2nd Edition
Script Partners: How to Succeed at Co-Writing for Film & TV
Some of the greatest movies and television series have been written by script partners. Script Partners, Second Edition brings together the experience, knowledge, and winning techniques of Hollywood’s most productive partnerships—including Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild ), Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack (Dallas Buyers Club), and Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen (Friends). Established and aspiring screenwriters will learn how to pick the right partner and the right project, co-create character and story structure, co-draft and revise a script, collaborate in film school and in the film industry, and manage both the creative and business sides of partnerships.
Foreword by Marshall Brickman Introduction & Acknowledgments 1. Why Collaborate? The Top Ten Reasons to Write With a Partner 2. A Film School Survival Kit or How Collaboration Helps You Get In, Get Along & Get Ahead 3. Finding the Right Writing Partner 4. Making the Creative Relationship Work 5. Solving the Space-Time Conundrum 6. Choosing the Right Project 7. Co-Creating Character 8. Co-Creating Story & Structure 9. Co-Drafting the Script 10. Co-Writing the Rewrite 11. Making the Business Relationship Work Conclusion Afterword by Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen
Biography
Claudia Johnson & Matt Stevens met on the faculty of the FSU Film School and have been writing together since. Two of their scripts were finalists for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, and their recent feature, Ruby—based on Claudia’s doc The Other Side of Silence: The Untold Story of Ruby McCollum—has been optioned by Invitation Entertainment. Their screenplay Scrooge in Love is based on their novella, A Christmas Belle, a sequel to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. They were twice named "Star Speakers" at L.A.’s Creative Screenwriting Expo for their co-writing workshops. Claudia left FSU to teach at USC’s Writing for Film & Television Division, and Matt is a Senior Copywriter and Digital Content Specialist in L.A.
