the watch of time

The ‘Players’ – taking direction:

(a) “As a screenwriter, you understand that you’re providing a document that is gonna be turned into a film, and that is an entirely new evolution of the same story.  If you want to write a script and direct it, then you get your way. But if you’re just a writer on a project, you are just a writer… to have a director come in and change your words, that’s what you signed up for.”

(b) “What happens with a writer and a director is that you’re working for a single purpose and the purpose is to make the best film you possibly can.  If the director trusts the writer, the director will constantly lean on the writer for ideas… then at the end of the film, usually what happens is he doesn’t take your calls, you don’t see each other at dinner, and the free parking space is no longer there.  All of a sudden it’s a different relationship, because he’s onto a different film with a different writer.”

(c) “I’ve noticed that the best directors often are the ones who recognize everyone’s contribution as valuable, and that’s not just true of the screenwriter.  The best directors recognize that the people who have dressed the set or costumed the actors, or the guy slinging the camera from take to take, are just as valuable as anybody on a production. You get that sense of inclusiveness from a really good director.”

Excerpted with quotes from (a) Justin Zackham &                                                  (b) Robert Mark Kamen & (c) Frank Darabont                                                                                                  Tales from the Script (2010)