Wasn't Sean listed as a guest in the last class?

Hey scott. Love the blog, read it everyday.

I found this interesting little tid-bit on another site I follow. I don't know if you've posted on this particular documentary before but it would be beneficial for the entire GITS community.

http://nofilmschool.com/2011/08/malkovichs-mail/#more-14011

@Phil: Yes, we hope to have Sean as one of our Screenwriting Master Class industry interviews the next time around.

@EIF: Thanks for that! I'll do a separate post on that and give you a HT!

I loved that up until the paragraph where he sort of threw the other writers under the bus a little bit there...

"I know that those who have read my Conan shooting script agree that much of the work I did on story and character never made it to screen. I myself know that given the difficulties of rewriting a script in the middle of production, I made vast improvements on the draft that came before me. But its still much like doing great work on a losing campaign."

In a weird bit of internet synergy, right after I say that, Mr. Hood comes out and apologizes for his comments sounding like he was throwing the other writers under the bus.

Hat tip to you for doing the right thing, Sean.

“Actually my words “I made vast improvements on the draft that came before me” weren’t very classy because it does sound like I’m throwing the previous writers under the bus, and I need to publicly apologize to Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, and Andrew Lobel. All I can say is that I didn’t mean it that way and I should have chosen my words more carefully.

What I meant to say that I was proud of the work I did solving problems that that had emerged in the development process, over many years and dozens of drafts. To suggest that I did better work than the writers before me would be both un-classy and flat out incorrect.

Many people have read Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer’s early drafts of Conan when it showed up on the internet, and a great, great number of them think theirs was the best draft of any, including the shooting script. Andrew Lobel’s draft was filled with great humor, which some critics thought the movie lacked.

I didn’t write this to point fingers. As the last writer on the project, the criticism of the story, dialogue, and characterization should fall primarily on me… not my peers, not producers, not studio executives, not the director.”

http://www.deadline.com/2011/08/conan-the-barbarian-screenwriter-answers-whats-it-like-to-flop-at-the-box-office/