The Film Panel Notetaker

Posted by Liz Nord | Twitter: @lizfilm

IFP’s 2010 Script to Screen Conference
Day #2, Sunday, March 21
92Y Tribeca, New York, NY

The Chief Notetaker and I spent a gorgeous, sunny day inside a windowless theatre for IFP’s Script to Screen conference, and it was all worth it for one hour spent with the charming Terry George. The highly accomplished Writer/Director of Reservation Road, Hotel Rwanda, and many others kicked off the day with candor, humility, and forward-thinking advice, beginning with amusing anecdotes of the myriad ways he tries to force himself to write instead of “dithering around.”

What followed was a day chock full of impressive folks, from Peter Hedges (Writer,  What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?) to Brian Koppelman, (Writer, Ocean’s Thirteen), openly discussing their careers and doling out tips to the roomful of both aspiring and accomplished writers and directors. Other than wishing the white dude factor had been better balanced (Out of 12 speakers, 10 were white dudes), I got a lot out of the day and give big ups to Danielle from IFP for her thoughtful programming.

Below are my top 10 favorite pearls of wisdom and inspiration offered up by the Script to Screen speakers (not in any particular order):

1. In writing about real people, the catharsis happens in breaking through the moment when they go from telling you their stories to when they’re telling you the truth. That’s when the script really begins to get written.
   –Terry George
2. The studio system is like a typewriter for us: an old convention. Unless you’re making the UN building turn into a Transformer, you probably won’t go that route, but now we can think outside the studios. The whole Frank Purdue of the business is with us—from the live chicken to the McNugget—we can do it all ourselves, but it is daunting. Think in terms of what you can do within the low-budget  constrictions, taking the smallest budget and location possible, and make it into something brilliant.
   –Terry George
3. You have no excuse not to make your films today. Make your films! They may not actually be made on film, but we’ll still call them films and treat them like films.
   – Peter Hedges
4. The web gives you audiences that are so much more vast, diverse, and eccentric than what you get in the festival and arthouse circuit.
   –Lena Dunham, Writer/Director, Tiny Furniture (Writing for a New Landscape panel)
5. Projects need to be brand-friendly to be funded as web series. Build in opportunities for brand integration, and you might be able to pitch directly to brands to fund your work and cut out the studio, network, or website altogether. [Editor’s note: They gave an Absolut Vodka-sponsored film by Spike Jonze as an example.]
   –Ryan Koo and Zack Lieberman, Writers/Directors/Producers, The West Side (Writing for a New Landscape panel)
6. In terms of sustaining your career, don’t reject everything that comes your way that you don’t like. Instead of immediately rejecting projects, look at each one to see the positive elements and try to figure out how you can rework it and make it into something you do like.
   – Adam Brooks, Writer, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
7. But, learning to say, “no,” is important. When things have gone the best for me, I have listened to my deepest gut and told the stories I had to tell. When I have the story I believe in, I have uncommon strength.
   –Peter Hedges (in response to Adam Brooks, above.)
8. Diplomacy is the single most important skill in this industry. You have to be able to persuade people with money that your non-commercial project is a commercial project.
   –Terry George
9. My acting teacher, the celebrated Sanford Meisner, told me that anything worth doing well will take 20 years to learn. That could be daunting, but I actually found it freeing because we live in a time when everything is expected to move so fast.
   – Peter Hedges
10. You have to jump through incredible hoops to work on the stuff that you’re passionate about, but it’s worth it because then you’re constantly engaged.
    –Brian Koppelman