OC Screenwriters Association

Billy Wilder's Tips For Writers

It was 10 years ago (March 27, 2002) that the world lost Billy Wilder. Some of his wisdom from Cameron Crowe's book, Conversations With Wilder start with his Tips for Writers.

1. The audience is fickle.
2. Grab ‘em by the throat and never let ‘em go.
3. Develop a clean line of action for your leading character.
4. Know where you’re going.
5. The more subtle and elegant you are in hiding your plot points, the better you are as a writer.
6. If you have a problem with the third act, the real problem is in the first act.
7. A tip from Lubitsch: Let the audience add up two plus two. They’ll love you forever.
8. In doing voice-overs, be careful not to describe what the audience already sees. Add to what they’re seeing.
9. The event that occurs at the second act curtain triggers the end of the movie.
10. The third act must build, build, build in tempo and action until the last event, and then -- that’s it. Don’t hang around.

Editors note: I really shouldn't have to list Wilder's film because any student of film should know them but here's a few just in case:

Some Like it Hot
Double Indemnity
Seven Year Itch
Stalag 17
The Apartment
Sunset Blvd.

SANTA ANITA PARK AND HOLLYWOOD, A LONGTIME LOVE AFFAIR

And they were off!

On Christmas Day, 1934, Santa Anita Park Racetrack opened its gates and it was love at first sight between Santa Anita and Hollywood. 

Hollywood royalty was not only in attendance, but one of Hollywood’s most prolific movie producers, Hal Roach, who started producing film in 1915, and lived till the age of 101 as a working producer, who brought comedy to America with Harold Lloyd, Our Gang, Laurel and Hardy, Will Rogers, and so many more, was the money man behind the park.

Roach was so prolific, as Hal Roach Studios was producing 1500 hours of television shows per year by 1951, which was three times the number of films made in Hollywood, and he created so many of television’s greatest, was the first to create syndication. So many new works and manner of production were originated at Hal Roach Studios, it’s no wonder he drew on all the creative people in Hollywood to help with the park.

And help they did.

Bing Crosby, Joe E. Brown, Al Jolson, and Harry Warner were major stockholders and board members.

Santa Anita Park’s box holders in its early days included such luminaries as director/writer Frank Capra, actors like Fred Astaire and Jack Benny, and studio moguls Walt Disney and Cecil B. de Mille.

Santa Anita was the place to hang out, and still is, for if you pay a visit, you may encounter the ghosts of such fans as Astair, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Charlie Chaplin, Betty Grable, Lana Turner, Edgar Bergen, Jane Russell, Cary Grant, Ester Williams,and even Marilyn Monroe, who enjoyed off days and weekends at the Park as regulars, as well as just about every star and supporting actor that worked in Hollywood, including screenwriters Arthur Miller and William Faulkner and John Steinbeck. 

Bing Crosby, Spencer Tracy, Errol Flynn, Alex Trebek, and MGM mogul, Louis B. Mayer, have owned horses that raced at the park.

Movies filmed there included “A Day at the Races”, the Marx Brothers classic, and the Marx Brothers jumped on horses, ran into the stands, and set the whole park on its end with hilarity.

Other films included “The Story of Seabiscuit,” with Shirley Temple.

It was the home of the stars, and if the public wanted stars, all they had to do was buy a Clubhouse ticket and mix with the biggest names ever in film history at Santa Anita, all for just a $2 bet.

And Roach, and his partner who ran the park for him, also had the park be the first to introduce the starting gate and photo finishes for every race, which became de rigeur in horse racing throughout the world. Roach said, “Movies are our business, we are using our trade to bring truth to the race.” Photo finishes became the standard of every track, as so much money was spent at race tracks, the rebroadcast of photo finishes is almost as popular as the race itself.

And it wasn’t only film royalty that inhabited the park. Seabiscuit, America’s great horse of the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, raced there often and was a huge prize winner and caught the fancy of the American dream. Of course a film was made of Seabiscuit, and there is a statue of the horse on a show green, where all horses parade around before the races begin each day in his honor. 

But while the park has been a favorite spot and watering hole for many years for Hollywood, it also had a dark side.  During World War II years 1942-1944, the park was used as an internment camp for Japanese-Americans and had 17,000 living in horse stables, including a young George Takei, the actor most famous as Lt. Sulu who helmed the USS Enterprise in the television and film series of “Star Trek.” A plaque commemorates the events of those years, and there is a display of photos from the site.

Santa Anita’s close proximity to Hollywood, and its gorgeous location at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, has made it a backdrop for too many films, television series, commercials, and photo shoots to count.

But as you walk the ground, you will encounter statues of America’s greatest jockeys, including Johnny Longden, Willie Shoemaker, George Woolf, and LaffitPincay, Jr., all who appeared in so many films as jockeys.

In addition to a lifesize bronze of Seabiscuit in the walking ring at Seabiscuit Court there is also one of John Henry, America’s favorite till he retired in 2009.

And Trevor Denman, the voice of the track since the 1980’s.and whose now-famous voice has been used in many films and television shows, is instantly recognizable when he calls the gathering to attention and calls the race. 

Even today, you will still be greeted by 90 year-old Paddock Guard, John Shear, who has been on the job since 1938!

And you may see anyone from Leonardo DiCaprio to George Clooney to Tony Bennett to Mel Brooks, as the love affair continues between Hollywood and Santa Anita Park.

Mark Sevi also contributed to this article.

"Blood In, Blood Out,",  the Disney company's first R-rated film under the Hollywood Pictures banner, is screening on Wednesday night, March 28, 2012, at 7:30 PM, at the Regency South Coast Village Theatre.

The film is a story worthy of "The Godfather", from a Mexican point of view, and centered on the creation of the Mexican Mafia in prisons in the 1970's and 80's. But it was far more than that.

Directed by Taylor Hackford, "Blood In, Blood Out," is a great crime drama that follows the intertwining lives of the three Chicano relatives, Miklo (Damien Chapa), Paco(Benjamin Bratt) and Cruz (Jesse Borrego) from 1972 to the mid 1980s.

The film starts out with them as members of a street gang called Vatos Locos of East Los Angeles, and as dramatic incidents occur, their lives and friendships are forever changed. 

"Blood In, Blood Out," was filmed throughout the Spanish-speaking areas of Los Angeles and inside California's San Quentin Prison. Disney later changed the name to "Bound by Honor", when the film attrracted such widespread attention and crowds that caused uproars in theatres and cheered for the jailed criminals that they felt the name, "Blood In, Blood Out", was too violent for a Disney brand. 

The story is till this day, considered a coming of age story for many young latinos, and the film is watched as often as "The Godfather" is in Italian households and held in the same reverence. I am surprised that no one has picked up on this and written a good pilot for a series based on this film, or events close to it. 

But judge for yourself. If you like action and great story, this is one hell of a picture. it will always be on my Top Ten list, because you become endeared so greatly to the characters, in spite of all their weaknesses and sins.

Benjamin Bratt of course is known for many roles, in feature films and television shows, incdluding being an original on "Law and Order."

Jesse Borrego has kept working in film and television since his first break on television in the original, "Fame" show.

But Damien Chappa is the most to be admired. he realized that in Hollywood one had to wait upon the powers that be, and he took things into his own hands, and formed his own production company and cranks out two to three features a year, and self-distributes in America and throughout the world. 

"Blood In, Blood Out" is no "Shawshank Redemption", this is down and dirty and gritty as it gets, but that's what endears it and makes it so stunning. 

Again, playing on classic Wednesday Night at the Regency South Coast Village, at 1561 W Sunflower Ave, (across from South Coast Plaza). Look it up, www.regencymovies.com.

I only present this here because it's one of my favorites, and I love to share this film. It was the first with featured latin stars and a latin theme, and it was a huge hit at the box office and changed the way Hollywood looked at the latin market. 

Pity The Poor Writer

I've written under all circumstances for over twenty years - scripts, short stories, novels, industrial videos, blogs, articles, etc. Modestly speaking, I'm pretty good at it.  I know that because people pay me for that particular skill set.  

Yep, lots to learn (emphasis on 'lots'") but let me make this point at the top - I study storytelling for a living. That's what I do.  So, I should know a little more about it than your nephew, girlfriend, stranger off the street, right?  Oh you agree?  Then why are you changing my story, characters, themes and plot based on their opinions?  In fact, why are we having this conversation at all? 

You think I'm being a dilettante writer?  Fair enough.  Let's talk about that.

Chill, Dude.  It's just Your Flipping Career

Let's get the big points out of the way.  First, I do get that these are gray areas and that I am over-simplifying for the sake of making my point - it's called...writing - where have you been?

With that out of the way, let me talk directly to all the so-called producers in the world.

Dear Mr., Miss, Mrs., Ms, Other Species, Producer-Person,

• Yes, I do understand that film is a collaborative process.  Do you?  Collaborate doesn't mean (or shouldn't mean) just do it my way.
• No, I do not think that I know everything there is to know.  Do you?
• Yes, you can make good points at times but when I say it won't work, you should respect that since I am "the expert" you hired to write your story.
• Yes, I do respect you.  Why don't you respect me?
• Oh, and I do get that there are many ways to be right.  Do you know how many ways there are to be wrong?  You should.  You live it every day.
• No, I do not really want to shove my fist in your stupid face and kick your ass down the... ahem.  Nevermind.

Would you go to a doctor and after he or she diagnoses your problem then suggest that you know better how to cut that cyst out of your neck?  How about a mechanic?  He says you need a new transmission, based on twenty-odd years of being a mechanic and actually having studied and understanding how a car works (do you?) - and you say "no, that's not the problem."   Computers?  iPhones?  Airplanes?  You gonna want to tell the tech who's designing, building or diagnosing that he or she is wrong or that in your opinion it should go this way or that?  Do people tell cops how best to chase a bad guy?  Firemen how to fight a fire?  

Oh, you do think that it's okay to do that under certain circumstances?

Great.  Here's my problem...

Why did you hire them in the first place?  Next time just read a book, watch some YouTube videos and do it the hell yourself.

I mean, even fitness coaches get more respect than most writers.  

A Little Cheese with That Whine?

This problem is most irritating when it comes to film because everyone thinks they can write or make a film.  They think that watching movies on Netflix, knowing some trivia about John Sayles films, or understanding that film noir came out of the German Expresssionist movement, makes them experts - or "good enough" to make a movie.  Siderant: Potentially the worst are MFAs (Masters of Fine Arts) who imagine that after a few semesters of film theory and film history, and some in-class writing, they can tell you how to write.  Pah!  Only writing makes you a good writer.   Get that?  Only writing makes you a good writer. 

In music, you don't get to be a world-class musician unless you practice every day, for hours a day.  Sure, anyone can plink and plunk "Chopsticks" or play "Michael Row The Boat Ashore" on the guitar (or perhaps even the opening to "Stairway to Heaven") but it's those pros, those men and women who put in the bloody-finger-time, hours after  hours who are the true maestros.  If that's true of musicians, mechanics, techs, doctors and even fitness coaches why would anyone assume anything differently from a writer?

Let's just take me, for example.  Tens of millions of words written in all forms of narrative.  I've watched thousands of movies, TV series, short films and broken down on paper at least 1,000 of those. I have them in my files here in my office.  I write, write about writing, and teach writing so I've studied film and writing from every angle I can find.  When I hear a song, I don't think "nice tune" I think "nice story" because I've even broken down the structure of well-written songs like a film.  If, as Malcolm Gladwell states in his book "The Outliers", it takes 10,000 hours to become "an expert" then I am an expert conservatively times two.  I live, eat, drink and breathe story.

Can I be wrong?  Can I write a bad script?  Can I be so full of myself I don't see obvious problems in my work?  YES!  But here's the important part.  If you ask me to change something and I say it won't work and give you well-informed reasons then YOU SHOULD LISTEN!  You should listen because I am the expert - not you.  Saying, I'll know it when I read it or I know what I like is not reason enough to take what you're saying and change things.   You've had some success at making movies?  So have I or you wouldn't have called me in the first place!  

Why don't you get that?

Baby, Sweetie, Love Bug...

The best producers I work with have strong, competent opinions about the work they do.  They have a vision, a way - they're not casual about their work or opinions.  They don't sit by the pool and "baby, sweetie" the world.  They're in their offices early, stay late and have no personal lives because they are as obsessed with their careers as I am with mine.

And here's the most important part of what they do:  They listen to the people they hire; the experts.  They may ask and probe and suggest and contribute but they listen.  They know that story is not a simple thing.  If it was, every movie, every TV series, novel and short story would be a work of enduring genius.

In Which I Excuse My Bad Behavior

You wonder why writers are drunks or drug addicts?  It's because we've given up trying to make sense of arbitrary and idiotic notes, opinions and mindfarts that you think smell sweet because they came out of your brainhole.  We've gotten used to (read as: capitulated) being vetoed and our stories re-envisioned according to puerile sensibilities.  I mean, why fight it?  I might win that battle and lose the war being tagged as an unresponsive writer and not find work again.  It's a small world after all in the film community - hah, now you can't get that ditty out of your mind.  Would you like to know why?  I can tell you.  And I'm sure the writers of that song could have also because they STUDIED music.   

I'm off-tangent.  Happens even to us "geniuses."  (kidding, I'm kidding - it never happens to us geniuses)

Am I or any other writer Pope-like in our literary pronouncements?  No.  But we are right a great deal more than we are allowed by an industry populated by l'enfant terrible, idiot-savants who switch opinions about as fast as a child in a room filled with toys.  They have the focus of an ADHD dog ("SQUIRREL!") and yet they think that they know best and finally what your story should say.

Sigh...where's that bottle of vodka?  Time for breakfast.

I don't think I've seen a more salient argument for letting the experts do their thing than the brilliant Christopher Guest short that played during the Academy Awards.  Although it indicts focus groups as bad guys, look at "the man" behind the curtain as to the real reason why Hollywood is in so much trouble.

Over the rainbow, indeed.  Let me buy you a ticket there - and the end of my foot.