I know some of the English speaking readers of this blog tend to skip the posts I write in French so I’ll allow myself to say this again en anglais just to put future posts in context: I’m living a big first these days as a screenplay I wrote (cowrote, actually) is starting shooting in Montreal this weekend. It’s what we’d call here « une com�die dramatique », in this case a romantic comedy involving high school students just about to graduate.
There has been a very short delay between the time when the financing was gathered (all private, a first for a Quebec movie of that scope) and the time the production started. In the whirlwind that ensued, I found myself – just like many feature screenwriters before me – a bit out of the loop on the development of things. I hear about casting decisions on the phone when the crazily busy producer (and co-writer) has a minute to call, I’ve met the director only very briefly and I hear through the producer about changes to the screenplay when they involve a rewrite that’s longer than a few lines.
It’s an odd situation to have spent so much time with a screenplay, defending lines and discussing every changes, only to see it take off on its own like a child ready to move out of the house. It will be weird to go on the set and to be a stranger to the people who are now part of the project.
I know it’s the nature of the screenwriter’s job so I’m not too surprised and I’m getting used to it. I’m in a big rush on the book project I’m working on so the timing isn’t good anyway. I do hope that one day I’ll get to work very closely with a director, all the way through the shoot and during post-production. But hey, if I had wanted to direct, I should have stuck with it after grad school!
I read a lot of interviews with screenwriters and it’s funny to find myself in situations I’ve heard them describe over and over again. For example, a very well-known actress has agreed to join our cast but thought that one of her rare scenes should be expanded a bit, both in duration and intensity. It’s a request done by a lot of actors, if I believe the stories I read.
So I ended up doing a rewrite last night on a pivotal scene of the screenplay. What could have been an annoying task turned into a really exciting experience. I’ve seen that very talented actress act in numerous productions over the years. Knowing her voice and style helped me flesh out the character more and even though I always liked the scene the way it was (it was even one of my favorites in the story), I found myself so much more inspired by her « presence » that the scene ended up taking a more powerful dimension. I even felt quite moved while I was writing it, which I knew was a good sign. (Or maybe a sign that I was too tired.) I e-mailed the changes to the co-writer. She read it and she yelled at me, in a good way, for making her cry first thing in the morning!
I can’t wait to see what both the actress and the director will do with that scene. I’m learning to let go though. I know it’s way out of my hands at this point… ;-)