Creative Principles

Matt Osterman was heavily influenced by ‘The Twilight Zone’ as a kid. By the time he got to college, he realized directing films could be a real opportunity for him to tell stories.

In his latest film, ‘Hover,’ Osterman teamed up with screenwriter and actress Cleopatra Coleman (The Last Man on Earth) for a futuristic film that revolves around an environmental strain that led to agricultural drones that turn dangerous.

In this interview, Osterman discusses the problem with movies written by corporations, his take on 70s thriller for ‘Hover,’ creating your own luck as a writer-director, and knowing when to twist the knot or build proper tension in film.

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While attending film school at UCLA, Paul Schrader saw the film, 'Pickpocket' (1959), which essentially formed the path of his career. During his stay at the university, Schrader thought there was a major difference between critics and filmmakers, but this film helped him understand the artistic view of each.

“I looked down on them,” he said about his time as a critic. “I’m sure they looked down on me. But, I thought what they were doing was trivial. I thought what I was doing was superior to what they were doing. But, when I saw this film Pickpocket, it hit me for the first time that there could actually be a place for me.”

“I could make that film,” he thought to himself in the theater. “I saw that there was a bridge between my theological upbringing and my current love of the movies,” said Schrader. In the film, a man commits crimes and then goes and writes about those crimes in his diary.

“Two years later, I wrote Taxi Driver, which is exactly that film...”

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

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“USS Callister” is the first episode of the fourth season of Netflix’s ‘Black Mirror.’ The episode follows Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons), a reclusive programmer and co-founder of a multiplayer online game. But, the overlooked designer takes out his frustrations by copying his co-workers’ DNA to create digital clones of them in a fictional world aboard the USS Callister.

In this interview, Stephan Pehrsson tells us about the basics of what it’s like to be a cinematographer. Specifically for this episode, Pehrsson and director Toby Haynes discussed the two worlds of Daly’s life, the different tones on the spaceship, and how they tried to use the different worlds of ‘Star Trek,’ such as the original, the Next Generation and J.J. Abrams’ futuristic look.

Also, the cinematographer discussed breaking into the business, the importance of who you know versus what you know in the beginning, dealing with rejection, how to make connections and how to progress together, and the last minute decision to include a ‘Breaking Bad’ reunion in the episode.

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Julie Delpy is a French-American screenwriter, actress, and director. As a graduate from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Delpy has been in over 30 films, perhaps best known for work in Richard Linklater’s 'Before'-Trilogy, co-starring Ethan Hawke.

Within her many ventures, she has been nominated for two Academy Awards.

In 'Lolo,' Delpy co-writes and stars as Violette, a 40-year-old workaholic with a dominant career in the fashion industry and little time for love. Coincidentally, she falls for a software geek named Jean-Rene and the two try to make it work, despite an unknown force that keeps getting in the way.

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

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In Disney Animation, story is king. For the film 'Zootopia,' seven creators worked to shape the story that began in the mind of Byron Howard. In the later portion of their five-year battle to bring the Zootopians to life, major plot changes occurred while they remained true to an idea of discussing prejudices frankly, through film.

Thanks to the aid of the writer’s room and the guidance from Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter along with the infamous Story Trust, 'Zootopia' found its place among an ongoing list of Disney classics.

In the following order, we spoke with co-director Byron Howard, producer Clark Spencer, and co-director Rich Moore about the pop culture references in the movie, the Disney collaboration model, and serious themes in animated films.

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice and watch our weekly YouTube series at www.creativeprinciples.live (In VLOG 6, we actually dove into the "Pixar Brain Trust" mentioned in this episode).

'Gold' stars Matthew McConaughey as businessman and modern-day prospector Kenny Wells. Eager for his lucky break, Wells will do just about anything to find gold. And after experiencing a “foretelling,” he teams up with a geologist (Édgar Ramírez) to search for gold in the uncharted jungles of Indonesia.

Screenwriters Patrick Massett and John Zinman were inspired to write the script after Massett saw the story featured in a light-night documentary, and decided to take their chances on writing it on spec. A gamble which paid off, when it was developed by Paul Haggis, and eventually directed by Stephen Gaghan (Syriana, Traffic).

We spoke with Massett and Zinman about watching movies with the script in your lap, the rhythm of a scene, not sending out your first script, and why working in Hollywood is like prospecting for gold.

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

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York Shackleton got his start in professional snowboarding and commercial advertising. As York moved into documentary films, he quickly realized it’s more important to show the authenticity of the event rather than express in an opinion on screen. The audience needs to decide on their own.

In the fiction world, the director actually reverse engineers much of his work. He puts distribution in place before he get financing. He also creates a lists of musts, such as actors, genre, and so on, before he fully develops a new idea. This how ‘211’ came to be.

York’s latest film stars Nicolas Cage, Sophie Skelton, and Michael Rainey Jr. The movie has been described as ‘End of Watch’ meets ‘Black Hawk Down.’ The true story comes from the police code that references “Shots fired!” and the movie is about the “longest and bloodiest bank heists in history,” which took place in 1997 North Hollywood.

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'Seven Seconds' is arguably one of the boldest stories on Netflix. The 10-episode drama comes from 'The Killing' showrunner Veena Sud.

The story begins with a hit-and-run of an African-American teenager by a Jersey City cop. The mostly white police force covers up the incident, which causes public controversy.

“My son laid in the cold, in pain, for hours,” said Regina King’s character, Latrice Butler. “And, whoever did this is free.” What’s perhaps most interesting about Sud’s take on this type of story is all of the research involved and the in-depth look at how everyone suffers from such a tragedy.

We sat down with Veena Sud to talk about her fascination with mystery, slow-burn storytelling, the Statue of Liberty as symbolism, and her passion for research along with the importance of plucking images from real life.

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

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Theresa Bennett knew she wanted to make movies early in life. She worked in a movie rental store and started writing scripts in notebooks. Even though she couldn’t afford screenwriting software, she found a way to create scripts.

Eventually, this led to the new film, 'Social Animals.' In the movie, a childless, single, broke stoner attempted to salvage her failing business and love life while falling in love with a married man.

The comedy-drama stars Noël Wells (Master of None), Aya Cash (You’re the Worst), Samira Wiley (Orange is the New Black), Carly Chaikin (Mr. Robot), and Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother).

In this interview, Bennett tells her story of a young girl who wanted to make films and how she became a first-time writer-director. She also discusses character creation, the power of limited resources, and the benefits of a speedy first draft.

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

Stay up-to-date on other creative advice and watch our weekly YouTube series at www.creativeprinciples.live

“I haven’t always done the right thing,” said the subject of 'John McCain: For Whom the Bell Tolls.' “But you will never talk to anyone that is as fortunate as John McCain.” The Senator, who has lost two Presidential elections, survived as a Vietnam POW for five years, and received a brain tumor diagnosis, is surprisingly optimistic, potentially the last of his kind, and the latest subject for Kunhardt Films.

As a production company, Kunhardt Films specializes in documentaries “about the people and ideas that shape history.” In the past three years, the directors and producers have made films like 'King in the Wilderness' about Martin Luther King Jr., 'The Newspaperman' about Ben Bradlee, and 'Becoming Warren Buffet.'

Producer George Kunhardt said, “We had done a similar documentary [in 2009] when Teddy Kennedy announced that he had brain cancer. Teddy, when he read it in the news that McCain had been diagnosed with this, we thought it was a natural [progression], since McCain was the other line of the Senate and had a long life that paralleled the last half-century of American history.”

Three weeks after the diagnosis, the producers started working on the film. Kunhardt Films, which launched in 1987, consists of six-time Emmy Award winner Peter Kunhardt and his two sons, George and Teddy. In this interview, the three creators talk about John McCain as a character, how to gain trust as a filmmaker, and the importance of subjects that you’re willing to spend a year with.

In addition to this audio format, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting Magazine’s website.

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