Update: Go Into The Story Interviews

Two things about interviews I conduct for this blog. First, one of the earliest goals I had with Go Into The Story was to use it to put a spotlight on screenwriters. This pertains to the weekly Screenwriting 101 series featuring writing quotes, the How They Write A Script series, aggregating audio, video and written interviews with literally hundreds of screenwriters and TV writers. It even extends to little things like Daily Dialogue: The only credit I note in each of those posts is “written by” or “screenplay by”. No disrespect to actors or directors, it’s just they always get publicity. Writers? Largely invisible. Which is ridiculous because I happen to believe the single most critical creative contribution to a movie or TV series is the script.

I know it’s not much, this humble blog directing attention onto writers, but at least it’s something.

So in that spirit about a year ago, I was talking with Franklin Leonard and he had a great idea related to the interviews I had been conducting with writers: Why not ask them for a head shot or preferred photo to accompany the interview posts? What better way to pierce through the veil of relative anonymity most writers have in Hollywood than by putting a face to a name.

And that’s what we’ve been doing: At the end of the series, I collect links to all of the interview posts, and include a photo of the screenwriter so everyone can see this name is not just a movie credit or a on the title pages of a PDF screenplay, but is attached to a real live flesh-and-blood person.

Now we’ve gone one step further. With big props to Wendy Cohen, GITS development assistant, and Dino Sijamic, the technical wizard behind all things Black List, we now have an updated GITS Interview archive with photos of most of the interview subjects. So click on the link and feast your eyes on the creative beauty of this group of screenwriters, TV writers, filmmakers and industry insiders.

The second thing: This summer, I basically had to temporarily shut down doing interviews because I have been so damn busy, but as September rolls around, I am gearing up to do a new round of conversations about the craft of writing.

Which raises the question: Why do I do this? After all, it is quite a bit of work. I don’t ask a series of fluff questions, rather I screen movies and read scripts of the writers I interview, and try to generate in-depth questions I hope writers, both aspiring and professional, will find illuminating and inspirational. And that answers the question: I do it because most of the journalistic attempts at interviewing writers may be well-intentioned, but if the interviewer doesn’t really have much understanding or appreciation of Story, they’re not likely to ask questions that would be of much educational benefit for GITS readers. That’s what I try to do. Ask questions about the creative process, story choices, and the craft.

I’m not a journalist and I’m learning as I go along, but I’ve gotten enough positive feedback from readers and, frankly, the writers I interview, that what goes on in those conversations is of value to people.

So starting next week, I will be reaching out to a list of writers I am putting together who I either know or have some form of access to, many of them recommended by readers or other writers, in order to set up interviews through the fall.

That said, if you are a professional screenwriter or TV writer, you enjoy the type of interviews I do, you support the idea of sharing with others your insights into the craft and creative process, do not hesitate to reach out to me privately via email, or if we follow each other on Twitter, direct message me.

I try to interview a wide variety of writers: Those who have recently broken into the business, Black List and Nicholl Fellowship writers, established writers, veteran writers. I am especially keen to feature women and writers of color because I believe it is important to promote diversity in the creative arts.

So again, if you are WGA member, have had one or more movies produced, or have won the Nicholl Fellowship or had a script make the Black List, and you would like to contribute to the online conversation about the writing craft, please get in touch with me to discuss a possible interview.

In addition, one thing I’d like to do with this next round of interviews is open up some of the questions to GITS readers. So as I firm up the schedule for this fall, with the writer’s permission, I will post an invitation to readers to pose questions to each writer I will be talking to. I’ll pick the best questions from the lot and do my best to work those into the conversations.

Let me close by saying I have learned a lot by doing all of these interviews and this in particular: By and large, writers are incredibly passionate about their craft. It is genuinely exciting to hear them discuss their projects, their approach to Story, and their love for movies and TV.

If nothing else, I hope readers can absorb that enthusiasm and use it to spur their own creative efforts.

Onward!

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