Screenwriting 101: George Axelrod

“Writing is such a mysterious process for me. For example, I don’t use a computer, because I like the manual feeling of building something with my hands. Someone said to me recently, “Computers are wonderful. You can just push a button and change a character’s name.” Change a character’s name! In my opinion, you’ve got to go to court and throw the whole script out if you have to change a character’s name. The name is part of his identity. When I want to make a change, I retype the whole page. Each time I put something through the typewriter, it gets tighter and cleaner — and better. The first half of any script of mine has been rewritten forty — fifty times. That’s the way you begin to get the stuff to jump off the page.”

 — George Axelrod (The Seven Year Itch, Bus Stop, The Manchurian Candidate)

Comment Archive