10 Screenwriting Tips from Paul Thomas Anderson - Interview on how he wrote There Will Be Blood

Paul Thomas Anderson Interview Advice on Writing Process and Directing we go Behind the Scenes and lessons from the screenplay of his movies There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Phantom Thread, The Master, Punch-Drunk Love, Inherent Vice and Hard Eight. His frequent collaborators are Tom Cruise, Daniel Day-Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, Maya Rudolph, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reilly. He has 8 Oscar nominations. His new movie is set in 1970s San Fernando Valley and stars Bradley Cooper and Benny Safdie.
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0:00 - Intro
1:30 - 01 - If you work on a script for a certain actor try to work together with them, watch the same referential movies and research the story theme together.
3:32 - 02 - When you get your chance, create without fear. Every movie that gets made is a miracle. Don't fear authorities, their opinion is just different, not better.
4:55 - 03 - Try to go to film school by all means. But if you don't agree with their concepts it’s perfectly ok to drop out, because all the information is out there if you want it.
7:19 - 04 - Never start with a theme. Start with the characters that are the opposite and then just let the characters guide you. To spark inspiration again type out works from others.
9:33 - 05 - Write about what’s happening around you. Write about yourself and people close to you. Families can be endless juicy ammunition for great stories.
10:58 - 06 - Let your characters tell your truth. To write an outstanding scene it’s not just about “moving the story forward”, it’s also about suspense and character reveals.
11:55 - 07 - The actual writing can happen pretty fast when you’ve done enough RESEARCH to know enough about the period, the story and the characters.
12:44 - 08 - Never get yourself in a position where you just stare at a blank page. When you finish a project start writing the next one asap. Just start with a relationship or a dialogue that excites you.
14:53 - 09 - To get great performances, your first job is to be a really good writer for the actors. Don’t be overly descriptive, write their motivations through dialogue and actions.
15:40 - 10 - Constantly be writing and practising. Revisit your old ideas or short stories, then practise writing them as a documentary, then write them as a feature film.
17:00 - Outro
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