Write-up of my recent WGA Foundation Q&A
Screenblogger Devon DeLapp was generous enough to type up his notes of my recent Q&A at the Writers Guild Foundation. He did a good job keeping up with a rambling conversation. I only have a few real corrections/clarificatons:
- Go really didn’t change that much from the first draft.
- Charlie’s Angels was a positive experience, but not “a total love fest.” [clears throat]
- My dad died several years before I read Big Fish.
- For Thief of Always, I was fired for a very specific reason: the director and novelist hated my script.
- Drew Barrymore’s relative star power wasn’t the deciding factor on Barbarella; there were complicated studio politics at work.
- “I can beat myself with the best of them.” Well, I probably said that, but it sounds kind of naughty out of context.
- Although I write longhand (a scribble version, followed by a readable one), what my assistant types up is exactly the script, not notes. I’ll try to scan some of these scenes so people can see what I mean.
- “Get job as a writer on TV” — as if it’s that easy. But I really do think that every screenwriter should look at TV as just another screen, and pursue it if at all interested.
You can read the whole shebang here. Thanks again to Devon for putting it up.
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February 16th, 2006 at 5:56 pm
I’m so psyched you posted these. I had tickets to your Q&A for weeks, and then the night before my wife and daughter both came down with 104 fevers. Apparently leaving my family in an ice bath while I go see John August speak makes me a “bad husband,” so I had to miss out. Glad I can see what I missed. Thanks!
February 16th, 2006 at 10:34 pm
“I can beat myself with the best of them.”
“Write up “beat sheet” of things that you want to happen in rough order. Rarely returns to this sheet, and allows organic growth. Don’t feel guilty about not writing a section because it is stripped by earlier change.”
Honestly, John. You disgust me. ;P
It’s nice to have all the short pieces of information that you gave for that Q&A, but with JohnAugust.com it’s especially entertaining, because there’s a story behind it. Sometimes, it makes those things easier to remember later on, by remembering the story.
February 17th, 2006 at 2:18 am
Thank you so much, John. I really enjoyed you at the WGAF Q&A. The Titan AE segment had me rollin’ (”the characters can’t get wet…”) — great stuff. I felt you were very positive and nurturing toward the green scribes in the audience. I left feeling uplifted by your words (which was the total opposite of how another famous writer, who shall remain nameless, left me feeling). I hope you keep pushing for the Zombie Western and Ultra-violent scripts to be made. They sound like a lot of fun! Thanks again. P.S. I had no idea you worked on Blue Streak — I’m not ashamed to say that I love that movie. You are the man!
February 19th, 2006 at 4:44 pm
Hi there! I didn’t know how else to contact you so here i am. First off I LOVED both Charlies Angels, The Corpse Bride, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You’ve got to be my favorite screenwriter of all time. That why i thought i should send you this idea. You do a lot of Tim Burton’s movies and also you are great at turning books into movies that follow the story line well(at least after seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that’s what i think). Have you ever read any of John Bellairs books? There is this trilogy that was written by him in the 70s, the Lewis Barnevelt books. I think that you could do an excellent depiction of The House with a Clock in it’s Walls. A book set in the 50s, it’s got a very gothic feel to it, like many of yours and Tim’s movies. It’s a short 192 page book that you could read in your spare time just to see if you’de like to do it. Well could you please e-mail me at artist4ever2004@yahoo.com to tell me what you think? I’de really really appreciate it.
Sincerely, Miranda Cherie
February 20th, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Dear John,
I just read the notes blogger De Lapp took from your Q&As and I found them extremely helpful. I’m a screenwriter from Spain and lots of unproduced characters are starting to smell on my shelf but I’m still keeping up the good fight whenever I have to work. I believe what you call “beat sheet” is what we call “escaletas”, as all the events in order not very developed? Other extremely good advice is to keep writing when something doesn’t come off easily; on the other hand I would like to know how to get rid of the failure that floats around me when I leave the computer unsatisfied. Fortunately it works both ways. Anyway, I wanted to congratulate you on your wonderful scripts (specially “Big Fish” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”) and also wanted to ask what is for you the most important thing to bear in mind when writing for kids. Thanks for your blog, best regards from Madrid.
February 22nd, 2006 at 8:13 am
John,
Hopefully I’ll get to hear it all live next week here in San Antonio. Got any special tidbits saved up just for us?