DAVID DIAMOND and David WEISSMAN have spent their prolific partnership writing distinctive and varied comedy features. These include the romantic comedies THE FAMILY MAN, starring Nicolas Cage, and WHEN IN ROME; the Ivan Reitman-directed sci-fi comedy EVOLUTION; and OLD DOGS, an ensemble comedy led by Robin Williams and John Travolta. The movies Diamond and Weissman have written and contributed to over their twenty-five year career have grossed over a billion dollars worldwide. The partners are also the authors of BULLETPROOF: WRITING SCRIPTS THAT DON'T GET SHOT DOWN, a book on screenwriting that has earned as much acclaim from industry professionals as it has from aspiring screenwriters around the world.
Their screenplay IMMIGRANTS won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2020 Ojai Film Festival. We spoke recently about the endurance of their book, current comedies, and their film THE FAMILY MAN twenty years after its release.
Order David Diamond and David Weissman's book here.
Dave Watson: It's been twenty years since your film, The Family Man, starring Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni, hit theaters. How do you reflect on the film now? Have your opinions and insights changed?
David Diamond: Mostly, I reflect on it with gratitude. Gratitude for the opportunity to have worked with so many talented people in developing and making it, and for the response people have had to the movie over the years. The more we learn about screenwriting--and we are still learning--the more we appreciate how much went right with that movie.
David Weissman: Much has changed including the fact that 20 years ago my life was more like the New York version of Nic Cage’s character and now it’s much more like the New Jersey version. If anything, the lessons of the movie, the importance of reflection and not underestimating true love, have been borne out for me.
DW: The film is a huge hit globally. Why do you think this is?
DD: One of the questions we asked ourselves while we were writing The Family Man was, "How do we want people to feel when they walk out of the theater?" I think if you understand what your characters want, what they think, and how they feel as they progress through the story, and those things feel authentic and true, then you've got a good shot at creating something that will resonate with audiences, and I think that's what happened. For 20 years people have been along for that emotional ride with Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage). It feels just as relevant today because that tension between love and ambition is every bit as present in our lives, and the comedy of it is just as much of a release of that tension.
DW: I think when the film opened in 2000, pre 9/11, pre Great Recession, pre Pandemic, the message may have been seen as cynical coming from “Hollywood”. But in the ensuing 20 years, the message has become more and more important in people’s lives. I think it’s a true word of mouth hit, generated by the reaction people have to watching the movie. It was never a critical darling or a Hollywood “must see” movie. It’s real people who watch it and love it and provoke interest in the movie.
DW: How has the pandemic impacted your work?
DD: Well, we don't see each other as often. We're fortunate to have one of those jobs that you can do from pretty much anywhere. All we need is a laptop. So, in that sense, the pandemic hasn't stopped us. We've been writing and we've been in regular contact with our managers and agents, and with producers. We transitioned to working together mostly by phone and FaceTime, and by Zoom when we're meeting with other people. On occasion we've gotten together outside, distanced, with masks. Of course, the pandemic has had an enormous impact on the larger business, and on production, and that does impact us. Ideally, you want to go out with a new script when people feel confident they can get the script made, and that's trickier now. But the need for content is greater than ever. We just keep plugging away.
DW: Hollywood is production driven as a business. When production slows down or stops, everything else slows down or stops, as well. Including writing. It will all come back, hopefully!
DW: Your seminal book Bulletproof discusses some aspects of films I still see get made. Does it apply to short films as well as features? Even documentaries?
DD: That's a generous description, thank you. We're not experts on shorts and documentaries, but I think that whatever kind of film you set out to make, in fact whatever you aspire to accomplish, even if it's not in the film world, it can only serve you to consider the interests of the creative and financial partners you rely on to realize your goal. That's a big part of what our book is about and why we wrote it. Creative integrity is very important. It's also possible, and probably more viable, when a writer/creator can respond to all the questions other stakeholders naturally have. I think the principles we lay out in Bulletproof apply to any kind of collaborative work.
DW: The Bulletproof method absolutely applies to shorts and documentaries. Whatever you are trying to do in the film and TV realms you will need partners down the line to help make your work. Bulletproof means taking those partners into account when you are conceiving your work, figuring out your story and characters, and executing on the page. All of the lessons we emphasize apply to shorts and docs, as well, if not the exact specifics.
DW: What's next for you guys?
DD: One of the scripts we wrote during COVID is out to actors now, so we can't say too much about that, except that it's a comedy that deals with honesty and boundaries in family relationships. Our script, Immigrants, which we finished just before the pandemic, won best screenplay at the 2020 Ojai Film Festival, which was very gratifying because that was a more personal story than we typically write. We have a producer trying to put that together now. Maybe in a year or so we can all see each other in theaters again and share the experience of actually watching these movies…
DW: I’ll say a little more than the other David about our latest script - it’s a Christmas movie!
DW: What are your current favorite cinematic moments?
DD: My wife and I had the opportunity recently to show Breaking Away to our older son, who's 19. I hadn't seen it in years, maybe decades. And it's just wonderful. It holds up 100% in every way. I don't want to spoil it for anyone out there who may not already have seen this gem of a movie, but there's a scene at the end where these four boys together experience a life-defining moment, and each one has someone to share it with, except for Cyril, the character played by Daniel Stern. It's just so poignant a moment and so authentically acted. For Cyril, these guys, his friends, were it. There was no one else.
We had an opportunity to work with Daniel Stern as a director about twenty years after Breaking Away. Of course we were fans, from this movie and Diner and City Slickers, all of which have been influences on us. We had a great experience working with him, but I'm kind of glad it had been a while since I'd watched Breaking Away. I might not have been able to open my mouth.
DW: I loved Soul from beginning to end!
Clip: Breaking Away
Dave Watson, founder and editor of Movies Matter, is a writer and educator in Madison, WI.
Their screenplay IMMIGRANTS won the Best Screenplay Award at the 2020 Ojai Film Festival. We spoke recently about the endurance of their book, current comedies, and their film THE FAMILY MAN twenty years after its release.
Order David Diamond and David Weissman's book here.
Dave Watson: It's been twenty years since your film, The Family Man, starring Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni, hit theaters. How do you reflect on the film now? Have your opinions and insights changed?
David Diamond: Mostly, I reflect on it with gratitude. Gratitude for the opportunity to have worked with so many talented people in developing and making it, and for the response people have had to the movie over the years. The more we learn about screenwriting--and we are still learning--the more we appreciate how much went right with that movie.
David Weissman: Much has changed including the fact that 20 years ago my life was more like the New York version of Nic Cage’s character and now it’s much more like the New Jersey version. If anything, the lessons of the movie, the importance of reflection and not underestimating true love, have been borne out for me.
DW: The film is a huge hit globally. Why do you think this is?
DD: One of the questions we asked ourselves while we were writing The Family Man was, "How do we want people to feel when they walk out of the theater?" I think if you understand what your characters want, what they think, and how they feel as they progress through the story, and those things feel authentic and true, then you've got a good shot at creating something that will resonate with audiences, and I think that's what happened. For 20 years people have been along for that emotional ride with Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage). It feels just as relevant today because that tension between love and ambition is every bit as present in our lives, and the comedy of it is just as much of a release of that tension.
DW: I think when the film opened in 2000, pre 9/11, pre Great Recession, pre Pandemic, the message may have been seen as cynical coming from “Hollywood”. But in the ensuing 20 years, the message has become more and more important in people’s lives. I think it’s a true word of mouth hit, generated by the reaction people have to watching the movie. It was never a critical darling or a Hollywood “must see” movie. It’s real people who watch it and love it and provoke interest in the movie.
DW: How has the pandemic impacted your work?
DD: Well, we don't see each other as often. We're fortunate to have one of those jobs that you can do from pretty much anywhere. All we need is a laptop. So, in that sense, the pandemic hasn't stopped us. We've been writing and we've been in regular contact with our managers and agents, and with producers. We transitioned to working together mostly by phone and FaceTime, and by Zoom when we're meeting with other people. On occasion we've gotten together outside, distanced, with masks. Of course, the pandemic has had an enormous impact on the larger business, and on production, and that does impact us. Ideally, you want to go out with a new script when people feel confident they can get the script made, and that's trickier now. But the need for content is greater than ever. We just keep plugging away.
DW: Hollywood is production driven as a business. When production slows down or stops, everything else slows down or stops, as well. Including writing. It will all come back, hopefully!
DW: Your seminal book Bulletproof discusses some aspects of films I still see get made. Does it apply to short films as well as features? Even documentaries?
DD: That's a generous description, thank you. We're not experts on shorts and documentaries, but I think that whatever kind of film you set out to make, in fact whatever you aspire to accomplish, even if it's not in the film world, it can only serve you to consider the interests of the creative and financial partners you rely on to realize your goal. That's a big part of what our book is about and why we wrote it. Creative integrity is very important. It's also possible, and probably more viable, when a writer/creator can respond to all the questions other stakeholders naturally have. I think the principles we lay out in Bulletproof apply to any kind of collaborative work.
DW: The Bulletproof method absolutely applies to shorts and documentaries. Whatever you are trying to do in the film and TV realms you will need partners down the line to help make your work. Bulletproof means taking those partners into account when you are conceiving your work, figuring out your story and characters, and executing on the page. All of the lessons we emphasize apply to shorts and docs, as well, if not the exact specifics.
DW: What's next for you guys?
DD: One of the scripts we wrote during COVID is out to actors now, so we can't say too much about that, except that it's a comedy that deals with honesty and boundaries in family relationships. Our script, Immigrants, which we finished just before the pandemic, won best screenplay at the 2020 Ojai Film Festival, which was very gratifying because that was a more personal story than we typically write. We have a producer trying to put that together now. Maybe in a year or so we can all see each other in theaters again and share the experience of actually watching these movies…
DW: I’ll say a little more than the other David about our latest script - it’s a Christmas movie!
DW: What are your current favorite cinematic moments?
DD: My wife and I had the opportunity recently to show Breaking Away to our older son, who's 19. I hadn't seen it in years, maybe decades. And it's just wonderful. It holds up 100% in every way. I don't want to spoil it for anyone out there who may not already have seen this gem of a movie, but there's a scene at the end where these four boys together experience a life-defining moment, and each one has someone to share it with, except for Cyril, the character played by Daniel Stern. It's just so poignant a moment and so authentically acted. For Cyril, these guys, his friends, were it. There was no one else.
We had an opportunity to work with Daniel Stern as a director about twenty years after Breaking Away. Of course we were fans, from this movie and Diner and City Slickers, all of which have been influences on us. We had a great experience working with him, but I'm kind of glad it had been a while since I'd watched Breaking Away. I might not have been able to open my mouth.
DW: I loved Soul from beginning to end!
Clip: Breaking Away
Dave Watson, founder and editor of Movies Matter, is a writer and educator in Madison, WI.
