The “New Yorker” recently profiled a talented hyphenate named Scott Frank. He’s a script-doctor, screenwriter, and director. He wrote “Little Man Tate” when he was 19. A few of his many other projects are “Get Shorty”, “Minority Report”, and “The Queen’s Gambit”.
When called in to rescue a film (to rewrite the script), he charges $300,000 a week.
Insiders say that most writers can do either story or character. Frank does both. And, like Lee Child (Reacher), he forges the story to fit the character.
He also believes in that Billy Wilder observation — “If you have a problem in the third act, the real problem is in the first act.”
Frank has an interesting take on the concerns about Artificial Intelligence and its ability to take over the writing field — as magnificent as it is, “It can’t make an audience care about the character.”
Frank is also a consultant to the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. His advice — “Stop watching movies and start reading.”
Paige