awards these writers just had to direct their own stories

AWARDS

These writers just had to direct their own stories. Here’s whythat works

LOG IN

Why these writers were compelled to direct their scripts - Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2021-03-03/the...

1 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

Sometimes a writer’s vision for a film is so distinct, they need to be the ones to direct as well. (Vanessa Montano / ForThe Times)

By RANDEE DAWN

MARCH 3, 2021 7 AM PT

“In France, there is a tradition for one person to be both the writer and director,” says

French writer-director Florian Zeller, whose drama “The Father” releases from Sony

Pictures Classics this week. “It’s not always for the best. But for ‘The Father,’ it was

not possible for me not to be the director of that story.”

Auteurism, in which a film’s director and writer are the same person, is no longer just

a French thing. For years, award season has brought on prestige picture after prestige

picture full of auteurs. Along with Zeller, this season includes Julie Taymor (“The

Glorias”), Alan Ball (“Uncle Frank”), Charlie Kaufman (“I’m Thinking of Ending

Things”), Francis Lee (“Ammonite”), Kelly Reichardt (“First Cow”), Paul Greengrass

(“News of the World”) and Armando Iannucci (“The Personal History of David

Copperfield”). Some wrote original scripts, some worked with adaptations, but all are

clear: They just had to be the ones to tell the story.


2 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

Anthony Hopkins and writer-director Florian Zeller on the set of “The Father.” (Sean Gleason/Sony Pictures Classics)

“The first thing I ever wrote was something someone else directed, and that

experience taught me I had a set way of seeing my work and how I wanted to visualize

it,” says Lee. “At that point, I thought, ‘You’re going to have to write and direct your

own stuff; that’s the only way you’ll have a singular viewpoint in there.’”

ADVERTISEMENT

It’s not unusual for lauded screenwriters to jump the fence into directing their own

work, because — unlike Lee, who has been able to direct and write his first two

feature films — they needed more industry traction before they could be trusted to

helm a film. Charlie Kaufman won an Oscar for “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless

Mind” in 2005 and has directed three feature films (which he also wrote) since then,

including “Ending Things.”


3 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

Jessie Buckley with writer-director Charlie Kaufman on the set of “I’m Thinking of Ending things.” (MaryCybulski/Netflix)

“There was no chance when I wrote my first screenplay that anyone would let me

direct it, and that was reasonable,” says Kaufman. “Now, I know what I want and

what I’m thinking by the time I direct a movie, so I’m confident I can answer

questions with authority.”

For Taymor, her multilayered “Glorias” script, which she says had to be “visual and

cinematic,” required someone who could imagine a device or leitmotif in the script,

then carry it to conclusion. “As a director, it’s important to not just conceive of these

ideas, but understand how they weave throughout a story seamlessly.”

ADVERTISEMENT


4 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

Ball also picked up a 1999 Oscar for his “American Beauty” script, and “Frank” is his

latest directing effort, this time considered a television movie on Amazon. But before

that Oscar, his contributions post-scriptwriting were not exactly encouraged. “Twenty

years ago, when ‘American Beauty’ happened, one thing I requested when we sold the

script was to be on the set,” he says. “It was a great experience for me to be there —

but if I’d had different ideas about what should be going on in the set, I’d have been

banned.”


5 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

DP Rodrigo Prieto, writer/director Julie Taymor, and Lynn Hendee watch video playback on the set of “The Glorias.”(Dan McFadden/LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions)

As it turns out, auteurs have also managed to take over at the Academy Awards, at

least when it comes to the screenwriting categories. The last non-directing, solo

screenwriter to win an original-screenplay Oscar was David Seidler for “The King’s

Speech” in 2010; ever since then, every Oscar given in the category has at least

partially been credited to the director. Adapted-screenplay writers fare better, but the

last solo non-directing adapted-screenplay writer to win an Oscar was in 2014, when

Graham Moore won for “The Imitation Game.” Had Kaufman and Ball been

submitting solo scripts after 2010 that they didn’t direct, it’s unlikely they’d have

earned Oscars.

But directors — even those heavily involved with writing their own scripts —

recognize the importance of having independent voices, whether it’s those of writers

or other crew. Reichardt’s “Cow” is based on Jonathan Raymond’s novel by the same

name, and the two are friends and neighbors who are in “constant conversation,” she

says.

ADVERTISEMENT


6 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

“My filmmaking is better from working with writers,” she says. “I look at my first

screenplay and think, ‘I wish I had a writer on it.’”

Director Paul Greengrass on the set of his western “News of the World” with Tom Hanks (Bruce W. Talamon/UniversalPictures)

“Sometimes you want a writing partner when you direct,” agrees Greengrass. “You

yearn for that cross-fertilization, because sometimes it takes you to a better place. A


7 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

director may need someone to articulate what is un-articulatable for them.”

Yet the way the system is organized, while directors may piggyback on scripts they’ve

adjusted in the collaboration with their writers, those who write the scripts do not

have the option for a “codirecting” credit. The reasons are wide and varied, but it

means non-directing writers rarely get to lay full claim to their own categories any

more.

ADVERTISEMENT

Part of it is that separating a finished film from its script — or expecting all voters to

read a script and watch the film — are real challenges. “It’s hard for academy

members to see through to a good screenplay if the film wasn’t good,” Taymor says.

“I don’t think that the Academy Award determines what’s a good screenplay,” adds

Kaufman. “Their track record is fairly dismal. I read somewhere that the writing

screenplay award in the academy is an also-ran, like, the film is critically well-

received but they’re not going to give the award to them.”

Is any of this fair? Probably as fair as anything is in the highly subjective awards

season world.

“Film is still very much a director-led form,” says Iannucci, who acknowledges it


8 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

takes a village to make a film, no matter who gets the top-line credit. “That’s one of

the reasons I love it. But directors are like orchestral conductors. I always think, ‘Why

is his face on the front of the CD?’ You’re not listening to him; you’re listening to the

150 other people sitting behind him.”

AWARDS MOVIES OSCARS

From the Emmys to the Oscars.Get our revamped Envelope newsletter for exclusive awards season coverage, behind-the-scenes

insights and columnist Glenn Whipp’s commentary.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Randee Dawn

MORE FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

Enter email address

SIGN ME UP


9 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

MOVIES

Thanks to its Deaf actors, ‘Sound of Metal’ offers an authentic look atDeaf cultureMarch 4, 2021

AWARDS

Mary J. Blige writes of survivors’ optimism in Oscar shortlisted ‘SeeWhat You’ve Done’March 3, 2021

COMPANY TOWN

Golden Globes fallout: HFPA members voted not to hire a diversityconsultant last summerMarch 3, 2021

AWARDS

Transforming plays for the screen involves more than just ‘openingup’ the scenesMarch 3, 2021


10 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

CALIFORNIA

At least 13 killed in crash of SUV carrying more than 2 dozen near U.S.-Mexico border

CALIFORNIA

An Asian American family in O.C. was being harassed. Now their neighbors stand guard

MOVIES

Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall explain why a white actor was cast in ‘Coming to America’

ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS

Chris D’Elia faces child-porn lawsuit from woman who says he had sex with her at 17

MUSIC

David Crosby on dinner with Joni, Phoebe Bridgers and the 50th anniversary of his haunted solo debut

AWARDS

Spate of awards-season films track FBI tactics against Black activists

March 3, 2021

SUBSCRIBERS ARE READING

LATEST AWARDS


11 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

eNewspaper

Coupons

AWARDS

Will Frances McDormand and Tom Hanks pull o� this amazing Oscar feat?

March 3, 2021

AWARDS

Here are our Oscar predictions for the acting races. And tips on others to consider

March 3, 2021

MOVIES

Golden Globes fallout: HFPA member says lack of Black members ‘was not really anything we focused

on’

March 2, 2021

AWARDS

Pull your car into the first drive-through Oscars. Honk! Honk!

March 2, 2021


12 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

Subscribe for unlimited access

Follow Us

Find/Post Jobs

Place an Ad

Media Kit: Why the L. A. Times?

Bestcovery

Copyright © 2021, Los Angeles Times | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | CA Notice of Collection | Do Not Sell My

Personal Information


13 of 13 3/4/2021, 1:37 PM

awards these writers just had to direct their own stories

Documents