Screenwriting 101: Cesar Vitale

“I get really frustrated when I watch a film and I can’t really tell what it’s about, even if it’s some vague sense of emotion. I have to feel like, ‘Oh, this film is about this,’ even if it’s not a rational thing. For example a film that conveys the feeling of nostalgia, or the joys of youth. It can be subjective, but I still have to feel that the film has purpose, that it’s not just shooting everywhere hoping to hit a target. Every scene I’m writing, every character I’m developing, they all work under the umbrella of the central theme that I’m trying to explore.”

— Cesar Vitale (2017 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner, 2017 Black List)

From Go Into The Story interview, February 2018