Go Into The Story Interview: Karen McDermott

My interview with the 2019 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Karen McDermott wrote the original screenplay “Lullabies of La Jaula” which won a 2019 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Karen about her background as a screenwriter, her award-winning script, the craft of screenwriting, and what winning the Nicholl has meant to her.

Part 1: “And again, I thought, ‘Wow. This screenwriting thing is easy. You write a screenplay, and Tom Hanks’ people call you up.’”

Part 2: “One of the first things I did was take a terrible seminar by some screenwriting guru. He opened with something like, “If anybody in this room doesn’t want to make a million bucks writing a blockbuster and is more interested in writing some intellectual indie exploring the meaning of life, then you should leave right now.”

Part 3: “Talking to my students about it gave me more detail than I needed. Really awful stuff. I didn’t use a lot of it because I thought it would make for an unwatchable movie.”

Part 4: “Misperception of danger occurs throughout the screenplay. Characters think something is dangerous that’s harmless. Or they think something is harmless that’s dangerous.”

Part 5: “The screenplay is filled with the influence of the dead. The words of a dead poet comfort Dahlia, her family crosses the border on The Day of the Dead.”

Part 6: “I always say this. If you want to be a better screenwriter, read and write poetry. Poetry is about economy of words, using the most appropriate, powerful words — which is what screenwriting is about.”

For my interviews with every Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner since 2012, go here.

For my interviews with 53 Black List writers, go here.