Cinephile Interview Series: Screenwriter Jim Mercurio

1. Q- What were the most challenging parts of writing your book?

A- “There was a good and bad challenge. The bad… someone should have told me that writing a book is hard. A lot of my material was adapted from topics I have spoken or lectured about before. It’s effortless for me to talk on and on. The page is a different medium. To turn a topic into the final words that are set in stone without the visual aid of seeing the film was challenging. The grind of polishing, refining, and finessing became quite, well, a grind. It’s a reminder of just how unfun rewriting can sometimes be. The fun challenge was that I approached each chapter from a fresh perspective. I wanted to find “my way” to explain each topic. My only research was to watch movies and scenes and think about them. The chapters work as stand-alone topics that are, not only novel compared to other approaches, they are different from how I have taught similar material in the past. Each one is a new, and hopefully thought-provoking, exploration.”

2. Q- What are, in your opinion, some of the most important screenplays to read if you are a young writer, or just starting out?

A- “There’s not necessarily a definitive list. But know that reading screenplays -- and I mean a lot of them -- is essential. Make sure that your list is balanced in several ways.
Balance old and new, classic films, and popular movies. Pick a handful on the AFI top 100 list. Try a few from each genre. How can it ever hurt to read The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Network, or your favorite Woody Allen and Billy Wilder script? I’ve also heard some good things about Chinatown and Citizen Kane.
But read Shane Black, Andrew Kevin Walker, Diablo Cody, and the guy with the fun style who wrote The Babysitter Brian Duffield. You might even pick up some style tips from William Goldman and Tony Gilroy. Want to learn about high concept, read every Leslie Dixon script. Want to delve into high-concept comedy? Mix it up with old and new. Something like Philadelphia Story, The Apartment, Harold and Maude, Tootsie, Annie Hall, Big, Working Girl and Crazy Rich Asians. Do as I say, not as I do. Did you see how I failed to include any low-brow comedies? Challenge your biases.
Read Avatar, genre-y scripts, and then also read smaller stories that might seem less cinematic or narrative driven: Wong Kar Wai, Lost in Translation, Moonlight, Lady Bird, Tangerine. And why in the world haven’t you read Little Women and Parasite? As of a few weeks ago, they were all over the web.

Another balance. Make sure to read plenty of scripts for movies that you haven’t seen yet. Reading a script for a movie you haven’t seen requires you to develop the skill to “see” a film in your head and imagine the dialogue coming to life from the words on the page alone. One last contrast. In addition to reading great scripts, read some bad ones. You can learn what not to do, but you might also be inspired. Many writers I know have taken on the challenge “Hey, I can do better than that” and succeeded.”

3. Q- What was the first script you ever wrote? What was is about? Why was that the first one?

A- “It was called It’s Nothing Personal and, ironically, it was about the most personal thing in my life. My first few scripts were like a form of therapy. They were a way for me to work out and understand something important in my life. Maybe that’s why most of them were dramas.

The scripts I write now still have some deep resonance for me, but as my craft developed, their importance comes out in less straightforward ways in varied forms: animation short, dramedy, or a straightforward juvenile, R-Rated comedy.

First time writers should write the script that they are passionate about regardless of whether it seems practical or commercial. They will need that to persist onto rewrites which will help them to develop their craft.”

4. Q- My blog focuses on the theory of film and the importance of independent, and arthouse, cinema. Do you have a favorite international, arthouse, or independent film? What makes it special to you personally?

A- “I was a bit of a film snob in college. I am pretty well-versed with the canonical “important” films. As I get older, I am more comfortable with admitting that sometimes watching those films feels like “eating your vegetables". I like finding profound resonance in surprising places. Dreamlife of Angels had a modern sensibility, a sense of authenticity and the same vitality of the French New Wave. The Israeli dramedy Late Marriage had my all-time favorite sex scene -- even trumping the famous one in Don’t look Now. I think Midnight Cowboy was sneakily subversive for a mainstream Hollywood film (and surprisingly full of dark humor).

In the 90s, I worked in development for the producer of Allison Anders’ first few movies and was inspired by that indie movement which included movies such as Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Do the Right Thing, Gas Food Lodging, Dazed and Confused, Metropolitan, Poison, and Reservoir Dogs. We were trying to make Blue Valentine more than 20 years ago. Those films gave me hope (maybe false hope) that I could make movies of similar scope and personal subject matter. It’s exciting to see that torch carried by today’s filmmakers (often writer-directors) such as Noah Baumbach, Barry Jenkins (Moonlight), Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha, Ladybird), and Chinonye Chukwu who wrote and directed Clemency which won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2019.

And for the record, how awesome is it that Parasite crushed the Oscars?”

5. Q- There aren’t as many female screenwriters reaching the kind of acclaim they deserve. Do you have a favorite female screenwriter? What do you think makes her vital to the current landscape of cinema?

A- “I don’t want to make this about me, a guy, picking a favorite or winner. There is such a wide variety of awesome women’s voices out there. Lena Dunham and Phoebe Waller Bridge have voices and craft that inspire me to be better and more honest in my writing. What’s not to love about Little Women, Lost in Translation, The Farewell, Frozen River and Juno? Speaking of the brand that is Diablo Cody, now that I have tamed my inner film snob, I can admit my anticipation for her adaptation of Alanis’s Jagged Little Pill as a musical.

It was exciting to see Krysty Wilson-Cairns share the Oscar Nomination for 1917 — her first feature credit. There have always been great females screenwriters out there. Even the women who seem to be coming out of the woodwork now have been paying their dues for years. Being an overnight success sometimes takes decades. Greta Gerwig had almost a dozen credits as writer, director or producer, before she directed Ladybird. Cat Vasko (Queen of the Air) and Stephany Folsom (Toy Story 4) have had scripts on the Blacklist for more than half a decade.
Here is a list of women filmmakers everyone should pay attention to and for writers to be inspired by.” :
https://nofilmschool.com/2015/07/68-films-directed-women-you-cant-afford-miss?fbclid=IwAR2Y09ykZInVueYEC2caLgS643nHmFrC-bihyH7PEAhEVN6by4T02m4gdMI

6. Q- Not matter the genre, what do think is the most critical aspect that can make or break a screenplay? Can it even be just one thing?

A- “ “Can it even be one thing?” You gave me quite a setup. A screenplay should never be just one thing. If it is merely one thing, that’s what breaks it. I want writers and their scripts to be dimensional, whole, full. I encourage my students and clients to choose a script that they aren’t quite ready to write. Let the process of writing it push them to grow into the writer they need to be to nail it.

Don’t be only a film-snob. Don’t be only a Michael Bay junkie. Don’t limit your script to just deep stories with somber and hefty themes. Don’t limit it to just being a mindless roller coaster ride. Embrace character and story. You can be familiar if you also innovate. Be fun and entertaining. Be smart. Commercial films that didn’t lack in smarts: Silence of the Lambs, Training Day, BlacKkKlansman, most Pixar films, Shawshank Redemption, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and The Social Network. Smart films that weren’t boring: Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Frozen River, Parasite, Pulp Fiction, Carol, Amelie, and Sex, Lies and Videotape. What is Silver Linings Playbook first? Commercial or smart?

I try to put money where my mouth is. My dramedy/drama is faster and funnier than it needs to be. My silly Judd Apatow-like comedy is smarter than it should be.

Think about movies you love. How do they create dimensionality? Surprise its audience? Avoid just being one thing.”

7. Q- Having worked in the industry for so long, what are some creative and social shifts you’ve witnessed? Do you think the creative landscape has changed for the better over the years?

A- “My low budget movies haven’t found a mainstream audience, but I have had a silent hand in helping several clients have commercial success in projects such as Seven Pounds, Boardwalk Empire, and Captain Marvel. I feel like I work in the indie world and alongside the “Industry” with the capital “I”. I spent decades involved in the screenwriting education niche (a columnist for Creative Screenwriting Magazine, director of more than 40 educational DVDs, author of The Craft of Scene Writing, and contest coordinator who has given away more than $100,000 in cash awards to aspiring writers). I have seen the screenplay spec market change drastically. Studios are focusing on jillion dollar movies based on pre-existing franchises and intellectual property, so there are fewer spec sales nowadays. My book The Craft of Scene Writing, the first-ever screenwriting book that focuses solely on scenes, is relevant to this generation of writers because it emphasizes execution. It’s not enough to have a cool concept. It’s a big advantage if a script is ready-to-go out to actors or directors who are the linchpin of the packaging process. I wonder if the studio’s current buying habits may have discouraged the next generation of potential screenwriters from committing to this as a career. Fifteen years ago, the Screenwriting Expo peaked at more than 4,000 attendees — mostly screenwriters. A few years later, it ceased to exist. I participated in a big writing conference a few years ago, there were less than 500 screenwriters. This is anecdotal. It’s not clear evidence that the talent pool has shrunk, but it’s a precipitous decline.

Writers should adapt and begin to look at storytelling craft as a portable skill that could serve them well in other media such as UX, gaming, blogs, advertising, transmedia and other content creation in surprising ways.”

8.Q- During these interviews I always ask what your favorite film is and why. What kind of emotional or artistic significance does it have for you?

A- “I have the classical answers: The Godfather, Chinatown, Annie Hall. Bicycle Thieves is probably my personal favorite from the old school, canonical, European masterpieces. Here are some movies that I have found as eternal sources of inspiration: Midnight Cowboy, Breaking Away, Sideways, Night of the Hunter.

As you see, I don’t like single item answers. But if I had to choose… I would say my favorite movie is probably Annie Hall. It deals with things I am interested in; relationships, love, psychology, neurotic protagonists. It also does a lot of the things I like; it’s a combo of old and new, it’s innovating and transcending a genre, it’s surprisingly structured (with inseparable form and content), it’s also very “meta”. It definitely holds up now, but I think about what it was when it came out. I strive to figure out what would be the modern-day version of “my” Annie Hall.”

9. Q- What are your plans for the future as an author and a screenwriter?

A- “Not sure that I have another book in me as an author. Maybe a follow up to The Craft of Scene Writing. Advanced topics, scene analysis, and more diverse examples. The challenges of indie distribution and production have pulled me away from directing and producing this last decade. I have focused on being a journeyman writer. I am currently shopping a feature and a pilot. As I playfully and pompously announce once in a while, “I did write the book on scene writing”, it’s not unrelated that a big part of my voice is audacious scenes, great dialogue and showy set-pieces that function as actor bait.

When you find your personal voice — the stories and execution that only you can create — you will have a deep desire to express it. Despite the frustration that production has been from a business perspective, I feel like Pacino in The Godfather III: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” I have only directed and produced other writers’ scripts. The need to tell stories in my voice is creeping back into my consciousness. I could see taking the deep dive into directing a micro-budgeted feature of my own script in the near future.”

I would like to thank my good friend Jim Mercurio for sitting down with me for an enriching discussion about films and screenwriting. Jim is truly one of the masters of the craft. I encourage you to check out the links provided below.

More Information on Jim and his Work:

Amazon link to Jim’s book: The Craft of Scene Writing: Beat by Beat to a Better Script: https: //www.amazon.com/dp/1610353307/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LkyxEb3PXHY7T

Website: http://www.jamespmercurio.com/

Jim’s DVDs: http://www.jamespmercurio.com/order-now.php

Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AListScreenwriting/

Twitter: @AListScreen https://twitter.com/AListScreen?s=09