Who wrote the Oscar movies of 2019?

by Gary Fearon

As any writer of creative nonfiction will attest, taking a real person’s life and determining the right parts to give it maximum impact is no easy feat. This year, most of the screenwriters vying for the Best Picture Oscar succeeded in doing just that. Six of the eight nominated stories had their origins in flesh and blood protagonists.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuarón drew upon his childhood to write the semi-autobiographical Roma. He also directed, produced, shot and co-edited the film. This character drama about a housekeeper in Mexico bucks Hollywood tradition: it’s in Spanish, is in black & white, has no musical score, and stars an actress who never acted before but now is up for a Best Actress Oscar.

When a screenwriter has done time as the head writer for Saturday Night Live, it follows that his projects will project a propensity for parody. Such is this tongue-in-cheek take on the political career of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Adam McKay – whose credits also include Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Talladega Nights – wrote and directed this satire, which was originally intended by Paramount Pictures to be a drama.

The real Queen Anne (well, a painting)

Set in 1708, the black comedy The Favourite centers around Lady Sarah and her cousin Abigail, who compete for the attention and affection of Queen Anne. Co-writer and former journalist Deborah Davis went to night school to learn how to write a screenplay, specifically to tell this story of women in power and a female triangle. She admits to having known nothing about Queen Anne before doing research that included Lady Sarah’s memoir and a corresponding account from Winston Churchill.

Sasha Baron Cohen was originally enlisted to portray Freddy Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, but when his reputation as a comedian was deemed to be too distracting, the role (along with a prosthetic overbite) was given to Rami Malek. Mercury’s singing was a combination of Mercury, Malek and an impersonator in this film written by Anthony McCarten, whose other biographical screenplays – The Theory of Everything (Stephen Hawking) and Darkest Hour (Winston Churchill) – were previous Best Picture nominees and garnered Best Actor Oscars for their stars. No doubt Rami Malek is equally hopeful.

The only Best Picture candidate that started out as a book is BlacKkKlansman, based on the memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth. In the 1970s, Stallworth was a black detective who set out to expose the local Colorado chapter of the Ku Klux Klan with the help of a white partner who walked among the KKK. A bombing that is part of the story never actually took place in Stallworth’s experience, but director Spike Lee added it to heighten the action.

Black Panther is one of just two Best Picture nominees not based on a real person. This Marvel comic book hero was brought to life by writers Ryan Coogler (Creed) and Joe Robert Cole (The People v. O.J. Simpson). The movie had its origins when actor Wesley Snipes felt that Africa had been poorly portrayed in films and wanted to do a project of nobility. The project was delayed for many years because of confusion associating it with the Black Panther Party.

The other non-biographical nominee is a story that’s been retold every twenty or thirty years (1937, 1954, 1976, 2018). Each script reflecting the time in which they were made, A Star is Born always centers about a talented ingenue (either an actress or a singer) and her alcoholic mentor from whom she ends up stealing the spotlight. Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) and actor Bradley Cooper co-wrote the script with Will Fetters, who says this most recent installment was inspired by Kurt Cobain.

The actual Anthony Vallelonga ("Tony Lip") and Don Shirley

A casual coffee shop conversation between old friends turned into silver screen gold when Nick Vallelonga asked screenwriter Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber), “Did I ever tell you the story about my father and Dr. [Don] Shirley traveling the South in 1962?” Nick’s father, a bouncer from the Bronx, had been hired by black jazz pianist Shirley to be his chauffeur and bodyguard during an eventful concert tour of the deep South. Aided by Nick’s own memories and letters by his late father, he and Farrelly collaborated with Brian Hayes Curry (Con Air) for months to write the screenplay for the comedy/drama Green Book.

Enjoy cheering on your favorites during the 91^st Academy Awards this Sunday night (February 24). In the meantime, you can hear the aforementioned pianist Don Shirley performing his single “WaterBoy” on YouTube. But first, I invite you to check out the 2019 version of my annual video parody/tribute to the Oscars here or below. See you at the movies!

8 Things Writers Can Learn from Mary Poppins

by Gary Fearon

Thanks to the December 2018 release of Mary Poppins Returns starring Emily Blunt, many moviegoers have been revisiting the 1964 classic starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.  Fans of the original can still hum along with the songs of Richard M. Sherman and his brother Robert B. Sherman. They may not be household names, but the story songs they wrote are beloved worldwide via Walt Disney films and parks, including what they considered their crowning glory, Mary Poppins. 

What many writers don't realize is that, in addition to their Oscar-winning score, the Shermans were key players in developing the story structure of Mary Poppins as well as other Disney favorites. Here are eight things all writers can learn from the prolific songwriting team Walt himself affectionately referred to as "the boys".

COMBINE USEABLE IDEAS

There are eight books in the Mary Poppins series. Scenes and concepts from different books were brought together to create a storyline for the original 1964 screenplay (an approach used for the 2018 sequel as well). Are there any ideas you've put aside that could find a new home in your latest work?

FIND THE REAL STORY

The magical English nanny had many colorful adventures, but Richard & Robert determined that these episodes had no character arcs and weren't enough to carry a story. They convinced Disney that Mary's employers should be distracted parents who rediscover the joy of childhood along with their children. Once a moral was chosen, the adventures took on a common purpose.

COME UP WITH A NEW TWIST

For Mary's signature song, the Shermans wanted to give her a clever proverb, like "An apple a day..." or "A stitch in time..."  The end result ("A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down") was inspired by Robert's young son, whose school had administered a polio vaccine placed on sugar cubes for easier consumption. You never know what phrase you write could become an instant classic.

SECONDARY CHARACTERS ARE PEOPLE TOO

In the books, Bert was only a minor character, a street artist known as The Match Man. He has much more prominence in the film, and his role as a chimney sweep was borrowed from a different character in the P.L. Travers series. Bert was given a presence and personality strong enough to be a companion for Mary Poppins. His equally charismatic signature song, "Chim Chim Chiree", won the 1965 Oscar for Best Original Song.

PICK THE RIGHT TIME PERIOD

The Shermans moved the story from the depression-era 1930s to the more hopeful turn of the century. Setting the story in 1910 London also allowed them to develop one character into a suffragette. Speaking of whom...

RISE TO THE CHALLENGE

Actress Glynnis Johns thought she had been cast to get the title role of Mary Poppins, only to learn that Julie Andrews had already been enlisted to play the title role. Walt appeased her by assuring her that the Shermans had written an especially great song just for her to sing. In truth, it wasn't even a thought up to that point. But Richard and Robert picked up the gauntlet and delivered a big and brassy number to give her lesser character a chance to shine.

SAVE SOME THINGS FOR A RAINY DAY

The Shermans wrote 32 songs for possible inclusion in Mary Poppins, but only 14 were used when Walt declared the rest "unnecessary" for the story. Some were repurposed in later Disney features including Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Jungle Book.

CLOSE THE DOOR

The Sherman brothers avoided distractions like the plague. When it was time to write, they shut out the world around them to concentrate on the project at hand. 

In everything they wrote, Richard and Robert believed that story always comes first. By adopting that same focus, we can give our writing a little extra magic that is practically perfect in every way.

That Oscar Feeling!

by Gary Fearon

For my money, there is no greater example of artistic collaboration than movies.  Where else do writing, music, acting, directing, choreography, cinematography, set design, editing, etc all come together as one? The exhaustive list of credits at the end of any feature film catalogs hundreds and sometimes thousands of people who all contributed to the project in a significant way.

Of course, it all begins with a story.  When the Academy Award nominations are announced each year, it's an interesting exercise to look into the written origins of each Best Picture nominee.  In alphabetical order, here are the ones that made the grade for the February 26, 2017 telecast:

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Seven Things Writers Can Learn from Marty McFly

by Gary Fearon

October 2015 was a milestone month for fans of Back to the Future, having reached one of the target dates in Marty and Doc's cinematic adventures. Three decades after its release, the trilogy boasts a cult following of DeLorean restorers, cosplay devotees, and less fanatical folk who simply enjoy well-told tales.

With that enduring popularity in mind, I offer seven things that make the Back to the Future series worth a second look for writers...

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