Written Interview: Tom Schulman (“Dead Poets Society”)
The Blu-Ray edition of Dead Poet’s Society was released this week. Rocio Anika at I Am Rogue interviewed its Academy Award winning screenwriter Tom Schulman. Some excerpts:
I read that you wrote the script about your own experience at an academy, so have any of your feelings, thoughts or impressions changed toward the film’s story since 1989 and does it still resonate for you?
Schulman: Well, the movie really captures something about youth and being young at heart but also that precariousness that comes with being young and impressionable. I think it would still resonate for me. I’m still as bullish as ever on the notions that ideas can change the world, and that we should try to live as boldly and creatively as possible.
Out of all the characters in Dead Poets Society, which one do you identify with the most?
Schulman: Todd (Ethan Hawke). In high school and through much of my twenties, I was the shy kid, terrified of public speaking. I’ve heard a lot of cliché writing advice in the past. “Write what you know” or “Don’t write unless you would rather die than do anything else.” The funny thing is, both of those statements are very true!
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Are there themes in your own life and work that you’re conscious of, or do you try to keep your own paradigm separate from the script and the characters in it?
Schulman: Often when I start writing a story, I’m not aware of how it directly relates to my own life. But as I continue to write, I almost always come to realize that through the writing — through my choices of theme, characters, etc. — I’m working out a problem or issue I’m struggling with in my own life. I think that often the inner journey of the main character in the script and the inner journey of the writer dovetail.
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I read that you like to outline in full your scripts before you draft them, how detailed are we talking?
Schulman: As I recall, Dead Poets had a 130+ page outline. But on average, I think a thirty to fifty page outline is optimal: long enough to know exactly where you’re going, short enough to allow for surprises and happy accidents along the way.
The next time you get sick of me harping on how professional screenwriters break their story in prep, just remember that Tom Schulman won an Oscar for Dead Poets Society which had a 130+ page outline!
For more of the interview, go here.
HT to Mikal for sourcing this interview.
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