Writers directing

The L.A. Times says that 2007 is the year of the writer-director.

Consider Mike White, the droll, white-haired scribe behind « The Good Girl » and « School of Rock, » who says he used to be a « really bad backseat driver » on the sets of the movies he wrote. « You’re completely stressed in each situation trying to figure out how to manipulate everyone into doing what you want them to do. » But directing — that’s a charm, says White. « You can actually say what you want. »

White just helmed his first film — « Year of the Dog, » the tale of a woman (Molly Shannon) who really, no, really, loves animals. In fact, he joins a bumper crop of brand-name writers making directorial debuts in 2007. They include Oscar nominees Scott Frank (« Out of Sight ») and Susannah Grant (« Erin Brockovich »), John August (« Charlie and the Chocolate Factory »), Oscar winner Alan Ball (« American Beauty), Zach Helm (« Stranger Than Fiction »), Tony Gilroy (the Bourne movies), Robin Swicord (« Little Women ») and perhaps the most singular screenwriter of his generation, Charlie Kaufman, an Oscar winner for « Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. »

By Martine

Screenwriter / scénariste-conceptrice

4 comments

  1. Créatrices et réalisation… Ai-je trop d’imagination ou doit-on voir un certain fil conducteur entre tes deux plus récents commentaires… C’est-à-dire entre l’idée de prendre les rênes d’un projet de film et de participer au Barcamp des filles de Montréal. T’es pas obligée de répondre, mais pour le camp, si tu y vas, j’y vais aussi!

  2. …and you have your handicam now, right? and every Mac and PC, as well as the camera itself, probably came with editing software, right? is there an ‘auteure’ film in your near future? ;-)

  3. Curieux que vous êtes! Yes, there are plans for a possible return to directing in 2007, but it wouldn’t be for fiction… In fact, this is the project I’m working on right now, and you guys (readers) might be involved. Stay tuned…

    Stony_curtis: Now that I have a video camera and an iMac, I’ve been thinking about doing short films again, but man, it’s SO much work! I should simply start by putting my old short films online.

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