Poolside Chat: Writing Movies for Fun and Profit – 2011 LAFF

Casting aside pre-staged water bottles and instead opting for beer, Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon stormed onto the stage at the 2011 L.A. Film Festival’s Poolside Chat: Writing Movies for Fun and Profit. When host Chris Tallman opened the event with the Ben Stiller quip, “These two guys are the reason why Night at the Museum won so many Oscars”, there was no doubt this was going to be fun.

And boy, did they deliver. Then again, who would expect anything less from the two actor-writers behind the cult television series Reno 911 and The State? And while you may recognize Lennon as Lt. Dangle and Garant as Deputy Travis Junior, the two have a lucrative writing partnership, working together on various big-budget Hollywood movies.

Enter their new book, Writing Movies for Fun and Profit. The book, which hits the stores July 5th, takes a look at being a screenwriter in the land of big studios. But, be warned. Garant and Lennon readily admit it’s not the book for you if “you want to win Oscars… or even Independent Spirit Awards… a GLAAD award, maybe.”

All joking aside, the Garant and Lennon saw a niche in screenwriting books that needed to be filled. While most books out there deal with the skill of becoming a screenwriter, Writing Moviesfor Fun and Profit, depicts what is necessary when writing for the studios. And while the chat was laced with hilarious stories of the duos shenanigans (including how their Jackie Chan movie turned into The Pacifier, how they ran into Arsenio Hall while visiting Eddie Murphy, and their not-so-nice fallout with Disney), at the core was some important screenwriting advice. After the hour-long talk, only a small part of that advice from their new book had been shared:

1. Write everyday. No. Matter. What.

2. Don’t worry about being pigeonholed… that means you’ve been hired…twice.

3. Put your writing in front of an audience.

4. As a working screenwriter you are a contractor, not an artist.

5. And finally, you are going to be fired. And that’s a good thing (it means your movie is moving forward).

While these guys are no doubt hilarious, they also know their screenwriting stuff – they’ve lived it. Yes, Writing for Fun and Profit looks like it will be a must have for anyone serious about becoming a working Hollywood screenwriter. And who wouldn’t want that? In Lennon’s own words, “It’s the best fucking job in the world.”