Screenwriting Takeaways from the 2020 Sundance Film Festival

Storytelling lessons from watching 11 new movies in 3 days.

As I put Park City in my virtual rear-view mirror and plunge back into my ‘normal’ life, here are 11 screenwriting takeaways inspired by the 11 movies I screened at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

From the movie Zola: You can find story inspiration anywhere… including Twitter. It is imperative to keep one’s mind aware of story concepts floating through our interface with daily life.

From the movie Herself: One of the major reasons audiences watch movies is to feel something. But it’s tricky. We can easily slip into melodrama. The best way to avoid that: Zero in on the authentic experience of the story character, especially the Protagonist.

From the movie Ironbark: As opposed to ‘cradle-to-grave’ biopics, ‘snapshot bios’ continue to garner interest from studios and production companies. Look for individuals who not only have a compelling real-life story, but one which covers a compressed period of time, e.g., one week, a few months, a year.

From the movie Dream Horse: You can almost never go wrong with an underdog dynamic. If you create a solid connection between the audience and the Protagonist, it’s almost impossible not to get caught up in improbable journey.

From the movie Uncle Frank: The movie uses flashbacks to good effect demonstrating yet again that the supposed ‘rule’ of no flashbacks is a flawed perspective. That said, make sure your story absolutely needs flashbacks.

From the movie Four Good Days: Never forget this simple truism: Conflict equals drama. Every scene in Four Good Days has overt conflict scaling down to seething tension… and it works.

From the movie Kajillionaire: Do not underestimate the importance of developing and manifesting your writer’s voice on the page. And if your voice is quirky or weird, but you’ve got an interesting story and compelling characters, don’t pull your punches. Go all in.

From the movie Wendy: A supposed screenwriting ‘rule’ is to avoid voice-over narration, however Wendy is yet another example of its use in film, but handled well.

From the movie The Climb: Writers can bring a fresh spin to conventional subject matter by taking an unconventional approach to the narrative.

From the movie Downhill: Explore the locale of your story as a character with its own unique personality and opportunities for scenes and set pieces.

If there is one movie out of this group I would encourage writers to watch when it is released (March 20, 2020 in North America), it is The Climb. Beyond the inventive use of mobile long takes, there are so many smart, even unconventional choices co-writers Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin made which elevate the storytelling and make for a really entertaining movie.

Go Into The Story at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival: January 24

Go Into The Story at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival: January 25

Go Into The Story at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival: January 26