We interview, writer Jacques Du Rand about the art of writing and the love of cinema.
Writer: Jacques Du Rand
Scripts written: Backstage (Soap); Muvhango since 2016 (soap); Moggel Maak ‘n Movie (Feature); Zoetendalsvlei (feature); Here I Go (Short film); Several Theatre Scripts (Drama and Cabaret)
1. What is a professional scriptwriter?
This is a very tricky question, and you will probably get a different view from most scriptwriters you ask this question. In my view, the word “professional” is what makes this question difficult to answer.
In her Masterclass, Shonda Rhimes makes the statement that there are no such thing as aspirant writers. Only writers. If you write, you are a writer. This statement resonates with me. To me everyone that writes is a writer. No matter how bad you are, you are a writer. We do not tell a bad accountant that he is not an accountant, so why should it be any different with writing? We do not tell a bad cleaner that he or she is not a cleaner.
So, if we want to define a professional writer, I will say that is someone who has made a profession out of writing. If you are a director or a producer who has written a few scripts, that makes you a director or producer who has written some scripts. But your profession is a director or producer. You are still a writer, but that is not your profession. Even if you had a huge hit, that is not your profession. You are a good writer. But not a professional writer.
So, I would say a “professional writer” is someone who’s main income is generated by writing.
2. What is the process of writing a film script?
There is no magic formula. When I was an inexperienced writer, I found the formulas and rules very helpful to guide me so that I could learn what works and what does not, and that is what they are there for. But this is simplifying a much more complex and personal process. As you become more comfortable with your own voice in the art of writing, most of these processes become second nature and they become more malleable.
Over time you start to realise that the most important thing above all else is the story and the process must serve the story. So, considering this, I can only say what works for me.
Personally, I like to start with an idea. A single simple idea. I research the issues around that idea. Then I will create a premise. Once I have a proper premise, I like to think of the structure of my story. For me, the structure of your story is everything. I need to know what the confines of my world are, and the structure gives me these confines and rules. The next step is to develop good characters and place them in that world. From there, the story will tell itself. Or rather, your characters will act in a way that unfolds so that a story develops. Finally, you need to ensure that your subtext and themes are woven in. This happens by rewriting between 2 and 100 times.
3. Where do script ideas come from?
This is an amazingly simple answer – anywhere and everywhere. The entire world around you is full of stories. When you have a dog, and she is sleeping. You wake her up to give her a treat. Her mind must go through a process…. I was sleeping. Then my human woke me up. I need to ask why, and what my human wants. Then the dog goes through a process of questioning, problem solving and revelation. Finally, she realises, aha, there is a treat. Then she needs to decide whether she wants the treat. Is the treat worth getting up from my slumber or not? She decides to go for the treat and abandon her sleep.
As you can see, this is the same premise as the immensely popular and successful film The Matrix. So right there in giving my dog a treat, I saw a premise for a story that can be the beginning of a script which can includes themes, subtext, and a lot more.
I present workshops for talented writers from Ekurhuleni that do not have the finances for professional training. My advice to them is always that the best stories are the stories of your own life. Tell the stories that you live. How you dress that story up is up to you, but you live the stories you should tell every day. YOUR voice is the most important ingredient. And there is only one place you find that – in your world.
4. What is the process of getting your script to a film?
If I knew the perfect answer to this, I would be much more financially secure than I am. The best advice I can give is: NEVER GIVE UP.
Joining an organisation like the Writer’s Guild of South Africa is a good start. It is not free, but for a minimal fee, you will have access to a lot of services at discounted rates, like legal advice, script registry, etc. Anil Polten and I do the quarterly newsletter where we aim to give the community of members opportunity to display their projects and talk about the issues around their projects. For example, you can write an article about lack of municipal services and how this script you are writing addressed this problem. Someone might read your article, find it interesting and contact you to read your script.
There are many similar platforms, like congresses and webinars, but they tend to be relatively expensive in comparison. You can send your scripts to production companies, but unless you know how to prepare a proper pitch, it is almost guaranteed that it will not be read.
Getting noticed is a big challenge and it brings me back to what I said…. Don’t give up. Make friends, find connections, join organisations, do some collaborations. NETWORK. Some of the best screenplays in history get lost because no one reads them. And that is the key – you need to get someone to read it. And to do that, you need to convince them it is worth reading. The best way to do this is to get out there and make an impression in person.
5. What should the film/ TV industry be doing for screenwriters that it isn’t?
Writers are probably the most underpaid part of the entire production process. The amount of work that goes is vs. the return is very disproportionate in relation to all the other disciplines. I respect the producers a lot because they take all the risk. I respect actors because they dig incredibly deep to represent the characters we create.
But the depth a writer digs into to create the blueprint for these characters and the hours it takes to design a congruent world where everything fits in seamlessly, ensuring the emotional and story continuity is greatly undervalued in the industry.
I know of instances where films earned millions at the box-office and the writer who wrote the script earned less than R100 000 (or even R30 000 in one case) for the 6 months work put into that script.
A better benchmark for fees for writers is one of the greatest challenges we face. I am personally not a good business mind, so I do not know what that solution is. But I do know it is needed.
6. What do you wish you’d known then that you know now?
The most important thing that took me years to learn was to trust myself. This is not as simple as it seems though. It is incredibly important that writers can separate their ego from trusting their voice.
In the beginning, your voice will tell you that something is not working or that it is wrong, but your ego will resist and say to you – I am good, I have something to say. This works!
All writers have heard the saying that was first said by Stephen King, “Kill your darlings.”
What you need to learn as fast as you can is to dig deep, find your writer’s voice and do not allow critics or your own ego to silence that voice. Your darlings, being those beautiful moments or dialogue that you so desperately want to say, are things that might not serve your story. Your true writer’s voice will know this.
I wish I knew how to listen to that voice sooner, but the bad news is, there is no magic spell that will teach you this. The only way you learn is with experience and becoming more mature in your work.
What you need to do as a new writer is to accept that you will make some mistakes and be kind to yourself. You will do better next time. DO NOT GIVE UP.
7. What is one piece of advice for screenwriters just starting out?
There is no such thing as a new screenwriter. Only a screenwriter that has not made the mistakes we all make, yet. And once you make them, you learn, and you will not make them again. So, start writing and making those mistakes.
Like Shona Rhimes said, if you write, you are a writer. Start writing.
8. Give us 2 films that have inspired you and why?
Again, this is a difficult question. There are so many, so I will go back to the very beginning, to when I was a young boy.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? This is by far my biggest inspiration. It was based on a screenplay by Edward Alby and performed by Burt Renaults and Elizabeth Taylor. It is a brilliant example of the complexity that can be built into a story and told in a very limited setting. In this film, we are told a story that spans over a lifetime in one evening and three locations.
Secondly, it will be the original version of Ghostbusters (1984). I was simply mesmerised with how so much power can be woven into a story, yet it was entertaining, witty, and fun. It had incredible messages around prejudice and assumption, yet I laughed, had some good scares and as a 7-year-old at the time, I was incredibly entertained. That made me realise the power of a good visual story.
9. Who are the 2 writers that have inspired you and why?
First and foremost, this would be the French realist Jean-Paul Sartre. I wrote my first surreal piece of prose in grade 10 and won a National Golden Diploma for surrealism. This was the first time a school student ever won this award for the style of surrealism. I have a love for the style and Jean-Paul Sartre is a master as setting real characters in surreal situations.
Secondly, it would be Stephen King. He is an absolute master at the macabre of story. I have a personal passion for the story style of Magic Realism and King taught me how to make the unseen seen as well as creating a world where the impossible becomes probable. I also really love social responsibility stories that addresses the dark side of the human condition.
I believe that the late filmmaker Manie van Rensburg was right. He said that writers are the prophets of their time. As a writer, I believe that looking into the darkest side of our being and finding a way to step out of the darkness, into the light, is one of the most important roles a writer plays in society today.
10. What is the most enjoyable thing about screenwriting?
Here we have a tie. First, it is that I get to play every day of my life. I get to go back to a time in my life I created worlds as a child and build on them. Those worlds were often incongruent and now I do not have the luxury of allowing that, but I am none the less still playing.
Then there is the element of collaboration. I love working with other people who are also creative. My dear friend, mentor, wise-woman and an angel of mankind, Marina Bekker is one of those people. Sometimes we write together. Sometimes we write and soundboard against each other about what we have written and very often this would end up in hours of conversation about the most interesting and mind-expanding conversations.
Where a psychologist assumes to know how the human mind works, we as writers assume, we do not, and we set out to try and gain deeper insight into it. But as we go, we realise that the more we learn, the less we know. So being a writer is an endless lifelong journey into a better understanding of the soul of (wo)mankind.