Dr. Linda Seger is the most prolific writer of in the area of screenwriting, having written nine books on the subject. Seger created and defined the job of script consultant in 1981, and since that time consulted on over 2000 scripts and presented screenwriting seminars in over thirty countries around the world. She was the script consultant for Peter Jackson’s break-through film, Brain Dead, and Roland Emmerich’s breakthrough film, UNIVERSAL SOLDIER. She presented the first professional screenwriting seminars in Russia and Bulgaria. She has given seminars for studios, networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, RAI Television (Italy), ZDF (Germany), production companies, television series (MacGyver, The Mary Show), film commissions, universities and film schools. She is the author of a second edition of WRITING SUBTEXT: WHAT LIES BENEATH, that has been revised and expanded to be useful for all fiction writers. Her latest book is 3rd Edition THE ART OF COLLABORATION: FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN.
Order Dr. Seger's book here.
Dave Watson: Welcome back, Linda! What's new?
Dr. Linda Seger: The third edition of THE COLLABORATIVE ART OF FILMMAKING: FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN was just published in February. I added about five interviews to the 70 that had been done for the first two editions and also added some wonderful research that I found online. It is so fascinating to learn more about the work of other artists who impact the script – the actor, the editor, the composer etc. and I love Ron Howard's endorsement!
In January, I sold a book proposal for a book called YOU TALKIN’ TO ME: writing great dialogue which will be co-written with John Winston Rainey who is a screenwriter and script consultant and who has been a wonderful colleague of mine. That will be published in 2020.
DW: As the industry has changed, is mainstream filmmaking still collaborative? Has this aspect of it changed?
LS: The film industry has become more collaborative in the last 20 or 30 years. It used to be that directors were considered the true artist of filmmaking. This was called the auteur theory but with the rise of independent filmmaking as well as low budget, and a recognition of the great artists who contribute to the film, filmmaking has become much more collaborative. This is also true in many other industries which now emphasize collaboration over competition.
DW: What should screenwriters know about the filmmaking process now? In Hollywood? Outside?
LS: Screenwriters really need to understand what is going to happen to their script as it moves from script to screen. A whole lot of people will make their mark upon their scripts and screenwriters can increase their chance of their script being made and having great people working on it if they better understand all the different perspectives other artists will bring..
A screenwriter wants an actor to light up because they see dimensional characters and see that the writer writes shows an understanding of the art of the actor. The editor wants to see how the scene transitions work and see that the writer has a sense of the rhythm and the flow of the script. The director loves to see the images the writer has created and that the writer has a sense of how the scenes work together to make a great script.
The more the screenwriter understands about the process, the more successful they can be in communicating that this is a script that every artist will want to work on.
It also is to the benefit of the screenwriter to understand whether their script is low budget or medium or must be done by a studio and to understand more about how this process works.
For this edition, I interviewed a low budget filmmaker-producer-director-writer Darla Rae, as well as interviewed the former president of Disney production, Bruce Hendricks. Both of them helped fill in an understanding of all the different ways to make a film.
It was fun to reconnect with Bruce because we both realized we had worked together on an after-school special in 1980.
DW: Screenplays still stand out in great films. Thinking of BLACKKKLANSMEN, Widows of last year. Is it still of paramount importance to the process?
LS: Screenwriting is the blueprint for everything that follows. Of course there will be changes in the script and it will be pushed and pulled in various ways but you don't have a great film without a great script.
DW: What's next?
LS: I continue to consult and my clients come from all over the world. I've now had clients from 6 out of the 7 continents but I can't figure out what those people in Antarctica are doing if they're not writing scripts!
And I’m still writing books.
Last fall I spent two months Europe which included some teaching and I will do the same this fall. One of the venues is a 14th-century castle in France where I taught and consulted last fall. I'll be going back to Copenhagen and really enjoy teaching at that film school. I'll be returning to Kiev and Poland and Bulgaria. And it looks like I'll go to some places for the first time to teach – Finland, Prague, Kazakhstan, and Latvia.
Clearly I have not lost my zest for my work.
DW: What is your favorite cinematic moment?
LS: Some of my favorite cinematic moments come from scenes I've seen many many times and often use in my classes: I love the airplane scene in OUT OF AFRICA and never get tired of the music soaring. I watched WITNESS again recently and always loved the barn-raising scene. My husband proposed to me in the middle of that scene when we first saw it so obviously I like it! I love the moment in GREEN BOOK when Don Shirley first plays and we see the response from Tony Lip. Perhaps it’s special because I went back to playing piano and bought a grand piano last April so of course I would respond! One of my favorites comes from Billy Elliot when he really begins to soar with his dancing. I love moments that are enhanced with music!
As you can see – there are many amazing moments.
Of course, some of my favorite moments come from the scripts I work on which have not been produced yet. I occasionally work on scripts where I am left breathless. Sometimes I laugh out loud in the middle of a comedy. Last week, I read a script where I got all choked up and started to cry and I presumed the audience would be an absolute wreck in some of these scenes and they would need to bring lots of Kleenex!
Clip: Witness
Green Book
Founder and editor of Movies Matter, Dave Watson is a writer and educator in Madison, WI.
Order Dr. Seger's book here.
Dave Watson: Welcome back, Linda! What's new?
Dr. Linda Seger: The third edition of THE COLLABORATIVE ART OF FILMMAKING: FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN was just published in February. I added about five interviews to the 70 that had been done for the first two editions and also added some wonderful research that I found online. It is so fascinating to learn more about the work of other artists who impact the script – the actor, the editor, the composer etc. and I love Ron Howard's endorsement!
In January, I sold a book proposal for a book called YOU TALKIN’ TO ME: writing great dialogue which will be co-written with John Winston Rainey who is a screenwriter and script consultant and who has been a wonderful colleague of mine. That will be published in 2020.
DW: As the industry has changed, is mainstream filmmaking still collaborative? Has this aspect of it changed?
LS: The film industry has become more collaborative in the last 20 or 30 years. It used to be that directors were considered the true artist of filmmaking. This was called the auteur theory but with the rise of independent filmmaking as well as low budget, and a recognition of the great artists who contribute to the film, filmmaking has become much more collaborative. This is also true in many other industries which now emphasize collaboration over competition.
DW: What should screenwriters know about the filmmaking process now? In Hollywood? Outside?
LS: Screenwriters really need to understand what is going to happen to their script as it moves from script to screen. A whole lot of people will make their mark upon their scripts and screenwriters can increase their chance of their script being made and having great people working on it if they better understand all the different perspectives other artists will bring..
A screenwriter wants an actor to light up because they see dimensional characters and see that the writer writes shows an understanding of the art of the actor. The editor wants to see how the scene transitions work and see that the writer has a sense of the rhythm and the flow of the script. The director loves to see the images the writer has created and that the writer has a sense of how the scenes work together to make a great script.
The more the screenwriter understands about the process, the more successful they can be in communicating that this is a script that every artist will want to work on.
It also is to the benefit of the screenwriter to understand whether their script is low budget or medium or must be done by a studio and to understand more about how this process works.
For this edition, I interviewed a low budget filmmaker-producer-director-writer Darla Rae, as well as interviewed the former president of Disney production, Bruce Hendricks. Both of them helped fill in an understanding of all the different ways to make a film.
It was fun to reconnect with Bruce because we both realized we had worked together on an after-school special in 1980.
DW: Screenplays still stand out in great films. Thinking of BLACKKKLANSMEN, Widows of last year. Is it still of paramount importance to the process?
LS: Screenwriting is the blueprint for everything that follows. Of course there will be changes in the script and it will be pushed and pulled in various ways but you don't have a great film without a great script.
DW: What's next?
LS: I continue to consult and my clients come from all over the world. I've now had clients from 6 out of the 7 continents but I can't figure out what those people in Antarctica are doing if they're not writing scripts!
And I’m still writing books.
Last fall I spent two months Europe which included some teaching and I will do the same this fall. One of the venues is a 14th-century castle in France where I taught and consulted last fall. I'll be going back to Copenhagen and really enjoy teaching at that film school. I'll be returning to Kiev and Poland and Bulgaria. And it looks like I'll go to some places for the first time to teach – Finland, Prague, Kazakhstan, and Latvia.
Clearly I have not lost my zest for my work.
DW: What is your favorite cinematic moment?
LS: Some of my favorite cinematic moments come from scenes I've seen many many times and often use in my classes: I love the airplane scene in OUT OF AFRICA and never get tired of the music soaring. I watched WITNESS again recently and always loved the barn-raising scene. My husband proposed to me in the middle of that scene when we first saw it so obviously I like it! I love the moment in GREEN BOOK when Don Shirley first plays and we see the response from Tony Lip. Perhaps it’s special because I went back to playing piano and bought a grand piano last April so of course I would respond! One of my favorites comes from Billy Elliot when he really begins to soar with his dancing. I love moments that are enhanced with music!
As you can see – there are many amazing moments.
Of course, some of my favorite moments come from the scripts I work on which have not been produced yet. I occasionally work on scripts where I am left breathless. Sometimes I laugh out loud in the middle of a comedy. Last week, I read a script where I got all choked up and started to cry and I presumed the audience would be an absolute wreck in some of these scenes and they would need to bring lots of Kleenex!
Clip: Witness
Green Book
Founder and editor of Movies Matter, Dave Watson is a writer and educator in Madison, WI.
