Film Courage: How did you learn to write screenplays or stage plays? Rachel K. Ofori, Producer/Writer: I don't think I ever
learned it. I don't think I ever learned to write screenplays or
stage plays. I think I learned what was in a story that connected with people
and then figured out how to put that into lines and I think that's really
what it is people go to school and they read these books they're trying to just
find out what a story is and then how to relay it but I think consuming all types
of content really is a thing that can teach you that in such a way because
it's like okay I watch movies I go to the movies multiple times a week it's I
don't watch TV but I go to movies all the time but I'm watching the audience
to like what was the moment where they kind of leaned back and kind of soin or
what was the moment that they reacted to it well or kind of seemed a little
disconnecting out on their phones or whatever so yeah stories connect with
people and if you know how to connect with people outside of a writing you can
tell a story and that's everybody so everyone has some level of connection to
people so they can translate that to a paper than your writer and I have
learned to do that by doing it doing it and hearing it and reading it and seeing
it so reading scripts helps yes but you got to see the outcome of that scripts
so go watch the movie and you have to see the reaction that the movie had on
the people so go to the movies and you become a better writer I had an English
teacher mr. Pomeroy in tenth grade back at Penn Wood in Lansdowne Pennsylvania
and he said people always say you become a better writer by reading and he said
that's not true you become a better writer by writing and he would say that
was every day into his class he was a bright that will be his first word when
we got into the room and we were right and there it was the most amazing class
it was AP class and it was either you got an A or an F oh wow there was no
grading of the papers nothing it was either you did the work you tried you
got a you didn't do the work you're not trying eat us so everyone in
that class they wrote and we grew leaps and bounds without boundaries
it wasn't like Oh am I getting a B or it was just writing and that that was very
freeing and I think that kind of gave me the mindset that I have
where if I want to be a better rider I need to write if I want to be a better
whatever I need to do it so I applied that thing that he told me I think of
him very finely very often because he encouraged me in a way that was enviable
just to write and that it was good and that I could impact people with it
that's really interesting so do you think just the fact that he has such a
love for this whereas maybe other parts of your life movies had to be you know
inspected you saw the freedom that he had with was story and it just made you
feel like you could be free with writing I think the freedom my teacher gave me
in writing could never be taken away the reason I said the next year 11th grade I
had the most the teacher it's like you have to do it this way there's no way
you wrote this in right now like she would have us do these journal entries
and she's like oh no you didn't just write this and I'm like that's that's
how my thoughts come out and she's like okay it was just like a very negative
space but I didn't lose what he gave me I just like well let me see how I can
better interact with this woman that wants me to do this and this and this
but I knew that I already achieved it and I had already experienced it so that
expiration I kept with me through that moment and
beyond so I still feel a sense of freedom I think for me sometimes I feel
there's so much the producer does and we get so I'll go down with tasks so if I
could just take a moment just to write some things down so totally disconnected
from work I was so better and I think that's something that he taught us like
you can free yourself because you're getting your thoughts out you're getting
your thoughts organized even for anyone that just writers so anyone that wants
to kind of just bring himself back to center writing is a great way to do it
so that freedom yes he he established it and it just definitely continued on and
continues on today and I try to give that to other people as well so don't
before I tell them what not to do like just go and that's an anything like my
wardrobe designer my set designer like no just Express go like to spend a day
with it don't try to do it the way that fits into this just go for a day and
then some beautiful things could come out that might have been kind of pushed
down by too much of a structure in the bad moment you need the structure
because then I need to come and make sure you're productive and all these
things but let them go first and then you'll be surprised at how many
beautiful things come out
you