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!!

Movies from the Heart—The African Queen

Last week’s All About Eve gave us a look at a feisty, driven woman who worked to get what she wanted—and usually did. This week we’re going to look at another feisty woman—who pretty much doesn’t know what she wants and might very well torpedo her chance for happiness into the bargain.

1951’s The African Queen, by James Agee and John Huston, takes us on an adventure that was pretty spectacular for filming in the mid-20^th century.

If you haven’t seen the film, take a look at a trailer:

There are SO many love stories about opposites attracting—and this is one of the ones that almost stretches credulity. To have a romance between two past-their-prime characters is unusual [alas] in film. But if you can get big stars to take those roles, your film has a better chance of success.

This is just a little aside for the beginning screenwriter. If there’s ANY way you can get a script to an important star, that can be a way to give it momentum. This actually has worked in the past—in fact, with Katharine Hepburn, the star in The African Queen. Back in the 80s someone knew where she was staying in L.A. during a film shoot and threw the script for a play over her fence. She read it, and it went to Broadway.

But that kind of tactic doesn’t always end happily. A couple of friends who are a writing team knew of that story and they thought a particular actress would be perfect for the lead in their screenplay. They also knew where she lived in the Hollywood Hills, as a mutual friend lived near her. So they threw it over her fence. And the police came calling to tell them to stop stalking her!! They were mortified.

In any case, The African Queen had everything going for it with a great script, dynamite cast and an A-list director. And it had the advantage, too, of being shot in Africa—they didn’t try to shoot the film on the Hollywood lot and do the river scenes someplace in California.

Place is an important thing to think about, though, if you’re writing a screenplay. Because if you’ve set it in an exotic locale where it would cost big bucks to get the cast and crew there to film it, you might have a harder time getting it made. So location is always something to consider as you write your own original romance.

I’m not saying you should avoid far-away locations, but realize that the stars will all have to align if you want to actually get your film made.

A contrast to the exotic location of The African Queen is next week’s film, which required no special locations at all: Pat and Mike.

Copyright © Diane Lake

07Jan24

Email Diane a question to Diane@DianeLake.com