Creative Master Ron Cobb

Did you know the story at the basis of what later became E.T. started with a pitch to Spielberg at a Paris hotel? On Friday I was sitting opposite the very man who pitched to Spielberg back in the late seventies. I listened to that same pitch. One of those moments you don't lightly forget...

The man sitting opposite me (and Spielberg) was Ron Cobb, who worked in a completely different capacity on other movies such as Alien, Back to the Future, The Abyss and Southland Tales (the last movie by Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly). Next week, Ron will be at the AFTRS Sydney screening theatre for the first Creative Masters Forum.

Now, why am I telling you all this? (prepare for the shameless plug)

Because I produced a documentary interview with Ron and I'll be hosting two sessions at the Creative Masters Forum, which is all about Ron's life and work. Legendary Australian cinematographer Don McAlpine will also be part of one of the sessions and I'll be talking with Rod March, co-writer and director of my latest 3D animation TIN CAN HEART. This film will have its world premiere on the launch night of the conference.

If you like the sound of all this, but your focus is more on writing and less on the design side of movies, here is an offer you cannot refuse:

Book the four Story Dept. Spring Seminars at full price now, and attend the Creative Masters Forum with Ron Cobb at no additional cost. This is a bonus valued at $990.

Details are below.

If it's not for you, please pass it on to your scifi geek friend.

www.creativemastersforum.com

EXCLUSIVE OFFER

Join us for the first Creative Masters Forum (www.creativemastersforum.com), on Tuesday 21 October at the new AFTRS Sydney screening theatre in the Entertainment Quarter.

The day focuses on the legendary writer, designer, concept artist Ron Cobb and among the forum participants are other Australian masters such as cinematographer Don McAlpine.

Ron will be talking about his life and career and answering questions during two public sessions, hosted by myself (Karel Segers). I also produced a feature interview documentary on Ron of which all delegates will receive a copy.

DOUBLE TICKET
This week only, The Creative Masters Forum and The Story Dept. are offering an exclusive double ticket. For $660 you will be able to attend the full day conference plus the four Story Department Spring seminars. This package is valued at $1,550 if booked individually.

ABOUT RON COBB
As a writer, Ron wrote an episode of THE TWILIGHT ZONE and he sold an idea to Steven Spielberg that later became E.T.. He directed the 1992 feature film GARBO.

But Ron is best known for his art, which has had a profound influence on modern popular culture through his work with the likes of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott & Jim Cameron. His artistic talents have been commissioned by these iconic directors to assist them developing their vision from concept to creation, and ultimately to the big screen.

Ron Cobb's screen credits include ALIEN, CONAN THE BARBARIAN, RAIDERS OF THE LAST ARK, BACK TO THE FUTURE, ALIENS, THE ABYSS and many other classic science fiction movies.

OFFER DETAILS
Details of the conference are here: http://www.creativemastersforum.com.
Details of the screenwriting seminars are here: http://storydr.com/story-sydney
Book the seminars before Sunday 19/10 and get the double package (value £$1,550) for only $660.

BOOKINGS:
Phone: xxx
Email: xxx
Web: www.storydr.com

What Do You Want?

"No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need."
(M.Jagger/K.Richards)

These lines by the Stones have been quoted to me often enough to make a mention on this blog.

In the context of a character's journey, there often is a clear difference between what the character wants and what it needs.

The 'want' is also referred to as the 'visible goal', or the Outer Journey. It is often lacking in arthouse films or films with a so-called 'passive protagonist'.

The 'need' is the inner counterpart, the Inner Journey. It is about the weakness that needs to be overcome, the subconscious desire for a character quality or a type of behaviour that will make the character stronger, more complete.

In Jaws, the conscious desire of Chief Brody is to protect the people of Amity. His need or subconscious desire is to deal with the cause of a problem rather than its symptoms.

In many great movies, the conscious goal cannot be achieved without first achieving the subconscious goal. In Jaws, Brody cannot adequately protect Amity without killing the shark.

Finally, and additional to the 'want' and the 'need', Chief Brody also has a half-conscious longing: to make a difference.

Martin Brody moved with his family from New York to Amity because in the Big Apple he was a nobody. He wasn't equipped to make a difference because of the magnitude of the issues the police corps was facing. So he moved to a peaceful little island community where unlike in New York "one man can make a difference".

Brody hadn't foreseen the obstacles in his new environment: an idiot mayor, his own fear of water and his reluctance to deal with the heart of the matter.

His failure to deal with the cause of a problem is evidenced at two crucial moments in the story.

In the first scene Brody's son appears in the kitchen with a bleeding hand and he tells him not to play on the swings any more until he has fixed them.

At the mid point of the story, just before he ventures out into the sea, Brody warns his wife not to use the fireplace in the den while he is away.

In both instances, the Chief was aware of the problem. Still he hadn't fixed it.

Rather than protecting his family by dealing with the cause of each problem, he tells them to just avoid the dangers.

In the same way, in the first half of Jaws, Brody tries to close the beach, rather than go out and kill the shark.

Brody's WANT is to protect the people. His NEED is to deal with the cause of the problem. Only then can he make a difference and fulfill his longing.

(Check out this structural overview of Jaws)

Mick Jagger was obviously not thinking about movie characters.

We all have 'wants' and 'needs' and interestingly we usually attribute a higher value to the visible goals than to what we really need. Because we don't always realise what it is we need.

Sometimes we tell ourselves we really want something, although we may not need it at all.

The first thing many screenwriters want is not a great story. It is not even a great script. What they want is Final Draft, the screenwriting software. Because that will make them a screenwriter.










Recently I decided last minute not to deliver a workshop in the way I had planned because it was not enough of what they needed.

It was an honest choice because I genuinely want my students to succeed. But from their feedback I learned that teaching also has a commercial reality and if you don't give students what they want to only give them what they need, you go out of business.

The revised workshop was 200% more constructive, practical, relevant to the job and providing a better skills set. Yet one screenwriter was profoundly unhappy, even without knowing the new course content, simply because she was not getting what she wanted.

The others were initially reluctant to the course's new direction also. Afterwards all but one agreed what they had received was of greater value than what had been promised.

"If you try sometime you find
You get what you need."












This Sunday 31 August I'm teaching exactly what you both want AND need: The Hero's Journey.

On Saturday 13 September writers have the opportunity to stay in Sydney and pitch to Hollywood.

Funny Games Over

In a really eerie twist of fate, four days after my article on Funny Games, co-producer Tartan Films has closed shop. If you didn't believe me when I wrote that arthouse is dead, the staggering facts are now staring you in the face. Not that I am wallowing in this news; I have greatly admired the vision and business of Hamish McAlpine, ever since I met with him in the late nineties.

Apparently the losses on Funny Games were the final straw, suffocating Tartan to the point first the US branch closed, then the company went into administration.

It is sad that a company that had been fighting, at times very successfully, to bring groundbreaking cinema to its specialist audience, is now punished for just doing that.

In the worst case scenario, this could be really bad news for film lovers in the UK and the US. It often happens in situations of bankruptcy that film rights end up in a no-mans-land.

I am not an expert but I understand that creditors sometimes exercise power over what happens to the assets of the company in trouble. Here, the assets are movie rights and if a dispute arises between creditors, rights can be broken up, requiring the approval of several parties before they can be exploited.

In the worst case, a situation arises in which it just becomes too complex - and too expensive - to allow the film in the market again, sometimes for a long, long time. And fans may have to wait for years before their favourite title is available again in cinemas, on disk, on TV.

Even in those cases where the rights simply revert back to the original rights holders, it is not always in the interest of the film(s). Often those rights holders just don't have the passion of someone like Hamish McAlpine who would move heaven and earth to get a movie out to the audience.

As we have seen happening this time again, investing in getting these films 1) made and 2) released can be an expensive exercise.