Good article on Shane Black
The Los Angeles Times has a long, interesting article on screenwriter Shane Black, whose Lethal Weapon not only kick-started the action genre, but also begat the million-dollar spec screenplay meme.
After considerable success, and a few disappointments, Shane sort of dropped off the face of Hollywood for a few years. He’s a neighbor of mine, but I never met him until the Austin Film Festival — we were on a panel together this year. He’s a bright and funny guy, and easily had the best explanation for how to keep a pitch engaging. Two words: “But then..!”
One thing the article makes clear is that success can have its own perils:
“The biggest task I had to face was managing to believe that I in any way deserved it,” Black said of his swift rise, “especially in light of all the people who had worked just as hard, as strenuously, but to whom it didn’t come quite so easily.”
In many ways, a professional athlete might experience the same thing. The difference is that an NBA player has to suit up and get on the court, while a screenwriter is free to hide himself away. Which is sort of what Shane did for a few years. He’s back with a new movie he wrote and directed, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, which is set to come out in the fall.
You can read the whole article here.
Articles
May 3rd, 2005 at 4:46 pm
I thought Shane was just doing some of that lucrative $150 grand per week anonymous script doctoring I salivate about…good to see him out front on some projects again
May 3rd, 2005 at 4:52 pm
Excellent article indeed. BTW did you want to quote short that you didn’t copy the next paragraph (which is a grand illustration – that’s the least I can say)?
May 3rd, 2005 at 6:04 pm
“But then..!”
I love it. And it also encapsulates what Shane Black’s writing is all about: just when you think a story beat has reached its pinnacle, he always adds another beat to top it.
May 3rd, 2005 at 7:18 pm
Shane has earned a lot of fans around town by being a nice guy, very self-depricating, and very encouraging to aspiring writers. Glad to see him getting some good press. Good luck to him on the new picture.
May 5th, 2005 at 8:29 pm
I met Shane at Austin this past year as well and he’s a fantastic guy. (In addition to his being brilliant and a great writer.) I can only hope he finds success, and happiness, with Kiss, Kiss.
Another one of the patented “Shane” writing essentials is his reversals anecdote. I won’t ruin it by writing it out here because the only way to experience it for the first time is to hear Shane tell it. If you’ve heard it before, you’re probably getting a chuckle just thinking about it. He’s just a great storyteller whether it be on page or in person.
Best of luck to Shane. He deserves it.
June 13th, 2005 at 11:20 am
The next megahit: hit the url above.
Thanx.
January 29th, 2008 at 4:24 am
Johnny-Come-Lately here…
I just saw this post tonight… Three years after it was originally posted!!!
I am a huge Shane Black fan and I would love to read this article, however the link doesn’t work and the LA Times doesn’t have this story in their archive.
If anyone has a copy of this story or a link to this particular story elsewhere on the internet, I would truly appreciate it! Thanks in advance!