be afraid to fail, because screenwriting is constant failure until you get something made, and even then it may turn to failure anyway. Get comfortable with the notion of failure, because it’s a part of our lives. Always remember that there is nothing of value in you other than what is unique to you. Don’t copy. Don’t chase. Just write what you want.

For Part 1, go here.

Part 2, go here.

Part 3, go here.

Part 4, go here.

Part 5, go here.

Craig is repped by CAA.

Twitter: @clmazin.

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