John August is easily one of the most prominent figures in Hollywood. The fact that he is a screenwriter makes that fact doubly impressive. Unlike his peers who get lost in the Hollywood star system, August has defied the stereotype by 1) writing "movies that get made"  2) are successful and 3) by creating a following with his blog that has become one of the premier screenwriting resources online. His films vary from the structurally innovative "GO" to the dreamy "Big Fish" to the children's fantasy "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the Gothic "Corpse Bride" to the pure popcorn action movie "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle." Recently, he got his first Grammy nomination as a Songwriter in the category 'Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media' for a song in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Anyone who has followed his blog will realize, like his films, August has interests that cover a wide spectrum. Whether it be learning a graphic program like Shake or his interests in the Panasonic HVX200 camera, August is a true renaissance man.

In part one of the interview, we talk about the origins of his blog, the movie industry and what screenwriters can do to break into the industry. In part two which will appear tomorrow, we discuss August as the writer, some tips about working with directors and his interests outside of screenwriting.


Your blog is one of the must-have bookmarks for screenwriters. How did it all start?

I originally just registered the domain name, Johnaugust.com, because I didn't want anyone else grabbing it. That had happened to Kevn Williamson, and Tarantino. Then I started thinking about doing something with it. Around the same time, IMDB asked me to do a weekly Q & A column. I answered a few questions a week, and really liked being able to give back. But the IMDB setup was really bad about being able to search for old answers, so I kept getting asked the same questions. So I decided to archive everything on my own site.

It must be different from screenwriting. The role of teacher/ blogger. Do you enjoy that?

I've always spoken to classes, guest-lectured, so I wasn't nervous about that. And while I am pretty forthright offering my opinion, I don't pretend to be the ultimate authority on anything. There are a few absolutes in screenwriting, but most of it is just common sense that you develop after a few years. If I can help get that development happening faster, all the better. The structure and look of screenwriting is intimidating to new writers, so I try to demystify it a bit. All the things that look hard about screenwriting really aren't. It's the things that look simple that are insanely difficult.

Is blogging an extension of your work, your brand name?

I don't ever want to think of myself as a brand, like Coke or Pepsi. But one reason why directors have so much more clout in the film industry is that moviegoers can identify them as the authors of their work -- "Hey, do you want to see the Spielberg movie?" I'd like to think that people who are interested in the writing behind movies could identify me with my work, and the blog helps that to some degree. But most of the stuff on the blog isn't really about me or my projects. It's about the business/art/craft of pushing words around.

Josh Friedman commented on his blog, some of the difficulties of working in Hollywood and having a blog. The style of your blog is different but do you face any awkwardness of being a successful screenwriter and blogger?

Josh is a buddy of mine, and talked about doing his blog before he got into it. He's been a lot more personal with it than I've chosen to be. He's really funny, but that leads to the expectation of being really funny. Keeping a blog going is work, and you don't always realize that at first.

I bet there must be many young writers asking you for advice from the site. Does it bog you down? What do you tell them?

I probably only answer 10% of the questions that get sent in. Maybe 5%. I try to pick the questions that will help everyone, not just the guy who sent it in. But I know that if I were one of those guys whose questions were going unanswered, I'd probably get frustrated, because the whole Hollywood system feels like it's geared against newcomers. I always try to put myself in my readers' position, which is isolated. I think in the 2000's, everyone has a lot of information about the film industry, yet it still feels off at arm's length. I can't move it closer, but I can at least describe what it feels like.

You have seen the insides of the industry, are there things that you see, that if you were starting out, would be some places or opportunities for screenwriters to take advantage of?

If I were a 22-year old screenwriter, here's what I'd do. First, I would write a really good screenplay, in whatever genre I most love. I would do three drafts, until I'm sure it's pretty damn good. Then I'd write two TV spec scripts, for shows I really understand. I'd take some screenwriting classes, maybe a UCLA extension class if I wasn't going through a full-time program. I'd make a short film. With todays HD and DV cameras, there's no reason not to learn the "making" part of filmmaking.

And I'd do the same all over again. It's not that any one step in the process will make you successful, but I think you have to be pursuing a lot of different avenues at once. Maybe your short film makes it into some festivals, and you make good contacts. Or you get an internship, and your boss reads your screenplay.

There's no one perfect way. There's no guarantee. It's being at the right place at the right time, but you have to be there for it to happen. Oh, I'd move to LA. I should have put that first. I think it's hard to begin a screenwriting career anywhere else if you're trying to make Hollywood movies.

When you were starting off, did you attend a lot of screenwriting seminars?

I went through a two-year film program at USC. That was my only formal screenwriting education. I never went to any seminars or events until I started speaking at them.

Is it getting harder for writers to break into the industry?

No. I think there are more people trying, but I don't think the "walls" are any higher, per se. In many ways, I think it's easier, because there are more ways in. For instance, if you made a hysterical internet short, you might get a deal with NBC.

Are there things you wish you could change in the industry as a whole?

Well, one challenge with being a writer is that you ultimately don't have a lot of control over the final product. It's like you've made these blueprints, then the contractor has gone off and built whatever damn house he chose. So that's frustrating.

One aspect I'd like to improve is the image of the Hollywood screenwriter, because there's a victimhood that seems to go with it. Journalists always seem to write about how the writer gets screwed by the director, studio, whoever, but they don't realize how much they contribute to the problem. For example, if a film is bad, the script is almost always mentioned. If a film gets a great review, the screenwriter is nowhere to be found. When I talk about the movies I work on, I always try to focus on the positive aspects. Tim Burton has treated me really respectfully. Daniel Wallace, who wrote the book version of Big Fish, worked with me for three years before the movie got made. I think by showing how it can work well, you can set sort of a "best practices" for how you hope it would always work.

There is a lot of talk about copyright, especially in terms of the internet and Hollywood, it seems they have become mortal enemies when they don't have to be. What are your thoughts?

Copyright is an essential tool for making sure artists (such as writers) can make a living at their craft. But it's gotten out of hand. Corporate copyright lasts way too long, and is way too onerous. Something is  got to give. I think if copyright lasted ten years, rather than forever (which is probably what it will be soon), you'd find a lot more innovation, and ultimately, less piracy.

I think there is a role for reasonable DRM. Itunes, for example, makes a lot of sense to me.

Are you looking forward to an iTunes movie store?

Absolutely. I think one amazing thing about such a store would be the special features you can add. It would be nothing to add extra commentary tracks, for example, or .pdf downloads of storyboards.

Check back tomorrow for part two of the interview.

Update: Part two of the interview can be found here.