Today saw Santa Barbara’s annual “It Starts with the Script” writers panel, moderated by Anne Thompson. Participating were Michael Arndt (“Toy Story 3”), Lisa Cholodenko (“The Kids Are All Right”), C. Gaby Mitchell (“Get Low”), David Seidler (“The King’s Speech”), Scott Silver (“The Fighter”) and Aaron Sorkin (“The Social Network”).
I was a little late to the event but it was an, as always, spirited discussion about the nuts and bolts of the screenwriting process.
Seidler, Silver and Sorkin were the three tasked with writing scripts (each of them original, interestingly enough, give or take a “book proposal”) detailing real individuals. Thompson asked for their various experiences with that. Silver recalled the first screening of the film for members of boxer Micky Ward’s family, and how he expected sparks might fly.
