Why This is Good

Well it’s been a screenwriting saturated three days at the Expo. This is the third time I’ve attended, though I wasn’t there last year or the year before. It was wonderful to go back and refresh myself by being totally immersed in screenwriting for three days straight. I heard some amazing talks from teachers I’ve heard before such as Michael Hauge, of course, and Karl Iglesias and Linda Seger. I also got to listen to a few people I haven’t heard before who were equally knowledgeable, including Victoria Wisdom, Dara Marks, Pilar Alessandra, Linda Cowgill, and Paul Gulino. One of the highlights of the Expo was the interview with William Goldman and John Cleese. These two men are both icons and legends in the entertainment industry, and their insight into the craft and career of screenwriting was inspiring. John Cleese, of course, was funny, and he played off of William Goldman’s dry wit and pessimistic outlook with hilarious results. William Goldman was a bit dismal about the future of screenwriting and the abundance of terrible movies being made to target teenage boys, but the writers I spoke too seemed optimistic about their futures, many had made contacts during the pitch fest and met producers, agents and managers interested in their work.

There was one theme that ran through all of the lectures I attended and seemed to reaffirm what I believe about screenwriting. Everything depends upon your story. Agent and manager Victoria Wisdom assured us that “If you write it, they will come.” In his lecture on pitching, Michael Hauge pointed out that in the history of Hollywood, no one has ever turned down a great story because the pitch was bad, or the writer was nervous. Conversely, no one has ever bought a terrible story because the pitch was so good, or the writer so calm, cool and collected. Pitching your ideas and getting your story read are major parts of your career as a screenwriter. If no one reads your script it doesn’t matter how amazing it is. But the absolute most important thing is creating that amazing story, writing something that captures your audience and elicits emotion from your reader. If the story is bad, no amount of persistence or marketing skill can help it. If the story is good, your sales techniques aren’t important.

If you’re anything like me, you’re really excited about the re-release of Toy Story 1 & 2, and not just because I’ve been into 3D ever since I saw Captain EO at Disneyland back in the 80s. I’m excited because both Toy Story movies are great.

It’s not often that a sequel is as good as the original, let alone better.  The failures of sequels that are either box office flops, and or critically panned, are numerous-recently Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, though it had a good showing at the box office, was a terrible movie. I’d attribute it’s opening weekend box office success to Megan Fox, and the die-hard fans who went to see it just because it was part of the franchise they’ve been enamored off since they played with Transformers back in the 80s (we sure were impressionable kids back then!).  There are certain franchises-such as Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Ice Age, Lord of the Rings, Twilight, Batman and X-Men, that are going to garner audiences who are into the characters, or just feel they have to see all of the films to fully appreciate the story, whether the films are good or not. Other movies come out of nowhere and have to rely on their own merits to get an audience.

Toy Story was the first feature length computer animated movie, and that alone made it stand out, as we’d never seen anything like it back in the stone-age that was 1995. I’ll put it in perspective for those of you having trouble remembering back that far. In 1995 cell phones were just a little sleeker than the one Zack Morris toted around (or for my younger readers, the one the Free Credit Report.com guy gets), I mean you still had a huge retractable antennae, the dot com boom was just beginning, Amazon.com, Ebay, Internet Explorer and Hotmail were brand new, and you could get a gallon of gas for under a dollar. But all the dazzling special effects in the world can’t prop up a bad story, and Toy Story was phenomenal. It incorporated all of the core principles of screenwriting.

From the moment he comes to life, Woody is an active, sympathetic hero. He’s clearly the leader, in charge, everyone likes him and he makes things happen. The toys panic at the thought of being replaced by new toys from Andy’s birthday party, but Woody, the eternal favorite, is calm and cool. Their fears are validated when Woody’s special place on Andy’s bed is taken by his new toy-Buzz Lightyear. This changes everything for Woody, as he has to contend with Buzz for his place as Andy’s favorite and as leader of the other toys, who are equally enamored of Buzz. Woody is then faced with trying to rescue Buzz, despite overwhelming obstacles and the limitations that come with being a toy. It is remarkable, really, that the writers were able to make such an active hero out of an inanimate object. They also do a great job of continually challenging the hero. Nothing comes easily for Woody, even (SPOILER ALERT) down to the last second, when Woody lights the rocket with the match Sid provided (a great example of Chekov’s gun-see my post from 9/18/09) and a car drives by and blows it out. They don’t give him an inch, making his struggle much more engaging and compelling. Nothing comes easy and Woody has to rely on his wit and determination to accomplish his goal.

In Toy Story 2, Buzz is the hero, and must save Woody from a crazy toy collector bent on shipping Woody and the rest of the round up gang to a museum. As in the original, Buzz, like Woody, is challenged at every turn, things go from bad to worse, and he has to remain active throughout the story in order to accomplish the goal of bringing Woody home safely.

I highly recommend going to see the double feature, the 3D is fun, and seeing both movies in a row is a treat. Take kids if you have them, but adults will appreciate both films, and make sure you stay for the “bloopers” during the final credits.

Just as I suspected, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has maintained its popularity since it debuted.

Read the Variety article here.

Popularity is often, though certainly not always, a good measure of how well a story is told. Movies are meant to speak to us, to say something about the human condition, and life, in a way that we can all relate to. That is why it is important to get your audience to identify with your hero, so that they will relate to him or her and go through the journey together with the hero. A popular film, gauged by box office success, is one the speaks to the largest number of people, meaning it successfully utilized the elements of storytelling in a way that allowed viewers to simultaneously experience emotion while going through the hero’s journey. An unsuccessful film often fails to build empathy with the hero, or lacks a theme or a universal truth about life that everyone can relate to and accept as true, whether or not they have personally been through the experience the hero has been through.