Video: David Magee

The screenwriter of Finding Neverland, Life of Pi, and Mary Poppins Returns shares insights into his creative process.

A few years back, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences ran a terrific series of video interviews called Creative Spark. Here is one featuring David Magee (Finding Neverland, Life of Pi, Mary Poppins Returns, The Little Mermaid, The Tiger’s Apprenctice).

Instead of index cards, Magee using different color post-it notes. Eventually, he comes up with the story’s structure.

Note cards. Post-it notes. White boards. Invariably, most screenwriters end up with something like the above, a scene-by-scene outline of the story’s structure. That process is commonly known as breaking story … and it exponentially ups the chances that a writer will get to Fade Out with a solid first draft.