Respect the Writer

The inception of everything "movies" starts with story. Let me say it again. The inception of everything "movies" starts with story. It goes without saying again, before a single person is considered to helm the camera, before any star is courted, before any grip, lighting, sound, extra, agent, manager, lawyer, reader, studio gets their fingers on the stack of paper peppered with words, there's a single person, sitting in an empty room, alone and lonely, puking out his innards onto a blank computer screen, sometimes literally.

Often time the writer is forgotten in praise and targeted in failure. Therefore the writer must understand his/her duty to story. They must understand the importance of sharing their voice.

Without the writer there would be no Hollywood. Without story there would be no movies. There would be no Spielberg, Hitchcock, Chaplin. There'd  be no film school, no acting class, no SAG, no AFTRA, definitely no WGA. No contests, no matinees, no drive-ins, no action adventure, no rom-coms, no horrors, thrillers, no mash ups, no indie flicks, no art house, no period pieces (possibly a good thing), no sequels, no prequels, no reboots. There'd be none of it. There'd be a great big bunch of people doing something they don't love with their lives. In fact, there'd be a universal hole in the hearts of many.

BUT because the writer does exist we are able to experience the emotional highs and lows of others. As the lights dim and the curtain rises we're able to hop in the cockpit of a F-14, barrel roll through the canyons, narrowly escaping certain death only to find ourselves smack in the middle of a dogfight with a Rabies infested St Bernard and just when our luck is about to run out we win it all at the buzzer, we become the hero, become the legend only to fall from the peak by our own brother's greed. Then as we hang on to everything that is meaningful by our fingertips a superhero arrives from space and saves not only us, but the entire human race. This is what writer's deliver. They deliver adventure, romance, comedy, tragedy, action. They deliver us from our everyday lives that spin in circles. They bring us to places that only a human imagination can create. A writer can change your life, for better or worse, they can make you see the world with fresh eyes, they can give you a perspective you never new existed. They can mend a broken heart or open a healing wound. Writer's give movies their life blood, their breath, their legs. It's then up to the rest of the "team" to package and execute the story to it's fullest potential.

So next time you see a movie and you leave the theater expressing utter joy over the last 2 hour ride consider this, the inception of everything "movies" starts with story and everything story starts with the writer.