Oscar Nominated Screenwriters Share Their Thoughts On What They Would Change About Their Films
With the Oscars just around the corner, the nominated screenwriters told an audience of aspiring filmmakers in Hollywood what they would have changed about their scripts if they had a do-over.
In attendance was Straight Outta Compton co-scribe Jonathan Herman who suggested that Compton could've gone “darker and grittier and a little more honest” regarding the past of some of its lead characters. Josh Cooley who co-wrote Pixar's Inside Out suggested that the animated flick "might have preserved a character from early story talks: lederhosen-wearing, irony-spewing Schadenfreude." Other panelists suggested characters who deserved more screen time — Amy Ryan and Sarah Paulson, for example, in their supporting turns in Bridge of Spies and Carol, respectively.
As the panel session went on, some of the writers gave the audience a few tips on screenwriting and craft. They suggested that improv is good; procrastination isn't always a bad thing hinting that Facebook time can lead to reading and then a long nap; the value of research as it added a key plot twist to Spotlight, and persistence with your script will finally get it accepted when all hope is lost. With this point, Carol writer Phyllis Nagy told a story about when she flew to Las Vegas to take up dealing poker for a living, and it was only then, that she finally received the call that her Carol script had been picked up.
As the evening grew to a close, the writers talked more about the lessons they have learned. They talked about trusting their instincts, improvisation sometimes produces better results than the scripted word and always have faith in the audience responding to challenging material.
