THR's Screenwriter Roundtable
Thursday, December 24, 2015 at 1:30PM Chris here. I hope you're having a relaxing and safe holiday weekend!
Earlier this week, hiding among the constant updates on the reams of money The Force Awakens is floating in, we got this year's Screenwriters Roundtable! You'll remember from November that we had some feelings about this year's Actress Roundtable and I'll confess that I found this year's Actor Roundtable underwhelming in lineup and discussion. However, the Screenwriters edition is often the loosest and freshest each year - with its selected participants typically on point.
This year, we have an exciting range of experience and genre: Emma Donoghue (Room), Nick Hornby (Brooklyn), Meg LeFauve (Inside Out), Tom McCarthy (Spotlight), Amy Schumer (Trainwreck), and Aaron Sorkin (Steve Jobs).
The hour-long discussion is insightful and relaxed in a way that's been missing as we've followed the season. Highlights include LeFauve talking about earning emotion in scene beats, Hornby discovering anachronisms in his film's source material, and Sorkin being Sorkin. See the roundtable after the jump!
Reader Comments (7)
This is slightly unrelated:
Last night I got home to my parents' house and they were watching Cinderella Man (2005). I wondered: How hard would it have been for Renee Zellweger to get some token awards attention for that movie if it happened during this present roundtable culture of campaigning?
Having won an Oscar two years before would've guaranteed her a spot at the table. Appearing in an all-around prestige picture would've guaranteed her a spot at the table.
My point is, this current campaign culture overwhelmingly favors people who are having hot streaks, who are in-demand by casting directors, who appear in the biggest movies of the year (sometimes sight unseen). Would Amy Adams have five Oscar nominations if she'd started earning them in 2001? Probably not. Would she get nominated for the Renee role in Cinderella man if she played it in 2015? Very likely.
There used to be more safeguards to winnow mediocrity out of the race.
I'm interested to watch this mainly because of Nick Hornby and Emma Donoghue. I have read several of their books and have followed their careers with interest. I don't think Hornby has ever written a bad screenplay. Also to have Amy Schumer & Meg LaFauve on hand will at least ensure that it's the only mixed roundtable with gender parity. Sorkin will get plenty of attention but it's nice that they invited several people who have been doing good work (more quietly) for years. But first I have to finish some gift wrapping.
Hayden, I hugely disagree, certainly within the context that you're talking about (within the last 15 years).
Aaron Sorkinh SHOULD win his next Oscar für Steve Jobs! Period!!! Best Screenplay in Years! Fact!
I would have loved Phyllis Nagy to be there, but the mere fact they got three women - Schumer seems like such an obvious choice, but I'm glad she accepted - is nice. I look forward to watching this later.
The problem with your argument is Renee in Cinderella Man. I really enjoy a lot of things about that movie, but she absolutely is atrocious in it. She is the wet blanket to end all wet blankets. On top of that, I don't see the biggest name of this roundtable, during a huge year of hers (Schumer), getting a nomination. I'd be very surprised if it happened.
Tom McCarthy is better at asking questions than the THR interviewers. I wish he could run all their roundtables.