[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: Can you take us through the process of developing a screenplay and help us understand what it means and maybe provide some examples?
Laverne McKinnon, Career Coach, Certified Grief Recovery Specialist, Professor and Producer: Sure, how fun. I’ll talk you through the process that I really love. It starts with the writer and falling in love with the writer’s work. For me that typically comes from when I’ve read a sample or several samples of a writer, inviting them into a meet-and-greet or a general meeting and just getting to know them a little bit and then sharing the things that are important to me, to us. Kay [Cannon] and I are no longer developing or producing material that’s not specifically for Kay to write or direct.
Talking about sort of earlier in our company for example, I might say:
Looking for a project that has a lot of heart and hard comedy, contemporary, high concept, ideally involving like a two-hander
Or it might be:
-Looking for a road trip movie;
Or;
-Looking for something that’s set on a college campus.
There might be some markers. I meet with a bunch of writers putting out the general mandate. Then they might come back and say Oh my gosh, I have this idea or Oh I wrote this script, would you like to read it? Either hearing the pitch or reading the script and then falling in love with it. Then depending on where it’s at developmentally, there may be developmental work that happens.
Personally when I read material analytically:
-I read it once. I don’t take any notes;
-I’ll read it a second time. That will be my deep analytical read where I’m stopping, I’m taking notes, I’m writing in the margins and then I’ll put a notes document together and read it a third time…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
About:
Laverne McKinnon is a Career Coach and Certified Grief Recovery Specialist who is deeply passionate about helping people achieve their personal and professional goals. Her clients call her a Moonshot Mentor because she believes that everyone has the ability to achieve their wildest dreams. With over 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry and a unique skill set in creativity and leadership, Laverne understands that unaddressed setbacks and grief can erode resilience. Her work specializes in guiding folx to reconnect with their core strengths and aspirations so they can hit their professional moonshots.
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