Interview (Part 6): Michael Kujak

My interview with 2021 Black List writer for his script Follow.

Michael Kujak wrote the original screenplay “Follow” which landed on the 2021 Black List. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Mike about his creative background, his script, the craft of screenwriting, and what making the annual Black List has meant to him.

Today in Part 6 of a 6-part series to run each day through Saturday, Mike talks the craft of screenwriting and offers advice for aspiring screenwriters.

Scott: Let’s talk about the importance of theme. Do you feel you have to have something in mind for the story’s central theme before you start or not?

Michael: Sometimes, yeah, you can just start with what a theme is. It’s good sometimes to open up a page, and instead of trying to write the movie, writeabout the movie. Talk about it and what you would think, walking out the movie, what you think it would be about, what would touch people, or resonate with people.

The first time I felt like I wrote a movie that had a real theme was a biopic that I did called “Two Thumbs.” It was a biopic about Siskel and Ebert, and their rivalry and friendship throughout the years of hosting their TV show together.

In the beginning, I’m like, “Oh, it’s just going to be about friendship or it’s going to be about ambition.” I wrote the first draft, and Ebert had this quote about empathy and how movies are windows into other people’s points of view.

It wasn’t until the very end when he said that. I was like, “Oh, the whole thing is about empathy,” and then I was able to reverse engineer that entire theme into later drafts of the script.

I didn’t know that was the theme until I got to the very end. That’s my favorite script that I’ve written because that was the first one where I was able to capture a real emotional through-line. Like I could tell a story, and when you get to page 90, even when I would read it, I’d be moved by what I was reading.

It took me years to get to that, to get to something with that type of emotional through-line.

Scott: Somebody should make that movie, Mike. Let’s see if we can make that happen. I’m here in Chicago. Ebert’s a god here. He loved movies. That’s the thing. He gave two thumbs up to both of the movies that he reviewed of mine because he went on wanting to like movies, whereas Gene was more of a tough guy.

Michael: He was a little bit more competitive. More like you look at sports broadcasters these days. There’s a “hot take” culture, where you had to love something or hate something. He was competitive and a very good marketer of his own ideas and his opinions.

Personally, Ebert is my favorite as well. He was more intimate. It was just about his experience. There’s nothing better than a Roger Ebert movie review. Anytime I see an old movie, I go and look up his review. It’s that last paragraph where he sums up his thoughts and feelings about a movie. Scroll to the bottom when you have an Ebert review, and read that last paragraph.

That’s why he won the Pulitzer, is because he can write those.

Scott: A couple more questions. When you’re writing a scene, what are your goals?

Michael: I have a list of things when I’m doing the outline, in terms of character goals, what I want this to accomplish for the story.

Then I’ve got a few little extra things I like every scene to have. How does this scene build the world? What foreshadowing are we doing here? I love se- up and pay off. It’s the set-up and punchline to comedy. If you have a set up or payoff in every scene you’re building something entertaining and dramatically satisfying.

That sounds very basic. It could literally be like, in this scene, she’s eating an Oreo. In the last scene, some other character chokes on an Oreo. Tiny little things. It sounds a little robotic and paint by numbers, but people love setup and payoff.

Scott: Finally, what advice do you have for aspiring screenwriters about learning the craft, and trying to break into the business.

Michael: For aspiring screenwriters, write every day, if you can. Make it a habit. Whether it’s five minutes or five hours, whatever you can do. Try to write every day. Make it like exercise, work, or anything else. Write every day.

Finish what you start. That’s important early on. Don’t get halfway through something, get attracted to a sexier idea, and then abandon it for something else. You have to finish that story to see what it is and learn lessons that you need to learn about storytelling.

Also, moving onto the next thing once it’s time. It’s never really going to be done. It’s hard to put the stamp on something and finish it. But you’re just not going to learn all the lessons you need to learn unless you can say, “Hey, all these mistakes I made on this script. I’m not going to make them on the next one.” Then move on to the next one. Just keep writing.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Part 2, go here.

Part 3, go here.

Part 4, go here.

Part 5, go here.

Mike is repped by:

John Zaozirny (Bellevue)
CJ Fight (WME)

For my interviews with dozens of other Black List writers, go here.