Q&A: Tom Benedek, Part 2

We continue our Q&A with screenwriter Tom Benedek, a co-founding partner of Screenwriting Master Class:

You’ve worked with several notable directors and producers. Let’s go through a few of those projects. What did you write for Robert Zemeckis?

I wrote Cocoon completely with Zemeckis in mind. He used to talk a lot about putting a spin on a screen story in those days. Cocoon was about the elderly and extra-terrestrials and existed in the shadow of E.T. which had just been released. I decided to stay away from physical rejuvenation. I wanted the old people to look old and just feel young, have invigorated physical abilities. The comedic/spiritual aspects of the script — I initially envisioned those for Bob to direct. He liked to “go sideways” with plot to create opportunities for visual/character explorations of story.

What did you work on with Larry Kasdan and did you learn anything about the craft from such an accomplished writer-director?

Larry loved “Orange County Red” [an original screenplay written by Tom] when he read it. I had been very influenced by Body Heat. I had been struggling with this Russian spy under deep cover in middle America for a long time. I wanted the movie to have the feel of Hitchcock’s Notorious. After reading and seeing Body Heat, I realized there was a way for me to echo the narrative of Notorious, but shift the context and characterization to make my own emotional statements. Larry’s work on Empire Strikes Back was very inspiring to me. The push he sought from me on “Orange County Red” had to do more with the action scenes — finding ways to show things in more original ways. He forced me to raise the bar on all aspects of the script.

What project did you work on with Martin Scorsese?

Oh. My dinners at Odeon in New York with Scorsese! We worked on “A Winter’s Tale” — the wonderful novel by Mark Helprin. I developed an elaborate story outline with Scorsese for this great period story about a fantasy New York which I pitched around town. But nobody wanted the project. Too big and ephemeral. Very expensive. Simultaneously, I was working on a rewrite of a script for the Zanucks and David Brown — “Shattered Silence” — about Eli Cohen, a sephardic Jew who spied for the Israelis before the 6 Days war. He became a high level official in the Syrian government, was eventually executed by the Syrians and is a national hero in Israel. Scorsese got interested in this project and was attached as director. I found myself filtering this story of identity and betrayal through his unique sensibilities. I love that script. Great experience. Big disappointment when Warner Brothers decided they didn’t want to make the movie. Scorsese went off and did The Color of Money which was great for him at that point.

Tomorrow more from Tom including some back-story on the making of Cocoon.

Tom Benedek has written screenplays for Robert Zemeckis, Lawerence Kasdan, Lili Fini Zanuck and Richard Zanuck, David Brown, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Sydney Pollack, Richard Rush, Harold Ramis, Lauren Schuler Donner and Richard Donner, Ray Stark, Brian Grazer, Working Title, Jersey Title, Jersey Film, Chris Blackwell and many others. He wrote the screenplay for Cocoon, Free Willy and other films.

He is a member of the Writers’ Guild of America, West and the Writers’ Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He teaches screenwriting at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor where he is a James Gindin Visiting Artist. Tom is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he received a Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration in Film.