‘Boys Don’t Cry’ filmmaker
offers writing forum

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By Tim Ryan
tryan@starbulletin.com

So you wanna be a screenwriter?

Here are some statistics from the Writers Guild of America:

>> There are more than 150 television series developed each year with about 10 staff each, or about 1,500 staff writer/writer-producer, prime-time jobs a year.

>> Each series must buy two free-lance scripts, for a minimum of about 300 free-lance scripts a year.

This adds up to 1,800 jobs sought by more than 10,000 active WGA West members, plus thousands of East Coast members and nonguild wannabes.

The WGA members need to sell just one script a year to qualify for health benefits. The minimum fee for a prime-time half-hour network sitcom script is about $19,000. Try to live on that for a year. Oh, and remember that less than 1 percent of the shows pitched get made.

If you still have your heart set on Hollywood, Christine Vachon, whose independent film "Boys Don't Cry" won an Academy Award, will deliver a tough-love workshop March 16-17 on the Everest-like road ahead.

Vachon has been associated with hard-hitting films: "I Shot Andy Warhol," "Kids," "Happiness," "Velvet Goldmine," "Hedwig and the Angry Inch." Her production company, Killer Films, will release several films this year, including "Storytelling"; "The Safety of Objects," starring Glenn Close and Dermot Mulroney; "The Grey Zone," starring Harvey Keitel and Steve Buscemi; "Women in Film"; and "Chelsea Walls" from Ethan Hawke.

Vachon's acclaimed book "Shooting to Kill" provides a text for the workshop with Vachon discussing moviemaking from inception to post-production.

"The only constant in filmmaking, be it commercial or independent productions, is change," Vachon said in a telephone interview from her New York production office. "The advent of digital film making now ... has had major impact on the entire industry.

"There was a time when new filmmakers desperate to tell their stories didn't have access, but with (the less expensive) digital they really cannot say that anymore. Access is really there for anyone who reaches out and takes it."

One thing filmmakers should not forget is that filmmaking is a commercial art form, Vachon said. A good story is always a better sell than artistic mush. And the sale is crucial.

"In general, the bottom has fallen out of indie filmmaking. The stakes were raised by movies like 'Pulp Fiction,' which made millions and millions of dollars but was still considered an independent film," she said. "So that become a kind of standard rather than the (independent) film which required an incredible amount of work but grossed just $2 million at the box office. The bottom line has become different.

"The small companies that used to exist to distribute these smaller films really want movies that will return bigger numbers even though a smaller film remains profitable," Vachon said. "Rather than being pleased that a $1 million investment returns $3 million, the concept now is, Let's invest $10 million to get back $50 million."

The first day of Vachon's workshop will "demystify the process" of filmmaking.

Day two is spent listening to students talk about their projects, followed by a critique and recommendations by Vachon, although sometimes, she said, "Ignorance is a great thing because you don't know it's too hard to do."

"The Filmmaker's Journey" University of Hawaii Pacific New Media two-day workshop Where: UH Krauss 012 Yukiyoshi Room When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 16 and 17 Fee: $200 Register: 956-7221 or visit www.outreach.hawaii.edu/pnm

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