Francis Ford Coppola broke down a bestselling novel page by page, glued each page into a giant notebook, and used it to build one of the greatest films ever made. 

We cover:

How Coppola prepared to write and direct The Godfather. We look at his writing method and the tools and routines he used to do his best work.  Coppola's early life and path into film making. How he annotated the original Godfather novel. 

The prompt book - what it is, how he built it, and why it worked. 

His five criteria: synopsis, time period, imagery and tone, core purpose, and pitfalls. 

A detailed look at his notes for the restaurant shooting scene. 

Why he considered the screenplay secondary to the notebook. 

His reading habits and how he borrowed ideas across disciplines. 

His daily ritual

Collaboration as a creative force - including a wild story from Apocalypse Now. 

Practical takeaways you can apply to your own projects.

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