Before I get to today’s blog…

Thinking about doing more with your writing? Why not join me in Paris June 2-7 for my Masterclass in Screenwriting? Come be part of a dynamic community of writers and literary agents to learn, to write, to network, to energize your literary goals—and just to have fun in the City of Light!

The Paris Writers Workshop is the longest running literary program of its kind. This program offers 6 masterclasses by renowned authors, each a specialist in their field—and I’ll be teaching the Screenwriting Masterclass—in English, of course.

The workshop will be held at Columbia University’s beautiful Reid Hall campus in the heart of literary Paris—Montparnasse.

Registration is now open: https://wice-paris.org/paris-writers- workshop

We’ll have a great time getting your story ideas off the ground!!

True Stories 35: 10s—Spotlight

The uplifting story that was last week’s Woman in Gold will only be a memory once we focus on this week’s story in Spotlight, [2015] by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy.

When we look at the focus of the film—which is uncovering sexual abuse—it doesn’t seem like the kind of film audiences would be running to, does it? It’s a tough subject to pay your $$$ for and go to see… or is it? The consensus is that the goal of all film is to entertain—so can you be entertained by a film about child sexual abuse?

The question of what films are for and why we go to them is an interesting one. Sure, we go to be entertained. But don’t we also go to be enlightened? Don’t we want to feel a part of history or sometimes even tragedy? Isn’t film, on some level, about being connected to the world?

But, bottom line, it’s harder to get audiences to go to a film about an “unattractive” subject. In the end, Spotlight did well, turning its 20 million dollar budget into close to 100 million dollar gross. But, interestingly, the surge in viewership only happened after it was nominated for and won several awards—including the Academy Award for best picture.

Spotlight tells the story of the uncovering of sexual abuse and its subsequent cover-up by the Catholic church, focusing on the reporters at the Boston Globe who broke the story. And the title comes from that group—they’re called the Spotlight group at the paper because they take one story and focus on it for as long as it takes to uncover… whatever they’re trying to uncover. And during that process they tell no one—not other colleagues on the paper, friends or family—what they’re working on.

Take a look at the trailer for the film: Spotlight Trailer

This is a great example of a film that doesn’t get its tension from special effects or car crashes—but from ideas and deeds. It’s riveting. And it’s a truly fine example of what film can do, of how it can open our eyes to something—but in an interesting way. Because by the time the film came out, everyone knew the outcome, everyone knew the Catholic church had been hiding this abuse for decades. Yet Spotlight was full of such incredible energy as the reporters tracked this story that at every turn you find yourself saying, “How are they going to DO this???” That is some achievement.

And an interesting side story. Before the filming, the main cast members came to the Globe offices and shadowed the reporters, saying they just wanted to see how everything worked, to help them get an idea of how a newspaper was run. The reporters later talked about now nice they were, about how they became friends, spending time out of the office with them, going to dinner, etc. Then, when the film came out, all the reporters noticed that their personal characteristics were part of the actors’ performances! They had NO idea they were being watched so closely that their mannerisms and body movements would be mimicked on screen!

So I guess the moral there is, be careful of good actors—they might do their job too well!

Next week we look at three women who did their jobs exceedingly well in Hidden Figures.

Copyright © Diane Lake

29Jan23

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com