May 05, 2010 12:00PM EDT

Tribeca Talks Pen to Paper: Authors at the Helm

Everyone knows Steven Spielberg directed ET, but do you know who wrote it? British comedian David Baddiel pointed out that few folks have ever heard of Melissa Mathison, who wrote the blockbuster. Anonymity and other issues related to the craft of screenwriting were covered at a free panel called Pen to Paper: Authors at the Helm, part of a series hosted by Barnes and Noble.

This installment featured a formidable bunch of screenwriters (insert slash and then add "director, actor, comic, novelist, producer" here): Edward Burns (Nice Guy Johnny), Carmel Winters (Snap) and David Baddiel (The Infidel). None of them spent time boasting about having their current films debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival. The discussion was moderated by Susan Orlean, whose own work has been adapted for film, and she is one of the few authors to be portrayed in a feature film. (The film is Adaptation by Charlie Kaufman for those playing at home.)

Writing isn't thought of as a group activity, but the cross-continental group suggested that writing for film and television is a "collaborative" process. While none of the writers minded working with their producing partners, co-writers, or actors, neither did any of them find merit in studio executives justifying their jobs with needless notes. Burns added that it's still the case for low-budget, self-made productions. He said, "Compromise doesn't have to be a bad thing, but it is a part of indie filmmaking." Burns asked a rhetorical question to the budding screenwriters in the audience: "What level of interference are you willing to live with?"

In addition to the politics of getting a script bought, there is no certainty a film will see the light of day. Winters, who hails from Ireland and wrote and directed Snap, said, "I've written tons of scripts which never got made." Burns agreed, saying that even with experience and exposure this can still be the case, adding, "I've been swimming in these waters for fifteen years."

The main issue is, not surprisingly, financing. Orlean asked her peers if they found it even more difficult to raise money today when studios desperately want blockbusters like Avatar. The resounding answer was yes, but Winters discovered that writing with money in mind helps. She said, "For ten years, I wrote in blissful naïveté." Today, she is conscious of financing and says, "Its been hugely empowering to write with a budget in mind." Burns agreed and said he now "tells smaller stories." Orlean remarked on how difficult it is for so many of her peers who end up "becoming fundraisers." Baddiel, however, said that he doesn't think in those terms when writing, and said, "I would feel blocked with those parameters."



Another roadblock writers face is finding a way to pay their rent. Baddiel said that his having done comedy on television for years affords him more security. Still, he joked about his producing partner Arvind David, who was in the audience, "He can tell you how much money I've lost in the last couple of years on making this movie [The Infidel]." Winters confessed, "I was probably never as poor as I've been in the past five years." Orlean relies on her salary as a writer for The New Yorker and books, her next one being a cultural biography of Rin Tin Tin. Burns said he is grateful to have been hired to punch up big budget scripts and appear in blockbuster films, such as 27 Dresses. Burns joked, "I have the great fortune of acting in some terrible Hollywood films."

No one feels more underappreciated than those who work in Hollywood. Based on the panel, it seems that writers tend to be the most articulate in expressing this pain, and those who can also produce have better luck getting their pain greenlit. Carmel noted, "I'm not writing a private journal. I'm writing from my heart to communicate to the hearts of the audience." Orlean summed up the panel said, "The issue with all the writers is the same—[they share] the impulse of wanting their work to be seen."