Joe Eszterhas - On Screenwriting

[goaxfles]

Remélem téged is pofán vágnak , mert TE is MAGYAR vagy

[BUDDY6414724297]

It is unfortunate that the studios don't pay writers more.

And I agree, if you believe in it, then writer it.

[TOLFINTRY]

i can only like this video once, shame.

[normalguyable]

im a vegan screenwriter, it gives me so much energy and i feel so healthy, i recommend it to any screenwriter.

[MKukula]

Please help support the 2nd Annual Slugline Short Screenplay Competition by visiting my indiegogo page: igg.me/p/4194

[killeraddiction]

Joe's gotta lay off the cigs, but nonetheless there's some good advice here.

[THEZOOLOGIST123]

@killeraddiction

He's been off cigarettes for 8 years. The voice is a result of throat cancer in 2000. He is now cancer free and his voice has improved. Trust me I know this, I'm his son Nick. Thanks for the comment.

[VideosfromIAM]

@THEZOOLOGIST123 Your dad is very luck, mine lost his whole throat to cancer but at least he is still alive. I remember the stage when my dad sounded like that too but he didn't act quick enough to retain his natural voice.

[THEZOOLOGIST123]

@VideosfromIAM

I know I am man, I thank God every day for the blessing he has given me. Also, I was smoking with my dad starting at thirteen, if he wouldn't have quit neither would I. His voice is much better now by the way, much stronger than in this video. Thanks for the comment and i'm sorry for your misfortune. I looked at your channel and it is very professional, I like your videos and you seem like a promising screenwriter.

[DemonDash]

this is probably the best advice I've heard, thanks

[youtube1010]

Thank you for posting !

< Teaser

[BUDDY6414724297]

I am an award winning screenwriter. And I can tell you that most scripts are crap and most young writers have not done their homework. They have not read the classics. They have not developed their vocabulary skills. They have not become emotionally developed individuals. And as a result you see childish material being produced. Because many of the people who are green lighting these projects are in the boat as the writers. And the people running are society have failed also.

[BUDDY6414724297]

How about writing a book on writing Joe. I know you don't want more and better competition. But you can release it after you are dead.

[ZachClooney]

Would someone please tell me exactly how to spell that German word Joe is talking about 5:02

[ZachClooney]

@ZachClooney I can't find it in the German dictionary as I can't figure exactly what he is saying. 

[theguywithin]

@ZachClooney

The word is Sitzfleisch, which literally translates to sitting flesh (sitzen = to sit; fleisch = flesh) and in German is used as a metaphor for endurance in doing something

[ZachClooney]

@theguywithin Thank you so much for that. I have been giving myself a headache trying to figure out exactly what Estherhas is saying so I could get the exact spelling. But I just couldn't 'hear' that word clearly. Sitzfleishch is a great word. Thanks for taking the time to write it here.

[noldaker]

Love this interview -thank you for posting it.

[45below1]

My friend, I was wondering...

If you were scripting a traveling scene or series of shot, (for instance, Mary travels to Georgia from Texas) how would you go about this process?

[64Jodiann]

Read Joes' Book Hollywood Animal...It gives a great perspective on early screenwriters...and all they are...this guy is the bomb!

[NestaniProductions]

@TheOptimistPrime He was referring to Betrayed.

[SURFUR]

This happened in my freaking town! I go to this place nearly every week. I was going to go there, but it happened when I had to go to my chiropractic and I lost track of time.

Christ, that happens a lot. Me and buddy were going to see them and we missed the whole thing. Fuck! I hope he comes back. He's really good when he NEEDS to be.

--Eternal Eszterhas Enamored, Dane Youssef

[munbeans]

AT last! At last I have "approval" to just sit on my butt and write! Great video and advice.

[ghostmanlostsoul]

Writing is one of the hardest undertaking one can engage in.

[BUDDY6414724297]

TELLING LIES IN AMERICA was a great film. It is Joe's second best work.

[JuanMacready]

He deserved to get cancer.

[itztheJL]

@JuanMacready fuck is wrong with you? Nobody deserves to get cancer.

[JuanMacready]

@itztheJL You do know he was an alcoholic who smoked 80 cigarettes a day?

[itztheJL]

@JuanMacready yes I know that. But you still shouldn't say he DESERVED it. He got addicted to cigarettes and alcohol. Do the other people who get cancer DESERVE it, or do they just get it? He was raised In a bad area and get addicted.

[THEZOOLOGIST123]

@JuanMacready

yah I know, I am his son, I saw the used cigarettes in the ashtray at the end of the day and breathed in all the second hand smoke.

[astrologysongs]

Good stuff, Thank you from HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITER -the song.

[Ginlah]

Basic Instinct is really underrated. There's a lot of crazy psychology going on.

[dvlarry]

It was just the most expensive script $3 mil(plus 1 mil for producer which Joe could have pocketed but didn't) and a huge international box office hit. It was critically underated I think.

[ZachClooney]

Which book is Joe talking about? 'Hollywood Animal' or 'Devil's Guide To Hollywood'?

[ZachClooney]

"You're a writer. You should write, not schmooze." Great advice from Joe. Thanks for posting this video.

[womanwheart]

But I'm getting fat sitting on my ass writing. By the end of the two projects I'm writing simultaneously I should be...a blimp.

:-S Love this guy though, I love how he simply tells it like it is.

[TheShockMaster]

It's sad that throat cancer surgery altered Joe's voice like this...but it's kind of weird because, on the other hand, his voice does sound pretty badass now.

[BUDDY6414724297]

Joe is giving very good advice. I read his book and loved it. Writers learn by writing. So practice writing.

[TheJurneyMan]

I think this man might have enjoyed a smoke or two back in his day

[GregM055]

I treat his pond.. Got a nice house

[japstoryeditor]

The best writers come from Cleveland.

[Floorsnarl]

I found his hair style - inspiring.

[DerrickDmx]

hey im derrick im an inspiring actor and screenwriter looking for a a partner if interested get at me please.

[idinasvulover]

anybody who wants to be a screenwriter or likes joe eszterhas should read his book "the devil's guide to hollywood". it's really insightful and absolutely hilarious :)

[saultonofswi]

It's funny, I was never really a fan of Eszterhas' writing when it came to his movies but his non-fiction books are very engaging.

His books, Hollywood Animal (a great autobiographical movie business tell-all) and American Rhapsody (the best book about the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal that I've read), prove that he may be a better writer than he is a screenwriter.

[JoeyFudd]

Good advice on not making a query but writing your vision. You'll have no motivation to write according to another's rules. Same with writing essays, my game.

Hey, for "Showgirls" research, what's the German for her sitting on your lap? ;D

[FigurinItOut]

Joe seems like a down-to-earth guy. Knows his stuff.

I remember the story when he wouldn't take shit from Mike Ovitz when Ovitz was king.

[D0ric000]

Do you smoke like 10 packs of reds a day ?

[captureit86]

he had throat cancer and had most of his larynx taken out...its amazing he can even talk.

[sharonafox1]

Excellent, excellent advice!

[comicfl]

I am glad to hear someone talking about screenwriting who is actually a screenwriter with credits. There are so many books out there by screenwriters without credits. Not to say those books are bad, but I wish more screenwriters renowned were writing them.

[bellsonrich]

@comicfl Yeah, joe is legit.

[mrwrightaide]

Joe has integrity. So many "writers for hire" kiss ass and suck dick for a dime. "Basic Instinct" was classic!

[Tarbra]

Interesting, I have not only the ability to sit on my butt and write, but also an overwhelming compulsion to do so. I just write what I feel, and what I know about.

I completely agree with what Joe Eszterhas has said here. You have to believe in what you write about or you may as well not write at all.

Thanks Joe for confirming what I believe in to be right.

[karaokematt82]

I'd still like to know Joe's full opinion on "Showgirls." He seems like a very knowledgable screenwriter, and I don't think it was all his fault that the film turned out to be such a dud.

[salsburysteakjr]

Haha, Joe was SO totally the weakest link of Showgirls. Paul Verhoeven directed it far better then it deserved. Though, actually, I bet Jack Hill woulda directed it great also...

[DoubleTalkingJive]

Exactly. Verhoeven shot every word of the script. The creative failure of the film is nobody's fault but Eszterhas's. He's not without talent, however he was a little too gimmicky when it came to courting controvery with his material, which in the past translated to box office dollars. When the film blew up in everybody's face, Eszterhas backed away from the film as fast as he could and tried to blame everybody else involved, which was really sour grapes.

[DoubleTalkingJive]

I don't think Berkley was anywhere near as bad in the film as everyone says; she did the best she could with the poorly-written character and story. And besides that it's disingenous for Eszterhas to blame the failure of the film on her.

Furthermore, it's not just "Showgirls". Try "Nowhere To Run", "Sliver", "Jade", "Burn Hollywood Burn". Not just one film that bombed, but an entire downhill-running sequence of Eszterhas-written bombs.

He became very famous for being a VERY bad writer.

[DoubleTalkingJive]

And if you read his book, he's got an excuse for every single film bombing at the theaters, or in the case of "Telling Lies in America", not even making it to the theaters.

It was everybody's fault but Joe's, whose name alone in a film's credits was almost a guarantee of a bad film.

Look, the guy made a lot of money selling scripts; more than most. But he'll NEVER be remembered as a good screenwriter. He re-used the same formula until it crashed beneath him, then disappeared, rightfully so...

[DoubleTalkingJive]

Nah he was doing that long before BI, which is the same forumla as "Jagged Edge", "Betrayed" and "Music Box" before it, and "Sliver" and "Jade" after it. All about someone falling for someone or defending someone who may or may not have committed a heinous crime.

And I don't care one way or another how much or how little he made selling scripts. But he was still a bad screenwriter.

And I will concede that his books are at least very well-written; much better than this films. :-p

[ZachClooney]

How many scripts that you have written that made over $1 billion at the global box office? Joe is giving priceless advice here.

[THEZOOLOGIST123]

@DoubleTalkingJive Hey buddy, have you made billions writing? No, thats why you criticize on YouTube. I'm his son and I'm currently living in a big ass house in Florida. Looks like you failed and my dad won in the movie business.

[DoubleTalkingJive]

@THEZOOLOGIST123 Good for you! Your pops is still a shitty writer...

[carntspell]

Now it was no Godfather Part 2 as we all know but I`m sure if you were home on a lazy Sunday and Showgirls came on, you wouldn`t change the channel. At least I didn`t. Come on folks, more respect for Showgirls. signed, Steven Speilberg.

[Netvandal1]

Fantastic advice. Having been to film school, and listening to all the crap about pitching, and the movie business its refreshing to hear Joe tell people to just sit on their butts and write what they love.

[codebreaker2001]

Joe Eszterhas is one of the best screenwriters to talk about what screenwriting is about. I completely agree with what he is saying here.