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My POV
Brian A. Wilson
BEYOND WORDS INDEED
The WGA-West sponsored Beyond Words: Writers Talk, a panel discussion on Feb. 28 that featured most of the writers nominated for WGA or Academy awards.
In an earlier column, I suggested you attend. I sincerely hope you did so. Indeed, if you were one of the lucky few hundred in the WGA's sold-out auditorium, your life as a writer changed that night.
How could it not? It was an incredible evening of emotion, humor, wit, charm, sincerity, humility, excitement and joy, all provided courtesy of 11 nominated writers and expert moderator Curtis Hanson.
The panel featured the writers of Monster's Ball, Gosford Park, Moulin Rouge, Blackhawk Down, Lord of the Rings, Shrek, In the Bedroom and A Beautiful Mind. Pretty electrifying to be in the presence of that much talent, ambition and achievement.
What struck me about the panel was its similarity to a well-cast movie: no matter your demographic or place in the Hollywood pecking order, you could identify with at least one of the writers on the panel.
It broke down as ten men, one woman. The only "name" in the bunch was Akiva Goldsman. The rest were relative newcomers. Milo Addica and Will Rokos are youngsters in flannel shirts, while Gosford Park scribe Julian Fellowes is a 50-something British gent attired in coat and tie. Akiva has an extensive filmography (some of which, like Batman and Robin, he might like to forget), while Blackhawk Down was the first produced film for Ken Nolan. Gosford Park was Fellowes first script as well. Philippa Boyens, one of three credited writers on Lord of the Rings, had been a playwright in Australia before her connections landed her in the middle of the Oscar race.
The diverse group did share one trait, it seemed to me. They all had unique personal styles, but they had STRONG personal styles. You could see how people would want to work with them. They were all bright, articulate, interesting, and you could tell they all still loved their projects, despite being anywhere from two to eight years downstream with them.
The lessons of the evening are abundant. Here are a few that come to mind:
*You can go from nobody to Oscar nominated in the blink of an eye (after years of toil, of course!).
*Be yourself, but be yourself intensely. People like interesting, intense personalities, whether that's hyper, wry, removed or hilarious.
*As Francis Ford Coppola said at AFM, 60 or so writers write most of the movies we see. However, they don't write everything.
*Good stories find their way to the top, sell and get made. Beyond that, anything goes-from a who-cares-whodunit in an English manor house, to an animated fantasy, to a war movie, to dramas about troubling characters to, of all things, the visual orgy that is the musical fantasy (of all things) known as Moulin Rouge.
*You can be 20 or you can be over 50, and you can make it as a screenwriter in Hollywood. And make it big.
*Hang around successful writers. It feels good, and you'll learn a lot.
With that in mind, mark your calendars for the next WGA event, "Words into Pictures." It'll be held June 6-9 at Universal. That's the next event for writers that could jolt your mind and stir your soul.
Keep writing.
BW
LA
bigtex@loop.com
PS If anybody else attended this event, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.
PPS The WGA taped this event. It might be worth contacting them to see if they'll make tapes available. Check with them at wga.org
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