“Great scripts are not written, they are rewritten, and rewritten and rewritten” is a statement Robert Downey Jr. made at a Q&A after a screening of Sherlock Holmes at the Director’s Guild of America a while back. He was responding to the question ‘how long in advance do you start memorizing your lines’. He emphatically retorted something to the effect of “why would I memorize lines that I’m not going to say?” and continued on about the process of rewriting a script and how for Holmes lines were still changing the morning before the scene was going to be shot.
When Things Go Wrong...It's Usually Right!
Over the past decade the shoot for my short film Details fell through at least six times with six different teams, with different directors, different actors and different visions. I knew I had a solid script because initially each director and actor I sent it to was immediately on board and then let's just say 'life got in the way.' By the timed I decided to make the film in 2018 the piece had been showcased on stage (it was originally a one act play) several times both as a heterosexual piece and as a lesbian piece. It was exciting to play with the script through the lens of sexual fluidity of the characters. Over the years of failed attempts to get the film going I kept flip flopping between making the film with a male and female or two females, since the piece was quite universal in the way it depicted a relationship and could work with any couple regardless of gender or sexual identity.
The Money ‘Ain’t Coming ‘Till You Get Moving!
It doesn’t cost anything to write (alone or with a partner) or to get a group of actors to read a script in a living room (or on zoom). The way I work the living room is my creative space, because although I don’t get to be on stage or in a studio every day, I do get to be creative in my living room as often as I choose. It’s also a great place to get others excited about your work, on your turf and on your terms.
Magic In The Living Room
In the process of creating my solo show I learned that my living room is my creative space. I learned a new kind of discipline where the most important person I needed to show up for was myself. No scene partner, no coach, no director, no audience, no one to entertain or be accountable to…except myself. While I was creating my show that was the first time I was truly fulfilled as an artist – for the first time in my career I was inspired, creating and exploring daily, pushing myself further than I had ever imagined and most importantly, I was impressing myself with the stuff I came up with.