Interview: Roberto Bentivegna (2012 Black List) — Part 6

Roberto Bentivegna’s original screenplay “The Eel” landed the writer on the 2012 Black List. Combining elements of noir and dark humor, the script offers an entertaining tale featuring compelling characters in the quirky subculture of a town on the border of Texas and Mexico.

Roberto was kind enough to agree to an interview and we had a wide-ranging hour-long conversation in which we covered a lot of territory related to screenwriting and movies. I will be posting the whole interview over the course of this week.

Today in Part 6, Roberto discusses his writing process:

Scott: What about your actual writing process?

Roberto: I would say that if I am not writing every day, I think about writing every day. I’m reading, watching, worrying. If I’m doing something else, I’m feeling guilty about it and I’m always thinking about what I’m going to write tomorrow.

When you actually sit down to write, you get a lot of stuff done, but the problem is getting to that point where you have enough material in your head or on paper, enough confidence in the idea, that you can just take the six weeks or whatever, the two months, and write a whole script. And then of course re-write it several times.

The moment leading up to that can take a while. It can take weeks. It can take months. Ultimately it comes down to being 1000 percent sure that you’re going to be excited and that it’s going to work. You have to at least believe that it’s going to work, otherwise the whole time you’re going to be like, “Oh, shit, this is going to suck.” [laughs]

Scott: I post writing quotes all the time, basically obsessed with them.

Roberto: Me too, by the way.

Scott: Paul Rudnick said that 90 percent of writing is procrastination…

Roberto Only 90 percent?

Scott: Writing isn’t just sitting on a chair and pounding away on a keyboard. Obviously you’ve got to get there, but it’s also everything else that leads up to that.

Roberto: I can’t write at home, and I get very distracted at coffee shops. The place that I’ve found that’s most conducive to me is a writing space, a writing room. I go in, I pay a monthly fee. I was a member of one in New York City. It’s called The Writer’s Room. It was phenomenal. You go in, and there are all these serious novelists and journalists and screenwriters. Some of them were actually pretty big names. There was an inherent pride when you were sitting down at the computer and not having Facebook open and not being on YouTube looking at lasagna recipes because you knew that Sapphire, the author of “Precious”, would be walking around. Lawrence Block would be walking around. And they’d take a peak at your screen. So then I would think, “OK, I have to write. I have to show off that I’m writing and not looking at recipes.” But for me that’s been the best place to write because you’re with other writers. There’s a great energy in the room, there’s this communal creativity that’s going on. It’s a sanctuary.

You’re also not being distracted by people. You’re not talking to people. If you want to talk to people, you go to the kitchen, you have coffee, and you socialize. For me that’s been wonderful. It’s like going to the office every day. That routine is so important because our craft risks being very unstructured.

Scott: Have you found a place in LA that is comparable to the place in New York?

Roberto: There’s a couple of them on the West Side. The best work I’ve done in LA has been at these places, and for us writers, being in a conducive environment is everything.

Scott: I’ve got one last question for you, Roberto. It’s the obvious one for all those aspiring screenwriters out there. What advice would you offer to people, who want to be doing what you’re doing, who want to work as screen writers?

Roberto: All right. I will say this: always remember how much you love movies. Always remember the movies that you grew up on, that you obsessed about, that you watched over and over again. Remind yourself of those movies when you’re writing your own movies and when you’re struggling to get your stuff out there, to get it read. Because the people who made those movies were in your shoes at one point. They were probably looking at the movies that they loved and it’s a vicious circle of inspiration and of motivation, and I think that that’s true of any creative endeavor. Look at The Beatles and Elvis. They were obsessed with Elvis. John Lennon used to say that’s why he got into rock ’n’ roll: because as a kid he watched Elvis on TV in Liverpool. I think you have to let yourself breathe a little bit and not get too bogged down with the business and all that.

There’s going to be up and downs, but the main thing is always go back to those movies that you loved as a kid, the movies that gave you the bug, and remember that ultimately you’re trying to do something that’s almost impossible, and you’ve got to love it. Extinguish the self-doubt with passion. I think most people who actually get there, they do it because they keep reminding themselves of how much they love movies.

Scott: It’s something I don’t hear referenced very much, but it’s a really good point. Remember your cinematic roots, those touchstone movies, where it really just moved you to fall in love with the whole narrative form.

Roberto: The Scorsese film, Hugo, did you see that film?

Scott: Yes.

Roberto: I was crying like a two year old in that movie. That long flashback of Melies when he was a young filmmaker, filming with his wife at their huge glass studio.

The magic of filmmaking, the innocence of his dreams. It moved me because it’s something we can all relate to as filmmakers. Remember that crazy idea that you had of announcing “I’m going to make movies” to the world. Keep reminding yourself of that to keep you going through the tough times. And don’t skip dessert.

Please stop by comments to thank Roberto for taking the time for the interview and post any follow-up questions you may have.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Part 2, go here.

Part 3, go here.

Part 4, go here.

Part 5, go here.

Roberto is repped by CAA and Madhouse Entertainment.

Thanks, Roberto, for the interview. We look forward to tracking the progress of your unfolding screenwriting career!

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