Screenwriter NICK KAZAN: Tricks of the Trade

With close to 30 years experience in the business, Nick Kazan knows a few things about screenwriting. He has mastered research skills to write scripts based on true events like Frances, At Close Range, Patty Hearst and Reversal of Fortune, which earned him an Oscar nomination. He has the knowledge of handling life after the nomination and how to manage studio notes and incorporate changes without weakening the script. He has the expertise of directing his own script, Dream Lover and writing with a partner, including a collaboration with his wife Robin Swicord on the adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic, Matilda. And on top of all that, this seasoned professional offers insight as to why he doesn't do lunches, what it takes to develop screenwriting muscles and why life is always a comedy.

This is an excerpt from the full interview, available on DVD at TheDialogueSeries.com .

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• lesson
• script
• movie
• kazan
• screenwriter
• screenplay
• tutorial
• dialogue
• conversation

[BUDDY6414724297]

Writers are the most important part of the film making process. And yet writers are treated the worst in the business.

[crazycoolone]

I wrote a dramatic feature script like this. It actually scared me because I didn't know what the characters were going to do. They (the characters) will wake you up all hours of the night & speak or scream at you to tell their stories.

[followHimnotUs]

love matilda!

[TipsterStu]

@BUDDY6414724297 having just come back from Cannes I hear that ...

[diuga1]

@TrueOgre3 Thanks, friend.

[TrueOgre3]

@sitedecinema I think the movie is called Impulse. It is from 1984 (i think). Kazan is credited as Bart Davis.

[walruspower60]

@dannybex That's what editors are for.

[microwavestudio]

yeah his interview was great. with all the suits and studio execs dropping gavels on what and what doesn't get made in hollywood, i hope writers like Nick and others who care about the craft continue to make films for a long time.

[Tones4me1]

LOL! I moved to LA in the mid 70's and met one of the producers of Texas Chainsaw. Nice guy but you would never suspect him of producing a movie like this. Just fell into the whole deal and laughed all the way to the bank. He was also in Cheach & Chong's Up in Smoke. The scene where two guys are driving a Mercedes down the road, check him out.

[DafTacoustics]

@smallcretzuli hahahah yeah, man, i was thinking the same thing

[dannybex]

That's better. :)