Friend or Foe - Working with Directors

Moe Owoborode reports from the first in a series of events about writers collaborating with directors that took place at the Writers’ Guild Centre on Monday 21st January 2008.

Olivia Hetreed, Chair of the Guild’s Film Committee introduced the session to a packed audience of writers and directors.

The panel, chaired by Screenwriter Phil O’Shea were:

• Laurence Coriat, writer of three Michael Winterbottom films including Wonderland and the innovative Seven Days

• Tony Grisoni who has worked with directors including Terry Gilliam, Michael Winterbottom, Jon Amiel and Gillian Armstrong, and has scripted a fantastic slate of films including The Lives Of The Saints, In This World and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

• Rupert Walters, a writer with extensive Hollywood experience whose credits include Restoration, True Blue and the forthcoming The Nutcracker, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky.

Why is there a sometimes antagonistic relationship between film directors and screenwriters?

Laurence Coriat and Tony Grisioni both said they’d had mostly good experiences but Tony argued that the problem is directors are not being encouraged to examine, read and interpret screenplays. They tended to deconstruct instead and not know how to put them back together again.

Rupert Walters contrasted the situation with the US where the main job of movie directors is reading and working on screenplays whereas he found that British directors moving from TV over to film often have no experience or training in how to work with a writer. On most British TV dramas there is little contact between the writer and director as the script work is done by a script editor. He felt that directors need more training on how to collaborate with writers because this should be how much of their time will be spent.

Laurence and Tony both felt that problems only tend to occur with insecure directors who feel the need to prove themselves. Tony went on to say that in the past there’d been a tradition of good film directors emerging from TV such as from the BBC’s Wednesday Play.

Rupert pointed out that working with a director is much easier than working with a studio executive. A director has a vested interest in getting the script right. It is important, he said, to have a director who is film literate and who understands what the writer wants to achieve.

How and at what stage do you and a director generally meet?

Rupert thought it better to start a relationship with the chosen director early on. Tony agreed and said he liked the director on board from the first draft of the screenplay. All three writers have made several films with the same director and so been able to establish a long term working relationship.

Laurence first met Michael Winterbottom when the script of Wonderland was already completed: he liked it and it fitted neatly into his busy film schedule. Since then she has been asked by him to work on projects from inception. Tony asked to meet Michael after drawing up a list of directors he wanted to work with and they discussed two ideas at that first meeting, one of which became In This World - the other they have yet to make.

Rupert met with Michael Mann after he had read another script of Rupert's which had gone from being a greenlit project to a writing sample. They would talk for hours about the project while Michael Mann taped the conversations and the transcripts became the basis of Rupert's script.

What’s it like when you’ve worked long and hard with a director on a script that doesn’t get produced? Does it place a strain on the relationship?

Rupert argued that it depends on why the project doesn’t go ahead and that there are often many reasons for this. For example a script can become dated. He noted that one-in-twenty developed scripts (i.e. those where the writers have been paid for them or to work on them) gets produced in Hollywood. He compared the choice a major Hollywood player has to go forward with making a film to the option they have when ordering food. He said it comes down to whether the script is what they have a taste for at the time - Chinese or Italian.

Tony said that he had written scripts for directors that hadn’t been made and the way he coped was to make a film himself. It allowed him to have contact with actors, whom he loves feeding off.

Would any of you consider directing?

Tony stressed that he doesn’t have a desire to direct as such and is only interested in directing very particular projects. He has directed art films and found it liberating.

Laurence confessed that she always wanted to direct but Rupert said he doesn’t want to if he can work with directors he admires.

Does friendship enter into it? Do you ever meet a director and think this just isn’t going to work out?

Tony felt that there had to be a rapport between himself and any director he worked with. He said there had been one instance he continued with a film when he knew that the director had no understanding of what was on the page.

Laurence remembered one unpleasant experience that made her feel as if her writing wasn't good enough. In the end she realised that the project wasn’t working because of her relationship with the director.

The director has had a lot of really good input into a script, but now the writer is worried they'll have to share the writing credit. What can they do?

Tony explained that the Writers’ Guild is there to prevent this and that directors want those credits because that’s where the intellectual property is held.

Rupert agreed and said that it’s worked out on a percentage system; if a director has modified a certain amount they receive a credit.

How do you feel about re-writing your work or another writers’ script?

Tony said when he is working with certain directors he rewrites everyday and enjoys it. On Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas he was on set all the time. However, he was adamant that he wouldn’t rewrite another writers’ script: he did not want other writers re-writing his script and felt that not joining in himself was the only measure he can take to prevent this happening.

Laurence revealed that at one point she almost gave up writing because of one experience where she had to re- write a script 20 times. It was then dropped. Many years later a producer asked if she had any work that she could show him. She showed him the first draft of that script, he optioned and made it.

Rupert, who is used to working in Hollywood, where re-writing is a normal part of the process, did not have many qualms about re-writing or being re-written.

What advice do you have about getting over a negative experience with a director?

Tony and Laurence felt that the people who save them are friends and peers. Rupert said the best remedy is to return to working on a script that is a labour of love. He advised writers who have had an unhappy working relationship with a director to remember why they started writing in the first place.