Marvin V. Acuna

Christopher Vogler (CV) and I conducted a wonderful tele-seminar a few weeks ago, it was great fun.

We had a stimulating Q&A session. However, due to the abundance of questions and the limited time we were unable to take and respond to everyone’s questions on the live call.

But, I promised everyone on the call that they would get their specific question answered and emailed to them directly. At this point everyone has received their individual response from CV. Cool, right?

Well, it occurred to me that it may be beneficial to share some of it with you so I have randomly selected and posted a handful of the screenwriter’s questions and CV’s response here. Enjoy part 4 of 4.

My hope is that it serves you.

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Galia Hillhouse-Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Am I shooting myself in the foot if I write screenplays with a South
African background? Would I stand a better chance writing American
stories?

CV: I think your energy is best spent developing stories set in the
world you know. It is VERY difficult to conceal subtle signs that you
did not grow up on the streets of Los Angeles, and they will not take
you seriously if they detect that you are writing about things that
are distant from your experience.

Pamela Ross-Sacramento, CA
Mr. Vogler, have you ever developed a Western screenplay with Native
American characters? Regardless, what would you look for as your main
critique points in developing?

CV: No, I never had a hand in a Western though I am fond of the
genre. Big influences on me were the Lakota shaman Black Elk and the

poet John G. Neihardt who write about “the twilight of the Sioux”.

Main points: Unusual take on a well-worn genre. An unexpected
setting or a new twist. Something with contemporary relevance, a
story from history that in some sense is still happening today.
Compelling, attractive characters that will make actors want to play
them. A subject that a lot of people will relate to.

Constantine Veroutis-Calgary, Alberta, Canada
What contribution did Chris take part in the developement script of
Lion KIng and Till Eulenspiegel ?

CV: Thanks for asking! On Lion King I have a credit of “Additional
Story Material by” which I share with about twenty other people who
contributed ideas and scenes to the film. My specific assignments

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were to draw a comparison between the Lion King and Hamlet, pointing
out the Hero’s Journey of Hamlet and noting some famous quotes which
were turned into jokes and dialogue references by the writers. I
contributed a couple of visual touches – the shaft of light that comes
out of the cloud when Rafiki holds up the infant Simba in the opening
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sequence of the film, and a scene where Scar’s evil influence causes
the waterholes to dry up.

On Till Eulenspiegel, an animated feature produced in Germany with a
multinational crew, I wrote the entire screenplay and lyrics for a
couple of songs. The producer already had a rough story outline when
I came aboard, and I worked from that and from the legends and stories
of Europe’s favorite court jester, Till Eulenspiegel. I modeled my
story on the wonderful Danny Kaye comedies that I remembered from my
childhood, marvelously silly films like THE COURT JESTER and THE
INSPECTOR GENERAL.

Bruce Moore-Spring, Texas
Why do so many wonderful historical subjects get made so different
than what really(supposedly) happened, when the real-life stories are

actually much more dramatic and/or interesting?

CV: Oh man, don’t get me started. I saw this happen right under my
nose when Disney made a picture called “Squanto, a Warrior’s Tale”,
based on research I had done for their story department. The story
was so loosely based on the amazing true story that I wished they had
called it “Standing Water” or something else made up. It wasn’t a bad
story, it just had very little to do with the actual Squanto story
which was much, much better.

I can only GUESS that studios make the mistake of hiring writers who
are just doing a job and never fell in love with history, which as you
point out almost always makes for much better stories than those the
screenwriters make up. People feel they have to “make the story their
own” or maybe they don’t have confidence in the facts of history.

Jesse-San Antonio
How would you go about selling a “High Concept” spec script in today’s market?

CV: This is a very technical matter. You’d have to SOMEHOW hook
yourself into the high-speed world of execs and producers and agents
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who launch elaborate spec sales campaigns every week. Personally, I’d
be looking to make an alliance with a producer who has deals with the
studios and who handles your kind of project. Again, do your
homework.

Brett Moore-Spring, Texas
Michael Ray Brown say’s hello. What is your feeling about having a
professional reader providing coverage?

CV: I don’t think this helps you one bit in terms of convincing
somebody to read it or buy it. It’s not a sincere endorsement because
you paid for it. But it can have great value for YOU – the process of
boiling something down to a synopsis often reveals flaws and
inconsistencies in the story. I ALWAYS do a synopsis of anything I’ve
written or that I have to evaluate seriously. It’s a big help in
diagnosing story problems because it makes you focus on the big
turning points.