5 WAYS TO BECOME A SCREENWRITER

Background analysis of 5 popular screenwriters

Is it necessary to study screenwriting to become a screenwriter? Yeah, I know you may be thinking that it’s a stupid question with an evident answer, but I assure you that it is not for everyone. If we made a poll, the opinions would probably be quite different. The main reason is that the word “study” is very broad, and can be taken in different ways. On the contrary, the word “need” is very restrictive and it usually causes rejection. The combination of words makes us start internal debates. The solution, as always, is in the nuances.

Today we bring you the background of some screenwriters who studied film at university versus the ones that skipped that step. This way it will be easier (and more fun) to understand these nuances.

MATT AND ROSS DUFFER (“STRANGER THINGS”)

Since they were at school, The Duffer brothers wanted to go to the university to make movies. So as soon they got out of there, they started applying to the universities with the most prestigious film programs in the United States. These included the University of Southern California (USC), the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the New York University (NYU). Finding a university where to start creating wasn’t easy for the brothers since they were rejected several times. Another of the additional problems they had was that in some universities they weren’t allowed to work together, something that has always been a priority for both them. If something has been very clear for them from the beginning, is that they are a pack, a solid team, and neither of them seems to have any interest in working separately.

Finally, in 2003 they started studying at Chapman University located in Orange County. From there, they keep very good memories. One of the things that they highlight about the university, is the practical side and how similar the shooting sets were to a real one (obviously on a smaller scale). Chapman also pushed its students to internships. And here, the brothers were very smart and didn’t intern together but divided forces. They knew that internships were a valuable resource for creating contacts, so they went different ways and then shared their contacts with one another. And through these connections, they found an agent.

When they graduated in 2007, they had already shot several short films and some of them had won several awards at different film festivals. However, the path to fame wasn’t immediate. The brothers have publicly confessed that they would have appreciated someone telling them that no short films would lead them to produce a film. Truth is that some filmmakers have a false impression that creating short films can make a producer consider them which, generally speaking, is completely false. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean that they have no value. Making short films is a way to practice and gain experience in the field. It may not be the best vehicle to make a film but it’s a good start.

After several disappointments, their big break was in 2011 when Warner Bros acquired one of their scripts, “Hidden”, a post-apocalyptic thriller. However, they didn’t know what to do with the film and it ended up being released in 2015 by VOD. M. Night Shyamalan read the script, liked it and hired them to write some episodes of “Wayward Pines” a Fox TV series. Then they started pitching “stranger Things at several studios but they were rejected more than 15 times until, finally, the bell ran with Netflix.

The Duffer brothers were very lucky to know what they wanted to do from the beginning and to find a university that offered them just that. Both knew that they wanted to be able to work together, that they wanted to start making movies as soon as they started college, and that creating contacts was essential to their future. In fact, they refused to study at Florida State University because the first year wasn’t as focused on film as the rest of the year and they wanted to start making movies as soon as possible. Perhaps one of the keys to take advantage of college is having the determination and finding the right one.

BRYAN WOODS AND SCOTT BECK (“A QUIET PLACE”)

Let’s go with another duet. They are not brothers but friends since they were eleven. By that age, they started shooting short films (wow! It sounds familiar to me…) and when they finished school they started communication studies at Iowa University. One of the things they valued most in college, is that others valued their work and provided them with constructive feedback on it. In the end, it preps you to accept the criticism you will surely receive in the future.

Unlike the Duffer brothers, they didn’t specifically study film because they wanted to study communication in a broad sense while they kept developing as filmmakers, for example, reading scripts and shooting short films. And it worked for them. In fact, the idea of “A Quiet Place” came out while they were studying there. There they were shown the silent films of Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Jacques Tati. Both were fascinated by the way these films had to convey emotion, how it explained so much about the characters through the pure image and the use of sound as a mechanism to tell stories. Another class about non-verbal communication was useful to show them how many things people communicate without saying a word. This, mixed with their passion for genre movies, was the foundation of “A Quiet Place”.

After graduating in 2007, they moved to Los Angeles where they had several meetings where they pitched different projects. They wrote more than 30 scripts before becoming professional screenwriters. After being rejected numerous times, they decided to focus on a project that they could do themselves and that, above all, they were passionate about. Therefore, they rescued the idea of “A Quiet Place” and, although it wasn’t easy to sell a script without dialogue, in the end, Paramount bought it. That project was crucial in their screenwriting career.

The two friends may not have studied in a film program per se but studying communication inspired them to keep working on their projects as screenwriters. Their passion for screenwriting is one of the things to highlight about the duet who found a way to express themselves and accept constructive criticism at university. College is a vital moment in our lives that will never happen again. As Beck points out, sometimes we tend to underestimate its lessons that go way beyond the books and that shapes us both personally and professionally. That, especially in the screenwriters’ case, goes hand in hand.

NICOLE PERLMAN (“GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY”)

The career and background of this screenwriter seem relevant enough to highlight her. In case you didn’t know, Nicole Perlman was the first female screenwriter to get a credit in a Marvel movie. But I don’t think it’s relevant just because of that, but because I believe that many students who are studying film at university right now and some industry professionals who once went to university could relate to her.

Perlman comes from a family of writers. Since she was little, she had always been interested in writing, participated in contests and was a complete science fiction geek. She went to New York University to study Dramatic Writing and ended up with a double major in Film Production.

However, in a Script Magazine interview, Perlman is opposed to some aspects of her writing program at NYU comparing it with other positive aspects she heard of USC. For example, during the time that Perlman studied in the NYU, both the film and screenwriting programs were held in the same building, but the two programs were never mixed. This makes the students have a less realistic experience of the profession since a big part of it consists of collaborating with directors, producers, and screenwriters. Moreover, as Perlman points out, college is also about making contacts that could be useful for you in the future. Therefore, this way, you minimize your opportunities instead of taking advantage of it. I strongly believe that many people that have studied film at college share a similar experience.

Unfortunately, some of the film programs offered today are not entirely focused or specialized in it. This doesn’t mean that you don’t learn absolutely anything but it means that there are always some programs that are more suitable than others depending on what are you looking for. For that reason, it’s very important to be well informed about the different film programs. Make a list of your priorities. For example, if you know that you would like to begin shooting right away, don’t choose a program where the first two years are shared with other communication degrees because you’ll be disappointed.

Nonetheless, in the interview, Perlman is happy with her overall time at the NYU. And she should be. While still in college, the screenwriter wrote “Challenger” a biopic about her idol Richard Feynman a physicist who helped create an atomic bomb and investigated what happened with the Shuttle Space Challenger. She graduated in 2003 and in 2005 the script started to get Hollywood’s attention. That was the project that opened the doors of Hollywood for her but also her first big disappointment because, despite getting great directors and cast attached to the project, it didn’t come to an end. However, she started getting more projects.

In 2009, she had a general meeting at Marvel Studios where she was offered to participate in the company writing program that, unfortunately, no longer exists. It was a two-year program where its screenwriters had to dive into the Marvel catalogue and try to make one of them work as a feature film. With Perlman’s background in the space, she quickly chose “Guardians of the Galaxy”. When the program had ended, Marvel hired her as a freelancer to keep writing the script and, together with James Gunn, wrote the Marvel movie. It was a complete success.

QUENTIN TARANTINO (“PULP FICTION”)

And with him, things radically change. As we all know, Tarantino has always been a film fanatic, but he has never been a huge fan of attending classes. During his youth, he probably spent more time watching movies than studying. In fact, he dropped out of high school when he was fifteen. He started going to acting classes and continued watching movies during his spare time. His mother and he lived in the suburbs of Los Angeles and his financial situation wasn’t great, so Tarantino had several jobs, one of which was to work as an usher in an adult movie theatre.

His first serious job was in a video store called Video Archives where he happened to meet Roger Avary. That period of time was probably the trigger of what will come next. It was there where Tarantino watched thousands of movies and where he started to really learn about making movies. He shot his first short film, “My Best Friend’s Birthday”, which cost him three years and $5,000. Half of the movie was burnt in a fire. Tarantino has repeatedly referred to the short film as a learning experience. Then he wrote “True Romance” or “Natural Born Killers”. In 1990, Tarantino started working in Cinetel, a production company where he was able to give to director Tony Scott the script for “True Romance” which was sold for $30,000. With that money, Tarantino planned to make the film “Reservoir Dogs” shooting in 12 days and with the help of his friends. Among those friends, producer Lawrance Bender stood out. Thanks to him and, after the script went through some other contacts, the budget increased to 1.2 million dollars.

In 1992, the movie premiered at Sundance Film Festival and, while it wasn’t a big success in the United States, it’s the film that made Tarantino popular in Hollywood and all over the world. “Reservoir Dogs” was a clear statement of intent from the director and screenwriter who shortly after won an Academy Award for best screenplay with Pulp Fiction and catapulted Tarantino to fame.

Without any finished studies, Tarantino managed to become one of the most famous celebrities in Hollywood. However, several factors must be taken into consideration such as the fact of living in Los Angeles at that time, the charisma of the director and his undoubted passion and obsession with movies. Tarantino started writing movies without knowing how to make them. Practice, his personality and the desire to create something unique were what got him opportunities. I guess the main question is what would have happened if Tarantino had gone to film school but, although you can speculate about it, we will never know. What is clear is that Tarantino is a perfect example that there are other available options to become a great screenwriter but all of them depend on your efforts.

AVA DUVERNAY (“WHEN THEY SEE US”)

Let’s go with another wonderful woman with an unconventional background. Ava DuVernay went to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) but she didn’t study film but graduated in English and African American studies.

During her time in college, she did her internship on the CBS News just when the O.J.Simpson trial was taking place. However, her journalist career didn’t last long because, when she graduated, she started working in marketing and even launched her own PR agency in 1999. Through her company, she worked in television campaigns where she had the opportunity to watch Steven Spielberg, Michael Mann or Clint Eastwood working. There is where her interest in the film world started growing and, without thinking it too much, she started writing and shooting documentaries.

In 2006, she wrote and directed her first short film “Saturday Night Life”, then her first short documentary came “Compton in C minor”. After some other documentaries, the BET network hired her to direct “My Mic Sounds Nice”, a documentary about the history of women in hip-hop. She then wrote feature films such as “I Will Follow” and “Middle of Nowhere” that went through several film festivals and the latter won the directing award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Here Duvernay began to become popular and with the film “Selma” and the documentary “13th”, she became one of the best screenwriters to defend African American rights and criticize racial injustices, especially, in the United States. Last year Ava Duvernay, who isn’t afraid of anything, even dared to create a miniseries, “When They See Us”. In addition to receiving 16 nominations at the Emmys, she was praised and critically acclaimed by the critics.

Here we have the case of a screenwriter whose career did not start with film. However, her achievements don’t come out of anywhere. Besides her 15 years of experience in the PR industry as a film publicist, she has read the scripts of hundreds of films and series, she has attended some screenwriting classes and she also has read several screenwriting books to get to know the script structure, its mechanisms and know where to begin with. Ava Duvernay has always been a strong advocate of the “DIY” philosophy.

BUT… DO I HAVE TO STUDY OR NOT?

The answer is quite simple, YES. To become a screenwriter you HAVE TO study and prepare for that. However, do you have to study in screenwriting/film program at university? NO, you don’t need it. As we always tell you, there isn’t an exact formula for success. We have gone through diverse cases: we have seen how the Duffer brothers loved their film program, Woods and Beck, two film lovers, studying communication studies instead of film, Perlman reluctant with some film programs, Tarantino that doesn’t care about film school and DuVernay who didn’t touch a camera until she was 35 years old. And all of them studied film. Not all of them went to university but each one of them in their own way studied how to create movies. Writing a script is especially complex and it requires study and theory to know its mechanisms. It is not necessary to use the most traditional way of study. If we analyse closer the background of these screenwriters, they have some things in common:

· Film passion

· The use of short films as a learning experience

· A disappointment list (and its corresponding acceptance stage)

· Contacts

Films programs are great and they’re a very useful tool to establish connections, have an idea about what you may find outside and train. But you must choose wisely since not all of them may be appropriate for you. Another thing to take into account when you study in a film program is that it’s your chance to get practice and that, a lot of times, it only depends on you. Passing your subjects is not enough you must have your own projects to practice and take advantage of time. If you don’t have the resources or the desire to go to college to study film, don’t do it. Luckily, screenwriters have many great available options for self-study. From seminars to online classes, workshops, labs, etc. available to future screenwriters. In the end, everything is about finding a balance between theory and practice.