How to Write a Killer Movie — Eric Roth
Dune. Forrest Gump. Benjamin Button. Eric Roth wrote all of them. He’s been nominated for seven Oscars and won Best Adapted Screenplay for Forrest Gump. I got the chance to ask him about how you find a deeper theme in a story, what a writer can do to really move people, and what it’s actually like working with people like David Fincher, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese. Eric Roth is one of the greatest screenwriters of our time, hope you enjoy this one.
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:25 Why I write everyday
00:05:29 How to craft character backstories
00:14:19 What makes memorable characters
00:29:15 How to write iconic one-liners
00:33:11 Fanciful vs Cartoonish characters
00:41:43 Why start a story at the end
00:48:07 How to make drama characters likable
00:57:45 What makes a great movie intro
01:02:49 How to write dialogue
01:17:28 What is the key to great collaborations
01:24:58 How to create art that lasts forever
Hey! I’m David Perell and I’m a writer, teacher, and podcaster. I believe writing online is one of the biggest opportunities in the world today. For the first time in human history, everybody can freely share their ideas with a global audience. I seek to help as many people publish their writing online as possible.
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