Edward Zwick
@EdwardZwick1
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tell stories, read books, fight evil
Santa Monica, Ca.
Joined October 2016
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1. "GLORY"🧵
opened on this weekend, 35 years ago. Box office was fair. Reviews were good or mixed. Nominated for five Oscars, won two. Of all my films, hits or flops, it has proven the most durable. When all is said and done, there is only one measure that counts: Time.
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ANDRÉ
His parents wanted him to be an engineer. He’d never been in front of a camera when I saw his graduate showcase at Julliard. Takes practice to forget fifty people are six feet away staring at you and still remember how to act. It took him no longer than me saying “Action!
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BLOOD DIAMOND, IN RETROSPECT🧵
14 years ago, today, it opened. Two years in Africa had opened my eyes and shaken my categories. I’d never before heard of the 'resource curse' nor knew of the world's complicity. Some films change you when you see them, others when you make them.
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MY SO-CALLED LIFE
An origin story🧵
Kristy McNichol played "Buddy," an adolescent girl on ABC-TV's "Family." I’d write surly teenage dialogue and get network notes on my scripts with the initials N.O.B. meaning “Not Our Buddy.” I vowed someday I'd get to portray real adolescence.
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An Origin Story🧵
In 1976, I was 21 when my girlfriend bought me a copy of the novella "Legends of the Fall." Fresh out of film school, dreaming of the movies I might make someday I filled the margins with notes on how I’d adapt it if I ever got the chance. It only took 17 years.
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THERE ARE 10 SIMPLE RULES TO MAKING MOVIES. Unfortunately I never learned them. These are the best I could come up with on short notice…
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5. ANDRÉ
Only weeks after graduating Julliard, it was his first day on a set when the camera operator asked that he pay attention to his mark. “What’s a mark?” he asked. By the end of shooting that day he was holding his own in scenes with Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman.
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20 YEARS AGO TODAY: THE LAST SAMURAI
Tom's energy was daunting. He was in every scene for 120 days on three continents yet never showed the slightest fatigue. It not only made me work harder, his joy in the process was contagious and informs every frame.
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8. MATTHEW
He distrusted me from the beginning; I was 'a TV director' trying to direct an epic. He threatened to quit, sent my script to Horton Foote and Bo Goldman to rewrite (both refused) then brought in his mother to question every line. Then gave a magnificent performance.
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7. CARY
had just starred in The Princess Bride. I had loved his work but was told he was unlikely to accept a supporting role. Yet Cary sensed something larger at play in the script and told me so when we met. Against the advice of his agents, he cut his fee and came on board.
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1. DIRECTING: THE AGONY & THE ECSTASY
Tom was determined to fight four men without a double. A stuntman messed up the sequence and swung a metal sword at his neck. It would have been fatal had Tom not reacted instinctively. Saved his own life. And the movie. And my career. 🧵
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10. SPIKE
I got a call that he was in LA to do an Oscar campaign and wanted to stop by. I had loved “Do The Right Thing” and was eager to meet him. We gave each other respect (I still have the t-shirt he brought me). “Neither of us are going to win” I said. "Not yet" he winked.
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9.THE STUDIO
insisted I write and shoot Matthew's back story, framing the film as a White Savior narrative. Instead, once I saw Denzel & Morgan onscreen, I wrote even more for them. My cut eliminated the ill-advised opening; the suits were grudgingly pleased and my cut prevailed.
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2. WHEN REHEARSALS BEGAN
I soon realized I was in the presence of something beyond my understanding. Something blessed. Denzel, Morgan, André and Jihmi were hearing music I couldn’t. It was thrilling and daunting. The only thing I could think to do was shut up and hold on tight.
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4. MORGAN
Morgan emanated a rare moral authority. He’d bought the plantation on which his family had been slaves. When he saw me with my son, he asked why we hadn’t yet had a second child. I mumbled an excuse and he gave me that…look. Our daughter was conceived soon after.
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3. DENZEL
While working, he burned with an inchoate rage, controlled yet always just below the surface and accessible at any moment. I learned not to break his concentration between takes. Off set, he was funny and approachable. Better that than the other way around, I figured.
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6. JIHMI
A deeply religious man, he wanted me to understand something essential about our story and took me to a local Baptist Church where congregants shouted out the glory of God. Faith would become a central tenant of the movie, and his shone like a beacon in every scene.
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AFTER MATT DAMON'S FIRST SCENE,
Denzel took me aside and asked, "Who’s the kid?” I told him it was Matt’s first big role. “Damn” he said, “Better get my game on, he almost blew me off the screen!”
For his last scene as a ravaged junkie, Matt chose to lose weight. Except...
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10 THINGS ABOUT DIRECTING ACTORS
Technique, Tips & Trauma
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FRANCIS COPPOLA AND MY PAL, JOE
A true Hollywood ending
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...SO YOU WANT A CAREER IN THE MOVIE BUSINESS?
A cautionary.
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THE DIRECTOR IN PREP
Failing to plan is planning to fail.
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11. “WE HAD A TIME”
To this day every interesting woman I meet between ages 35 and 50 gets this glazed look at the mention of the show - the equivalent of Taylor Swift fans who feel "seen" by her songs and know all the words. Men, too. In a way, we are all fifteen year-old girls.
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THE ART OF LISTENING
In Blood Diamond when Jennifer Connolly coaxes Leonardo DiCaprio to tell of his traumatic childhood, it's a master class in active listening. Audiences don't recognize it as a skill, but actors know playing opposite an active listener makes them both better.
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FROM, THE DIRECTORS’ HANDBOOK
Fundamentals and forgetting
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A DIRECTOR’S CAREER
Contradictions, calamities & compromises
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8. KISMET
Winnie's first draft described Rickie Valdez as lovable, Puerto Rican, and gay. Impossible to find, we thought. And then Wilson Cruz walked in. The first openly gay teenager to play an openly gay character on network TV, he became a role model for countless others.
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Today, Book Soup announced it was for sale. It opened the year I came to LA. Along with Tower Records, it was Ground Zero for my twenties, and the destination of choice for every LA writer in search of inspiration and community. Let us pray it finds its way into good hands.
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10 MORE THINGS ABOUT DIRECTING ACTORS
communication, confrontation & confession
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CONFESSIONS OF A RECOVERING SHOW RUNNER…
The TV biz uncovered and unvarnished
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THE FILM DIRECTOR'S BAG OF TRICKS
from the sublime to the ridiculous
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A YOUNG DIRECTOR IN HOLLYWOOD
First lessons - nuts and bolts
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4. CLAIRE
She was fourteen when we met her. Her audition was mind-blowing. There are certain actors so preternaturally gifted it takes your breath away. What they know simply can’t be taught. One problem: no one had ever done an hour drama about a teenager with a real teenager.
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MORE FAVES FROM MY NOTEBOOK
Didn’t have room in my book..
1.DECONSTRUCTION
After your first cut, watch it m.o.s. on fast-forward. Your mind fills in context as the narrative returns to outline form.Cut one prosaic scene and juxtapose two good ones. Watch your movie take flight.
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ANOTHER EARLY REVIEW
I have 10 galleys of my book to give away before its pub date, Feb 13th. Just retweet this self-serving ad and I’ll pick 10 at random. If you’re one of the lucky bastards who gets one and happens to enjoy it, I wouldn’t be averse to you posting about it...
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10 THINGS ABOUT DIRECTING ACTORS
Technique, Tips & Trauma
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CONFESSIONS OF AN ACTION DIRECTOR
Dreams, deals and dread
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A DIRECTOR PREPARES
With apologies to Konstantin Stanislavski
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A REAL SAMURAI
Ken insisted he ride in the charge. His horse tripped. Everything stopped as he lay on the ground, motionless. Then he stood up and did a silly happy dance. I hope he did the same when named the first Japanese actor nominated for an Oscar.
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P.S. NONE OF THESE RULES make any difference if you don't have a good script.
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10 TALES FROM THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR
Anecdotes, true and otherwise
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FROM, A SCREENWRITER'S NOTEBOOK
observations, incantations and exhortations
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From, THE DIRECTOR’S NOTEBOOK
10 horror stories, high hilarity and half-truths
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As a SEQUEL to 10 SIMPLE RULES FOR MAKING MOVIES, here are 10 HELPFUL HINTS FOR DIRECTORS. I admit I am often too anxious to remember them, myself.
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10 MORE THOUGHTS ABOUT DIRECTING ACTORS
Apparently the first ten weren’t quite enough…
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WRITING PARTNERS
the agony, the ecstasy, the lunch order
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From, A DIRECTOR’S NOTEBOOK
observations, imprecations and confessions
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P.S. CODA
Though this all happened more than forty years ago, I think of it often. Mostly when something goes wrong on set, or I happen to notice a certain gleam in the eye of a day player. And I can’t help but wonder, do we make movies or do movies make us?
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A SCREENWRITER’S DARK MUSINGS
who we are; where we’re going
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THE MOVIE PRODUCER’S LAMENT
10 things to consider and reconsider
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--he did it unsupervised and almost caused himself great harm. Sydney Pollack, a former actor, once told me, 'A great actor is a fool for God.' From my book, "Hits, Flops and Other Illusions." Available for pre-order now.
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5.WE WOULD FIND A WAY OR WE WOULD MAKE ONE
California has strict child labor laws governing the number of hours a minor can work each day. That meant reconceiving the show. Like many such compromises in series TV, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It became an ensemble.
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From, THE DIRECTOR'S NOTEBOOK
observations, reservations and incantations
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THE SCREENWRITER’S FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF:
(with apologies to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross)
STAGE 1: DENIAL
“The studio is going to love this draft!”
🧵thread
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10.WHY WE FIGHT
The Queen’s Gambit took 30 years to get made with 9 rewrites after being turned down by every studio that read it, claiming no one would be interested in a movie about chess. It was viewed by 62 million people and received 18 Emmy nominations.
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13. A HAPPY ENDING
Despite our success, Brad and I didn’t speak for a year. I was upset he was unhappy. We'd fought, but both of us had given our all. The night he joined me to record the commentary, we smoked a joint and made up. If you listen closely, you can hear us giggling.
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From, THE DIRECTOR’S NOTEBOOKS
Tall tales, tips and transgressions
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I've made several movies with Denzel Washington. This was taken on the set of our first day working together.
Read more in my book, "Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions"
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10. IN SUM
Movies don't need to be political to be worthy. Humanist entertainments are just as important and the best stories are still those that hold up a mirror to real life, its issues and contradictions. In other words if a movie isn’t about something, it’s about nothing.
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A SCREENWRITER'S RUMINATIONS
Practices, precepts & prescriptions
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4.A GOOD IDEA CAN COME FROM ANYWHERE
You might as well listen to what others have to say because you’re going to get the credit (and the blame) anyway. And remember, the Key Grip has probably made six times as many movies as you have.
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“THE SCREENWRITER’S FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF
With apologies to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
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LEO IN AFRICA
The village we filmed in was achingly poor. One day at wrap I saw bulldozers moving in and asked the UPM. “Oh that’s Leo. He's digging a well.” Leo did things like all the time and never mentioned it. He'll probably be upset that I outed him
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THE SCREENWRITER'S CRAFT
theory, practice & the marketplace
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9. TORTURE
Despite admitting how much the show meant to their daughters and to a rabidly devoted fan base, the network refused to see the culture as it was changing around them. Their infamous last words: “Teenagers just aren’t an important market for our advertisers."
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3. WINNIE
Some writers have a way of creating a voice at once strikingly original and utterly familiar. As an exercise she began writing Angela's journal. When we read it we realized she was already writing the pilot. For extra authenticity, she went to teach at a middle-school.
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10. MTV
picked up the show and ran it endlessly in wildly successful marathons. There’s a famous exchange between Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg: Mayer wanted to buy the rights to Gone with the Wind. “Forget it, L.B.,” said Thalberg. “No Civil War movie ever made a nickel.”
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MOVIE CAN BE FUNNY ENOUGH
Laughter lets the audience know they’re in good hands. They let their guard down and become vulnerable to the serious stuff.
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10 WAYS TO FEEL MISERABLE AS AN ARTIST
Found this in an old notebook (from Keri Smith). An evergreen.
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6.ON EVERY PRODUCTION
The director loses faith in the movie, the actors lose faith in the director, and the crew hates the actors. Somehow it all works out.
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2. MARSHALL
wrote a provocative pilot for Showtime called "Secret Seventeen" about unruly, unapologetic, wised-up, highly sexualized teenagers in mall culture. The network barely read it and summarily passed. He vowed someday he'd get to portray real adolescence.
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7. THE AUDIENCE’S ATTENTION SPAN IS EVEN SHORTER THAN YOURS
Fill every moment. Be generous. Be extravagant. Give them all sorts of gifts: jokes, moments, secrets, truths. Stick to the story and try not to shoot the parts you’re going to cut.
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JAMIE LEE CURTIS
has done everything, everywhere, all at once, and then done it all again. Whether as actor, author, producer, or activist, I have admired her from afar. To receive such a fulsome, generous response means the world to me.
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2. THE CAMERA IS A BUDDHA
It sees the world as it is. It doesn’t photograph your expectations or your fantasies. Try to see as the camera sees.
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10.THE VERDICT
Saying no to any offer makes me anxious. Nonetheless I decide to demur. I’m about to call and tell them, but the agent calls first.“They’ve decided to go another way,” he says... Do I laugh or cry? Is it possible to be flattered and rejected? Only in Hollywood.
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ACTORS & DIRECTORS, A LOVE STORY
Anecdotes, antipathy & antidotes
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It lives!
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For those who enjoyed my posts this past year, and at the same time, to a new generation of filmmakers still discovering their unique voices and visions. I'm hoping you'll read my book, "Hits, Flops and Other Illusions" --now available on pre-order.
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8.THE ACTORS MOVE THE CAMERA, THE CAMERA DOESN’T MOVE THE ACTORS
Unless you have a style, don’t pretend you do.
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P.S.
“The saddest journey is one that follows a precise itinerary. Then you’re not a traveler, you’re a fucking tourist. – Guillermo del Toro
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8. THE MOVIE STAR
Cary Grant arrived at a restaurant before his guests. “I’m sorry,” said the hostess, “that table is reserved for Cary Grant.” “But I AM Cary Grant,” he said. “You don’t look like Cary Grant,” she said. “No one looks like Cary Grant,” said Cary Grant.
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