[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: What are some of the mistakes you see students make over and over again?
Matthew Kalil, Screenwriter/Author/Instructor: I actually do this thing with my current students where I was teaching at the David Lynch [Maharishi International University] MFA and Screenwriting where each week I’d read a whole lot of scripts and then I would have to give the students feedback. What I would see is a lot of common errors so I called them general comments that I would make on all the work. It would apply to most students and I have slowly started compiling these general comments. I’ve got quite a few of them and a lot of these are formatting type errors. I think it’s very important.
The biggest error is I think screenwriters forget that screenwriting is writing, it is words on a page. It’s really important that you either put words on a page, read words on a page, rearrange words on a page, that’s what you’re busy doing. You’re actually writing, you’re not directing or creating a movie, you’re writing and that’s the biggest misconception I think around screenwriters. Some people think it’s in the movie industry, so it must be fun and glamorous. It’s writing. It’s words on a page.
Having said that some of the feedback around that is particularly words on the page related.
One of the first ones is:
There’s no such thing as a house.
What I mean by that is a lot of students or first time writers will go:
EXT. HOUSE – DAY
Then they’ll say:
Frank walks into the house.
I’m like:
–What house?
–What does the house look like?
–Is it a double story house?
–Is it a mansion?
–Is it a ramshackle house?
–What is it?
Words on the page, House.
You’ve got to tell us what’s in your brain, otherwise the casting agent (I mean a location scout) is going to go find a location and that’s going to be your house. There’s no such thing as a house and there’s no such thing as a…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
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About:
Matthew Kalil is a writer, director, script editor, author and speaker. He has written and co-written over 40 produced episodes of TV and has received various grants, development funding and awards. Matthew’s productions have been screened and broadcast in Canada, Denmark, Morocco, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, the United States and the United Kingdom. Since receiving his MA in Screenwriting, he has been teaching, writing and mentoring students for over 20 years. Matthew has developed a unique system of screenwriting theory that helps beginners as well as established screenwriters get in touch with their creative core. His book, The Three Wells of Screenwriting, published by Michael Wiese productions with a foreword by Christopher Vogler, has been describes as a “breakthrough in the writing craft.” His workshops have touched and inspired thousands of participants and his gentle and insightful script editing guidance has helped many writers realize the stories they were always trying to tell. A charismatic speaker, Matthew has enjoyed presenting many times at the London Screenwriting Festival, the Cape Town International Animation Festival and the University Film and Video Association. Matthew is currently an Assistant Professor at the David Lynch MFA in screenwriting in the USA.
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