Tony DuShane, Writer/Podcaster/Teacher: Write a movie that you love, that is why
we go to see movies where the movie just hits you in the heart and you're like
Oh my god! That movie is great, even if it's Pretty Woman.
Film Courage: How do you search for those beautiful moments in the midst of tragedy?
Tony: I find the tragedy first. I think the tragedy is what guts me.
Then I try to find meaning in the tragedy, meaning in my tragedies
and it's hard to find meaning in the tragedy. Since Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk, I've
written two other books where I went even deeper into tragedies and
one I checked myself into an outpatient hospital program because I was suicidal. I've had to learn
to pick my tragedies and then also give them time I think. I wasn't giving my tragedies
enough time. But the beauty of tragedy is we all have tragedies. We connect on it and I think
as humans we connect more on not just the tragedy but how we got out of the tragedy.
Even in film it's like you put your character into conflict then we want to know how are
they going to get out of the conflict? How are they getting out of that little tragedy moment
in a scene and then that's what shows character building. I feel like we're character building
around each other when we do have tragedies in our lives, when we can we find our ways
to pull out of it and then survive and then go Wait a second, okay how does this work for me
in being with other people and then other people? Then other people it's just the beauty of Oh yeah
I've been through that. You just you hear someone goes Oh yeah, now I've been through that I get it
that's all you need and you're like ah and there's just instant camaraderie with tragedy
which is sad I don't know why we need tragedy and we all just can't be joyful buddhas but for
some odd reason tragedy and suffering I think is in the theme of our lives and our existence so
when we put it on the page then we get to see our protagonist get into the tragedy get into
the conflict whatever the conflict is the conflict could be the protagonist wants to ask the woman of
his dreams out on a date you know or it could be the protagonist is being riddled by bullets and
they're trying to dive and they're in the trenches and as far as the film is concerned and the
conflict's concerned the stakes are the same and as far as what the characters internal
tragedy is happening I like to you even even when I have students who are writing romantic comedies
they apologize for it I'm sorry I'm like don't apologize and I was like watch mob movies watch
mob movies and and and as you look at the beats of the conflict of the mob movies it's very simple
because there's a lot of hierarchy involved and then bring it over to your romantic comedy and
you can add those beats in and keep those stakes just as high as the mob film and but it's but
it'll be under the guise of a you know romantic comedy and the greatest you know the the fun
comedy vibe a lot of it comes from a tragedy or a tragic place and that's when it's even more funny
yeah so that's great do you have certain movies you recommend one romantic comedy versus one mob
movie oh that would be yeah I wish I had those I well I watched that tv series Gamora recently
The Italian I think it was The Italian one but as for mob movies you know I’ll tell them to watch I
you know I spoke ahead I don't have I'm not a I don't have a good I don't have a good knowledge
of romantic comedies or mob movies but one one movie I bring up a lot in class and it drives
some people nuts is swingers I think that was 1996 with Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn and
they're a group of friends and you know Jon Favreau's character his name is mike
and he's the protagonist and he's trying to get over his girlfriend that he's trying to
get over heartbreak he's trying to make it in la but mainly he's trying to get over heartbreak
and everyone in the movie just wants to help him get over heartbreak but if you really watch
the movie and you watch the dialogue that's happening they are fighting the whole time
it's almost like they're about to come to blows with their dialogue but they all want the same
thing they just want Mikey to feel better Mikey just get over your girl your ex-girlfriend but
they're they're it's a constant push and pull and it's funny and it's sad and so when this
when they're br when the point of view of each character is bringing in that high of stakes
to the same goal that's when you know it's if it's it's it's a tragedy
to watch the movie the whole movie is a tragedy but it's hilarious because everyone's
the angle they're fighting at is just funny sure sure I think there's some in
Moonlight and Mystic Pizza there's a lot of dialogue that's very similar to that too whether
it might be loving but they're yelling and and sort of it is like rapid fire with the dialogue
and yeah that's and that's when it's beautiful and that's when we connect because we wait you
know it's like we want we want the character to win you know it's like how is the character going
to win how are they going to get there and then we almost you know when when they're when there's
heavy conflict on the screen it's almost like they start to go into a situation we're like no
don't go there okay if you go there you better do blank blank and blank and of course they're
not going to do that because we want to keep the movie going another five minutes so it can't be
resolved yet they need to get more sand in their eyeballs before they get to the next scene so
why do you think your students feel they have to apologize or some of them feel they have to
apologize for wanting to write romantic comedies I don't know you know it's I think people apologize
for genre sometimes and and I'm just like don't apologize it's every story means something
no matter what you're doing and it's and it's what you love you know just was write the movies that
write a movie that you love that is why do we go to see movies and you and where's movie just
hits you in the heart and you're like oh my god that movie is great even if it's pretty woman
but if that's what gets you if that's what stirs your soul there's a reason for it write that
right don't write that movie but write write the write the general idea and the general theme
in that movie right you know write the Meg Ryan Tom Hanks movie it's it's all just it's I think
maybe there's a there's a pressure for like oh is it Oscar-worthy oh with this would Meryl Streep
be cast in this and it's just like no write write your truth write what's important to you
and that's going to make the best movie that you can make now you know never write towards
something that you just feel like is a good idea you know that's that everyone's on and on about
remember the movie Foxes I don't oh okay it has Scott Baio, Jody Foster, Sally Kellerman
and is from the Runaways Cherie Curie oh my god okay so and it's the one of these movies where
it just doesn't leave you and so it's one of these things where you would say it and people
go oh you like that movie but there shouldn't be anything wrong with liking a movie yes it calls
to you I totally agree and I don't like it when people dirt on other people for liking something
right that just irks me to no end and I and I think that doesn't lead to more conversation
that leads to a stop and so you know if it doesn't matter what people like it's fun it's as it's you
know don't it's like you know and I come from the music a college radio music dj which was
the snotty is the snottiest in the 1990s and I was that jerk and like so they started to realize wait
just because someone doesn't know sonic youth or the acoustics doesn't mean that they're inferior
humans you know or maybe they don't like a certain thing like even the you know it's if they don't
like something it's fun to find out why that's the that's the why don't you like that or why do
you like that wait you know I i found a I found a backstreet boys song for a project I was working
on and I'm like this is perfect and I you know I know everyone's there's gonna be a lot of people
that are going why is tony putting a backstreet boys song in there but but it's just like
it's just perfect and if someone wants to go see the backstreet boys just let them let them
enjoy their experience I don't like it when people try to crush people's experiences if
they want to see Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks possibly get together great why why do you like that movie
that's that's that we should be passionate about it because every life's hard enough as it is so
you know taking a crap on people's taste is kind of the last thing we need to do let's
try to find out why they like a certain thing that's where the fun stories are as far as I'm
concerned yeah I agree I agree I think people should whether it's music or books or or film
yeah you should be entitled to if we want to watch a real cheesy movie and enjoy it and or even have
it playing in the background all the time there's something that calls to us I use Ocean's 11 a lot
in my this is the Solderberg I always say his name wrong up I said it right that time his his remake
but that movie's gorgeous as far as a heist movie and all the elements of
storytelling and I actually I’ll watch it for fun sometimes and people kind of are just like
you know it's like oh yeah well that top 40 movie what are you talking about and I'm like no there's
actually there's a lot of great scenes in there that i'll bring to class and show the dynamics of
and just the dialogue and the dialogue is tight and those actors are all top-notch actors yeah
some of them are superstars that's fine but they are great at what they do and there's a reason why
most of them are superstars it's because they've worked really hard to get there.