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it's so personal um in terms of deciding

what movie or television show you're

going to work on if you're lucky enough

to have options and have choices um the

um for me is always trying to identify

something in an in an idea that I just

that I'm excited about that on on a it's

not an intellectual thing it's just an

emotional thing I'm I'm I'm reading it

I'm beginning to dream about it um and

um and and and in a way beginning to see

it and I don't want to let go of that

and that's that that that inspiration

and there's something about that story

that you know you as a creative person

just connect with you want to apply what

you have to offer to that I you I have

to feel that you know that there's

something about it that I connect with

on an emotional level or that I feel

like I I can contribute to it um I have

to feel that um that the story offers

something to audiences that's fresh

that's um you know thematically

interesting um and uh um you know and is

is going to be worthy of of their you

know their of their attention their time

and and their money

[Music]

I think that

freshness is very important when you're

evaluating your idea because the

execution can be you know outstanding on

a character level um and but but if it's

if it's not presented in some way that

feels fresh either through the Cinematic

approach or the setting

or then then it then it's going to be

it's going to be sort of downgraded in

people's minds they're going to feel

like well they've kind of seen it before

this is a good version of something else

but what else in in great improv study

groups they always say and the great

teachers will say to the Improv artists

once they've completed they'll say what

else and and I think there's that's a

great clue for for writers Andor

directors as well if you look at a movie

like the first Star

Wars well Joseph Campbell explained you

know very well to all of us who were

listening that it was the you know a

combination of the familiar myths but it

was retold in this way that we just had

never really experienced before and it

was so exciting it made us it made those

old myths those old ideas um you know

land in a powerful way but we were ready

to receive them because it was directed

in such a brilliant remarkable fresh way

um sometimes the you know directors come

along and find a way to do

something

traditional

and yet you know make it

modern uh La La Land is an example of a

classic movie Musical

structure um even the approach to the

music is traditional um and yet the way

it's shot the the setting the characters

the way they talk to each other um you

know it feels entirely modern well

that's a great combination that makes it

feel like a a very satisfying experience

because you know there are those classic

themes those ideas that we do appreciate

we just don't want them presented to us

in that that same old way and so that's

where storytelling is almost always a

combination of something old and

something new and it's the something new

that gives it the Contemporary relevance

that makes it immediate and meaningful

to those of us today living in this

moment that's what's so amazing about

Shakespeare's writing

is directors find ways of continuing to

restage it reshape it and the psychology

is so solid that what the characters go

through

still lands for audience members today

but the best versions uh are the ones

that are able to find a way either

through performance or presentation uh

or Rhythm uh to um you know to to feel

um like you haven't seen it before you

don't quite know what's going to happen

next another thing to really look for in

a in any film whether it's short or or

or

longer are going to be those powerful

moments now great great filmmakers from

around the world have often said that

movies are com surprised of you know

somewhere between three and

seven great great scenes and once you

identify what those great memorable

moments are then it's it's how artfully

the film builds to those moments to

maximize the power and potency of those

moments whether it's a Twist or surprise

or a revelation that a character makes

or a great action scene that reflects

character in some way and is dazzling to

watch whatever those highlights are it's

important to identify them now five

minute movie doesn't need five

highlights but you know it it needs to

build to something that's going to be um

you know it's going to just impinge on

you it's going to it's going to be an

impact moment that you want to remember

talk about you know see that film over

again to experience another time uh and

uh uh those have to be earned by the by

the filmmaker they need to be understood

and built

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to we're all

storytellers um and um you know stories

have been the main means of

conveying and making sense of The Human

Experience from you know from the

beginning from Primal man we we all do

it we all understand stories makes us

believe we can

direct um and we probably all can the

the next big step Beyond loving a story

believing you understand it you know and

being excited about it that

inspiration is then comes execution and

this is where understanding why stories

work why certain themes resonate the way

styles of Storytelling can shift and

impact an audience at a particular

moment and one style can suddenly feel

quaint old-fashioned or something that's

old and traditional May suddenly be just

right and therefore feel um you know

immediate and and appropriate and and

exciting those are all judgment calls us

that's taste you can't really teach

taste we all have our own instincts and

I think what we what we have to do is is

is hone that

and trust it and back up that instinct

and that taste with something called

craft and um and you know that's that's

what I hope to offer um in in this in

these conversations