Tuesdays with Tom Benedek: “Argo” rises
Screenwriter Tom Benedek, who wrote the hit movie Cocoon, is back with one of his periodic posts, this one about Argo:
Argo is notable for many reasons. It is a movie, a Hollywood movie, but also based reasonably closely to a true story which is complex and political. It is the kind of film the studios don’t make too often these days. Still, I am hoping it will start a trend. The script is excellent. That helped it get financed. Also, George Clooney is the producer and Ben Affleck is the director-star. Those facts may have tipped the balance. However, one must assume everyone believed passionately in the script. If they had not, star power or not, this movie may never have gone forward.
So then what are the takeaways?
Get Clooney and Affleck to produce, direct, star. That kind of thing can always help. However, the Argo script is a classical action thriller with a big difference. Its story takes place in a specific, complex, fascinating political context — Iran during the Ayatollah hostage crisis. We would expect an extremely straightforward, sincere, down the middle, well wrought but possibly somewhat dull, very small “British” thriller to be made about a subject like this. Instead, an American film (which features Canadians as co-heroes of the American protagonists!) we have a script which is populist, character driven, full of heart and soul, robust in terms of the emotional dynamics of all concerned, weaved throughout with wit and some well placed robust laughs. Simultaneously, the pace and hold of the narrative is suspenseful — like a British thriller.
The film binds solid thriller fundamentals with this incredible poignancy. The US State Department workers who are caught up in this hostage crisis and trapped in the Canadian Embassy are so well-evoked — subtle, fascinating characters. They dramatize in simple terms the complex emotions that the abstractly distant yet omnipresent War on Terror” may bring up in many here and all over the world. The heroic rescue is all about them. The rescue itself is thrilling and key character subplot meshes perfectly in the resolution in Act III.
Because the subject matter is so distinctive, off center, there is an injection of freshness to the structure and bearings of the story. It might be considered a Neo-Classic Hollywood film. The writer has taken a complex, unusual subject and treated it in script form as a major motion picture, a Hollywood film — with lots of suspense, laughs, colorful characters — aiming very high and hitting a bullseye. So — go ahead and write a major motion picture script (with all the bells and whistles Hollywood movies ought to have) and make sure it is about something amazing. It doesn’t have to be a true story. But it ought to be a saga we have never seen anything exactly like before. Utilizing the standard conventions of the Hollywood action thriller, informing the audience about a complex historically true chain of events, pushing complex feelings of some of its characters to an extreme, Argo is a daring film about a daring true event.
Starting Monday, Tom will be teaching a 10-day online class called TV: Writing the Original One-Hour Series Spec. Click continue to find out more about this exciting opportunity. Dear Fellow Writers:
The ground has shifted under all screenwriters in the last 5–10 years. Television has gotten much better. As screen size in the home increases, the price of those home theaters seems to shrink. Meanwhile, opportunities for screenwriters are expanding in response.
An original half-hour or one-hour pilot script can be a great calling card for a screenwriter to open many doors in TV and in features. Those 30 or 60 pages have to be potentially great television — a well-structured script with strong characters and a compelling story that could unfold over many episodes.
There is an art to it. And there is a craft. A learnable craft.
Understanding the Pilot form is important for screenwriters today. Managers, Agents, Producers are hiring screenwriters after their reading their 30 or 60 page spec pilot scripts. I have written pilots for CBS and Nickelodeon, have been pitching new ideas for shows for the last couple of years, and have been watching the TV shows I like very carefully. I have been doing research I want to share with you.
Next Monday, October 22, I will be starting a ten day class to immerse you in the process of crafting a pilot script —
In the class, Four Major Executive Producer/Writers-Showrunners share fascinating insights into the medium and their creative processes:
Henry Bromell — Homeland, Northern Exposure
Ed Bernero — Criminal Minds
Blake Masters — Brotherhood
Josh Brand — Northern Exposure, St. Elsewhere
Interview plus Live Online Q and A Session with David Park — United Talent Agency Television Agent-Partner — All your questions about the TV writing business answered
The 10 day class includes:
5 Interview Sessions
4 Posted Lectures
2 Workbook Assignments to jump-start your original pilot script
24/7 Discussion Forums
24/7 Availability of All Lectures, Interviews, Class Materials
TV: WRITING THE ORIGINAL ONE-HOUR SERIES SCRIPT
Here is what writers have said about this class:
“The amazing video interviews with prominent tv showrunners, writers and agents, provide a fount of hard-earned advice and insights that have proven to be insanely invaluable when applied to real-world script and show issues.”
“Tom’s character oriented approach to writing a pilot, reinforced by strong lectures and exercises is a clear and solid foundation for tv writers of all skill levels.”
“Tom is always there to provide a guiding hand or a pertinent question.”
Please consider joining me for this stimulating and fun class!
Best,
Tom Benedek
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