Hi, I'm Seth Rogen and
Evan Goldberg, and this is
screenwriting one on one.
Pick
an idea that you really like because
it takes a long time to write a
movie and a lot of energy.
And some people, like lose
steam on their own ideas just
because they slowly realize they
don't like them as much as they
hoped they did.
So pick an idea that you are
really passionate about and that
will help you finish to whatever the
same kind of premise
once you have everything figured out
and have a strong premise
that you stick to,
an idea can come from
anywhere and start as anything.
And we've had some movies.
Where it's born
of like characters and we've had
other movies where it's born of like
a plot, and then the characters
are kind of made to fit that
plot we've had and a story
almost nonstop and party started
with the title.
I remember that early.
It's already started as a title.
And we made a movie based around
that
generally commit
to three act structure.
But we also break all sorts of rules
all the time.
There are some things that are
repeat themes in everything we do,
like characters need to change or
not.
Good.
Yeah.
And something relatable,
like I've seen some movies recently
about like all powerful God and
stuff like that. I'm like, you need
something to anchor a human
being too. But any rule
can be broken. You're just like
basic guidelines that you can just
shatter them into moments.
Right. But it's
usually characters changing in
general, characters changing and and
some version of a three act
structure, even if you're just
coming and coming to root and
something to root for some cause
someone you want to have something
big up.
Almost every arc is born
of contrasts, you know.
And so I think like films
are no different. It's like
combining different elements.
And and and that's what
makes the other element be,
you know, be featured, you know.
And so I think it is just
modulating.
How funny is it versus how dramatic.
And I guess the one thing you
know, I'm one of the things that
you have to try to pretend you're
experiencing it like the people who
will experience exactly the
advantage film, like, you know,
or you used to know how people are
going to experience it.
Now, you kind of know how people are
going to kind of help, you know, but
we're going to figure it out.
Yeah, making yourself the viewer
is very important
and and really calibrating
towards that experience.
And
then we come to an end of the world
crossing party.
We thought we'd do like a Pixar kind
of thing, but ultimately, like, they
have to be simple stories that would
work if they weren't animated or
they didn't have been and didn't
have crazy visual effects or wild
comedy. And so the end is just
about a guy who had new friends.
Old buddy doesn't mess with them and
he just really wants everyone to get
along and they're not.
And and the party
is about someone who goes on a
hero's journey to try to
help everybody realize that they're
living a lie and they're just like
simple things that could work in a
weight drama and that has
to be there or nothing works.
I think some scenes,
you know,
function better than others.
And and some scenes have more
opportunity for improvization
than others do.
And some others are much better at
improv than others and and are
actually able to create additive
material. And other actors are
completely unable to do that.
And therefore, it's not something
you should call on them
for or rely on them for.
So it's not
like in general, I would never
advise everyone to write a scene
like don't worry, we'll improvise
this better on the day like that is
not a good strategy.
Like it should always be written as
though no one's ever going to come
up with anything better.
And if someone does, fantastic.
But you should never count on that.
I don't think,
you know, by world dependent
like and this is the end.
We thought it really had to make
sense. And there was some broadeners
there, but we thought it needed to
be real. And it's sausage party.
We had a never ending conversation
about the reality of
anthropomorphize toys.
Another thing, another
pain of having you talk.
Why can't the Forks talk?
Why can't the table might over the
sheet of paper and a chair talk?
Yeah, like a piece of
pizza talk.
But it's cheese, tomato sauce and
bread and they talk before they
talk.
Yeah. So we have
all the conversations, but
eventually you just have to draw the
line somewhere and every movie
has a different line.
But there probably should be some
sort of line because the audience
does like to understand the rules
of the world that they're
experiencing.
You know,
I would say often the last scene
in the film there we are,
the very last scene of a movie
is is is sometimes
the hardest write because you're
trying to say, like, here's what
here's the same thing.
You've been enjoying the whole movie
in one of the best ways you've had
in the whole movie. But also
everyone's changed.
It's always a little tricky.
But when you actually like, what do
you want to leave people with, you
know what I mean? Like, what is the
last like whatever it
is, no matter what, it leaves a big
impression. So there's a lot of
pressure on the last the beginning,
the very beginning in the very end
of the movie are
both the hardest and most
important parts.
And always
there's hundreds of drafts and it
never stops.
And it's a never ending,
transforming, painful
experience like 15
drafts of the script we're writing
since the beginning of quarantine.
And there was probably 50 drafts
before that, and one
where we like wildly changed things
more than you would probably
think, we change things a lot
because we we just want to see it.
But we try not to be precious about
our writing. And and at times
we found it's faster to just write
something and see if it works than
to spend a lot of time deliberating
whether maybe or not it is going
to work half the time.
It's not going to work.
And you realize it and you're doing
it. And the other half you finish
and then you realize it.
But.
But I think, like demystifying the
actual act of writing is something
that, thank God, happened to
us a long time ago because just
we've been doing it so long.
So we're not incredibly precious
with, like the movement of our
fingers on a keyboard.
Like if there's a version of a scene
where we're like, oh, what if we
completely change this part of the
movie and look at the scene and then
wrote another scene that we'll just
do it rather than kind of
deliberating it for a super long
time.
One person generally feels
way stronger about it than
the other person.
Like it's like we will
be just sitting and one of
us feels like 10 degrees
about it and the other feels like
two degrees about it.
So it's not really that hard
of an argument either, because like
generally the person who just cares
way, way, way more will
we'll win the argument that often
end with the other person just
saying, like, you care more about
whatever it's like.
And again, it's not like
there's a lot of times for that
to come back to that.
Whatever it was, I was going to say
that like like there's things where
I'll be like you'll find out that
he's wrong a year and a half
exact words sitting in a
preproduction meeting.
Like that's what I'm going to be
right about this point.
Like we have we know we have
belongings, so we know panic
and be right more in a short period
of time. Definitely.
A good screenwriting quote that
I've read that I think of a lot is
like a script is not a work of
art. A script is an invitation
to come collaborate on a work of
art. And a screenplay
itself is
is nothing.
So like but
what a screenplay should be is
something that hundreds of people
read and are inspired by and
want to come together to help bring
something new to life,
you know, and
that's what you should think of a
screenplay as it is not the finished
product.