SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 11: (L-R) Moderator Anne Thompson, Daniel Scheinert, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Lesley Paterson speak at the Writer’s Panel during the 38th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival at The Arlington Theatre on February 11, 2023 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for SBIFF)
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization. Over the past 35 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 100,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and panels, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire people through the power of film. We celebrate the art of cinema and provide impactful educational experiences for our local, national and global communities
The festival recently hosted a Writers Panel with an impressive lineup featuring: Kazuo Ishiguro (Living), Rian Johnson (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery), Tony Kushner (The Fabelmans), Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness), Lesley Paterson (All Quiet on the Western Front), Sarah Polley (Women Talking), Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin) and Todd Field (Tár). The panel was moderated by Indiewire’s Editor at Large Anne Thompson.
How did you get started as a screenwriter?
Kazuo Ishiguro answered that he had spent almost every day for the past 40 years thinking of his novels. He decided that the logical next step thematically and artistically was to try screenwriting. He made note of the common thread in his works that “Life is very short and pondering of the question of what makes a life worth living is what really matters.”
Rian Johnson retold that he first learned how to make movies growing up with his friends. It was important for him not to concentrate on screenwriting or any specific element of the production but to just enjoy the process with his friends. He further divulged that over the years, it was a steady process of falling in love with writing as a craft.
Lesley Paterson answered that she found inspiration running through the Scottish countryside where her imagination was brought to life by the natural beauty of Scotland.
Sarah Polley shared that she started her career as an actor but was deeply unhappy. The Thin Red Line as the movie that changed her life and showed her how powerful films could be. This inspired her to create her first short film and allowed her to find her creative voice as a writer.
Daniel Scheinert noted his collaboration with Daniel Kwan and how they started their careers as directors of music videos. He specifically remarked that the writing duo had a very collaborative creative process. They found their passion for screenwriting through their desire to direct their own projects.
Todd Field retold the story of how he was tasked to take care of a sick cat named Kia. For a directing program, he was required to write three scripts and looked to his father-in-law for advice which was to disconnect from technology, get up at the same hour everyday, and write at the same time everyday.
Martin McDonagh started off as playwright but was always fond of movies. He specifically tried to make his plays cinematic, with the dream of always transitioning to film.
Ruben Östlund shared that his writing process involves pitching his ideas to everyone that he meets. He realized that once he can successfully pitch the project, then he can begin writing. He notes that this process is much easier than starting from scratch because he is allowed to use the experiences of others to shape his script.
Tony Kushner met frequent collaborator Steven Spielberg after Spielberg read his anthology of essays from Jewish America. Spielberg requested that he do a script for Munich, which proved to be the first of many collaborations between the pair.
What initially drew them to this project?
Kazuo Ishigiro noted that he was very fond of the original film and upon meeting Bill Nighy, he noticed he possessed the same characteristics that he would want in the main character for Living. He praised Nighy’s stoic way of presenting himself which also held so much emotion underneath the surface. He elaborated that he chose this story because it was a very universal story: an acknowledgment that it is very easy to waste life and the idea that “you can make a small life into something heroic or interesting”
Rian Johnson described that a big part of approaching Knives Out and Glass Onion was to modernize the “WhoDunnit Genre” as he had become frustrated with the trend that they had become period pieces set in older times. He wanted to use the genre as a microcosm and then set that genre in the present day. The Last of Shiela by Anthony Perkins and Stephen Sondheim was a major influence on Glass Onion’s villain and the parallels to real-life figures. The more that you focus on one particular person from modern society, the less interesting that character becomes.
Lesley Paterson retold her experiences of everything in the film industry being about timing and that now was the perfect time for her project. She mentioned that she first began optioning the material 16 years ago when she was just starting in the industry. Regarding the film’s premise, she stated that seeing the story from the other side was important to her: “we are so used to seeing the war from our own perspective that we forget that ‘war was a betrayal of youthful generation regardless of the side.'” She then noted that the opening was inspired by Schindler’s List, originally a battle sequence. Instead, Lesley opted to show a soldier’s uniform traveling back to Germany, symbolizing the theme of the film: the uniform means more than the man.
To understand the story from each character’s perspective, Sarah Polley did two passes at the script from every character’s perspective. She felt this was important because it drives home the idea that everything said in the room impacts the other characters. She also noted that the creative decision to keep the threat off-screen was intentional as she felt that depicting sexual assault was rarely additive.
Tony Kushner reflected on his experience working on West Side Story with Steven Spielberg, and how it inspired them to begin working on a script based on Steven’s life. The Fabelmans was terrifying for Steven to make because it was entirely character driven and involved putting his family on screen, but Steven used this fear and was able to work with it. He also noted that the untraditional structure of the film was meant to give an episodic structure to an intimate and personal story.
Daniel Scheinert addressed reports that the Daniels had turned down working with Marvel by stating that in a way, Everything Everywhere All at Once was their “Marvel Movie”. He described their approach to the film as: “What is our favorite action movie?” “What do we have to say?” He also clarified that while the headline was that they turned down Loki, the truth was that they had already written their movie and had been trying to get it into production during that time. He went on to elaborate that the project took roughly six years, and they worked on other things in the meantime. Daniel noted that production and scheduling problems allowed them to constantly keep revising the script, keeping the duo really engaged in the film until the last day of the sound mix.
Todd Field praised Focus Studios for giving the team behind Tár creative freedom and noted that the script would not exist without their support. He explained that he first started thinking of the concept of the character 10 years ago but never thought that he would find a place to put it. He explained that he had first met with Cate Blanchett for a different project, but the insight she had brought to that discussion inspired her casting in Tár. He described Blanchett as a brilliant performer but also praised that she thinks like a writer and a filmmaker and thinks of the whole picture. Field also made note that the final draft is in the edit and that screenplays are only the beginning of the process.
Martin McDonagh doesn’t see The Banshees of Inisherin as a comedy and stated that the project began from an interest in creating a tone between sad and humorous. To exemplify this, he described a pivotal scene between Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson’s characters. Up until that point, Gleeson’s character is stoic and tough but this scene shows that he really does care. McDonagh also stated that his intention with this film was to leave room for what happens between the scenes (landscapes, art, etc) and wanted to allow the actors to shine in silent moments
Ruben Östlund described how elements of his own life are present in his film. He then gave a humorous example to the audience of an argument he and his wife had about paying for dinner. He noted the clash in cultural expectation of who he is as a man and who she was as a woman. Östlund went on to detail how the fight that ensued from that one night would later inspire a scene in the film.
Describe your writing process?
Kazuo explained that he often shapes his process to fit the project.
Rian Johnson explained that everything that he knows about writing is from a seminar that his father took him to when he was younger. One of the central ideas of his writing is that, “The meaning of a movie is rooted in its structure.” He described how sometimes 90% of the writing process is making little notes and that the entire thing could be mapped out over the course of seven months.
Lesley Paterson explained that working with a writing partner really helps her divide the work. While she focuses on structure, her partner works on individual scenes. She also described that sometimes, “a starting point is a feeling.” For All Quiet on the Western Front, this was a feeling of understanding.
Sarah Polley answered that her process also changes from film to film and that she has no process or routine. After becoming a mother, she says that she let go of waiting for perfect writing conditions and just wrote. She also stated that she often will act out the characters to see if the dialogue is working.
Tony joked that his writing process is to avoid writing at all costs. He then elaborated that his process is to start by reading a lot and to allow himself to be taken to another place.
Daniel Scheinert noted that he is really drawn to collaboration and that while this can be messy at times, he feels it is important to try everything. He describes how writing never feels done and the constant problem solving that comes with a collaborative process. He then explained the respective roles of the Daniels, describing Daniel Kwan as an internal writer and himself as more of the cheerleader.
Todd Field added onto Daniel’s answer and explained that he also is able to learn a lot from working with others. He also described how it can be difficult at times to know when you are ready to start writing.
Martin McDonagh detailed his unique writing process. Explaining that he doesn’t like to outline or plot things out. Instead, he prefers to let the dialogue of a scene inform the dialogue of the next scene. He revealed that the first version of Banshees had been written 8 years ago and that he had only rewritten it three and a half years ago.
Ruben compared his process to playing “ping pong” with others, allowing his ideas to bounce off the ideas of others. He also noted that this allowed him to build confidence in his ideas in the face of others.
What was the most challenging scene to write?
Kazuo struggled the most with how to end the film. He explained that he had a clear idea of the emotion that he wanted the audience to be left with but had trouble figuring out how to achieve that.
Rian Johnson described a pivotal scene between Daniel Craig and Janelle Monae’s characters where the movie “shows its cards”. He explains how this one eight minute scene needed to introduce the true main character of the movie and also get the audience emotionally invested in them in a short period of time.
Leslie Paterson stated that the action scenes were the most difficult as it was hard to differentiate each character in chaotic battle sequences. She later figured out that the key was to ground it in the characters.
Sarah Polley referenced the apology scene from a character’s mother, as it allowed her to draw from experiences of the creative team. She stated that this scene was not in the book and based on outside reading. Polley then went on to describe how the experiences of a crew member growing up informed what she felt the character would have needed to hear.
Tony explained the difficult process in writing the confrontation between Steve and the bully, mentioning that they went down the wrong path by trying to show what was going on in the bully’s head rather than focusing on the bigger picture.
Daniel pointed to the opening scene of the movie and explained that writing partner, Daniel Kwan, would constantly return to it and rewrite it. They felt that it was essential to get the audience invested in family early on in the film before the craziness began.
Martin described the ending scene with the two characters on the beach as he wanted to stay true to the characters’ feelings but also keep it hopeful.
For Ruben, the most difficult aspect was the structure of the film as the change in scenery almost made it feel like they had to start over again.
_
These nine writers are nominated in the Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay categories at the 95th Academy Awards. Tune in this Sunday to see who goes away with the top prize.
I’m Andrew! I love discussing movies and tv shows. My favorite genres include animation, musicals, and especially Superheroes.