Screenwriting 101: George Axelrod
“I’m the least New Age person you are ever going to find, but there is something mysterious about how a movie gets made. There is a…
“I’m the least New Age person you are ever going to find, but there is something mysterious about how a movie gets made. There is a mystery. That’s why I think screenplays are so hard. It’s not that there are no rules; there are, but nobody knows what they are, and they change with each picture. So you’re trying to play the game according to a very rigid set of rules which nobody has explained to you. Any violation, you lose. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go.
You miss much more often than you succeed. I’ve been a professional writer, from 1940 until now — over fifty years — and I have a relatively small body of work, because a lot of it doesn’t work out. I have maybe five or six pictures that I’m proud of, three plays that I’m proud of, and a lot of stuff that didn’t materialize, maybe because I misread the rules.
They all break your heart a little bit. But I’ve got a big heart.”
— George Axelrod
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