Creative Principles

Jonathan Ames is becoming a television staple, writing comedic television with depth. The New York native first made his presence known as a novelist and essay writer, before moving his self-deprecating stories into the realm of television.

On his first show, ‘Bored to Death,’ Jason Schwartzman played a novelist also named Jonathan Ames, who began an unlicensed detective agency, alongside his friend Ray (Zach Galifianakis) and mentor George (Ted Danson). The show lasted three seasons on HBO and still has a positive cult following online.

In his newest creation, ‘Blunt Talk,’ Patrick Stewart stars as Walter Blunt. The show follows a British newscaster who recently moved to Los Angeles with an alcoholic, eccentric manservant named Harry. The duo try to navigate showbusiness, news, and the ins and outs of life behind-the-scenes of a talk show.

Ames also wrote the book ‘You Were Never Really Here,’ which was just turned into an award-winning drama starring Joaquin Phoenix.

We spoke with Jonathan about the unlikely inspiration for his new show, writing about friendships, his rules of screenwriting, and ideas for a film of Bored to Death. In addition, the print interview for this conversation is available on Creative Screenwriting’s website.

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‘Nice’ is a new indie pilot from director Andrew Ahn (Spirit Award/Sundance winner for his debut film ‘Spa Night’) and creator/star Naomi Ko (‘Dear White People’).

The new half hour series is a touching coming of age story about Teddy Park, a 20-something Korean American living in Minnesota, who must deal with the consequences of keeping her breast cancer a secret from her friends and family.

In this interview, Naomi Ko and Andrew Ahn some about the three-year journey to get this pilot made, the pros and cons of shooting in rural Minnesota, the importance of finding the right team, and how vital it is to have team members push new ideas or lift restraints off the project.

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In the film, ‘Supercon,’ a rag-tag group of former television stars and comic book artists, who make their living working at conventions, decide to steal the loot from a crooked promoter and an overbearing television icon.

We sat down with Zak Knutson, director of ‘Milius,’ ‘Marvel 75 Years,’ and ‘Marvel’s Captain America,’ to talk about his new comedy, ‘Supercon.’

In the interview, the filmmaker discusses the importance of making movies just to make people laugh, making a pop culture movie within complex copyright laws, improv with comedians, how John Milius influenced his work, working with Kevin Smith, and how the core idea behind Supercon came from a real robbery.

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Elan Gale describes himself as a strange person. As the executive producer of ‘The Bachelor,’ ‘The Bachelorette,’ ‘Bachelor in Paradise,’ and several live shows, he’s also a social media provocateur and author.

His antics have led him to be featured in the NYTimes, UsWeekly, Huffington Post, People Magazine, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and countless other publications and blogs. He has already published two books under his nom de plume, ‘Unspirational Texts from Your Ex,’ ‘Tinder Nightmares’ and the upcoming ‘Your Shitty Family.’

In this interview, Gale talks about his new book, ‘You’re Not That Great: But Neither Is Anyone Else.’ He discusses the problem with self-help books, the importance of optimism through pessimism, the way people unintentionally lie to themselves, how people get into hurtful patterns, how life is about how you approach your world, and how to be in charge of your future.

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’20 Weeks’ follows a young couple navigating their first pregnancy, who during a routine scan discover a health condition that could gravely impact their baby, which forces them to re-examine their relationship and their future.

The film is particularly timely as the right to choose is being threatened in today's political climate and currently in the US, 43 states have enacted abortion restrictions at different stages of pregnancy. The film stars Anna Margaret Hollyman (Mr. Roosevelt) and Amir Arison (The Blacklist).

Pendharkar's first feature, ‘Raspberry Magic,’ which starred Bella Thorne and Alison Brie, screened in more than twenty-five festivals, winning numerous awards.

In this interview, the writer-director talks about her early interest in journalism, documentaries and filmmaking. In addition, she talks about drawing on personal experiences, thinking of film imagery in daily life, fiction versus documentary filmmaking, and how to tackle the grey areas and taboo subjects as a filmmaker.

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‘And Then I Go’ highlights the cruel world of junior high. The protagonist, Edwin, suffers from anxiety and alienation, along with his only friend Flake. Together, they come up with a terrifying idea to get vengeance.

The story comes from Jim Shepard’s novel, ‘Project X.’ The book and film showcases an unflinching look at adolescent through childhood friends and an effort to find belonging, even when it means life or death.

In this interview, Director Vincent Grashaw discusses his passion for film at an early age, how writers can grow out of material, the tipping point for a character with elevated emotions, how to make a story truly relatable and the importance of focus, lighting, and point-of-view to highlight the headspace of a protagonist.

Make sure to also listen to our interview with the screenwriter of ‘And Then I Go’ back in Episode 29, where Brett Haley spoke about ‘The Hero.’

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In the Netflix movie ‘Kodachrome,’ Matt Ryder (Jason Sudeikis) is convinced to drive his estranged and dying father Benjamin Ryder (Ed Harris) cross country to deliver four old rolls of Kodachrome film to the last lab in the world that can develop them before it shuts down for good. Along with Ben’s nurse Zooey (Elizabeth Olsen), the three navigate a world changing from analog to digital while trying to put the past behind them.

In this interview, Screenwriter Jonathan Tropper talks about characters with a lack of filter, an understanding of screenwriting 101, finding peers as an artist, why creators need to create, his seven-year journey to create the Netflix film, ‘Kodachrome’ and a few details about his new Cinemax project, ‘Warrior.’

Also, don’t forget to listen to our first chat with Jonathan Tropper for ‘Banshee’ and ‘This Is Where I Leave You’ in Episode 31 of the series.

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After a series of short films, Director Brad Silberling was hired under contract like his eventual mentor, Steven Spielberg. Thanks to his style and attention to detail in his television work, Silberling was asked to direct ‘Casper,’ which was the first character-sync dialogue CGI characters.

Since his first film he’s also directed movies like ‘Land of the Lost,’ ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events,’ ‘Moonlight Mile,’ and ‘City of Angels.’

In this interview, Silberling talks about avoiding being pigeonholed as a director, finding your passion as a creative, his inspiration to humanize a war criminal, and the importance of making dramas for grown-ups.

In ‘An Ordinary Man,’ an infamous war criminal and former general (Ben Kingsley) spends his life on the run from international authorities when he is suddenly moved to a new hideout, where he develops a relationship with the maid that looks after him.  But when he discovers there is more to her story, he makes a decision that will drastically change both of their lives.

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‘Sweet Country,’ which stars Sam Neil (Jurassic Park), Bryan Brown (Cocktail), and newcomer Hamilton Morris is an Australian Western set in Northern Territory frontier in the 1920s.

The film is a story about justice being put on trial when an aged Aboriginal farmhand shoots a white man in self-defense. Then, the man is forced to run as a posse gathers to hunt him down.

In this interview, director Warwick Thornton talks about his award winning film, the importance of playing with time in movies, how to engage and disengage an audience, and the importance of removing music to highlight the landscape and tone.

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‘Chappaquiddick’ highlights Ted Kennedy’s involvement with a fatal car accident from 1969, where young campaign strategist Mary Jo Kopechne lost her life.

The new film was directed by John Curran (The Painted Day, Tracks) and stars Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) and Kate Mara (House of Cards).

In this interview, screenwriters Andrew Logan and Taylor Allen talk about taking opportunities as they are presented, their long distance writing partnership, knowing which industry connections to use in terms of voice, the problem with writing genre movies, and what inspired them to create the first movie about Senator Ted Kennedy.

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