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Karen Leigh Hopkins & Steven Rogers
Lights! Camera! Collaboration!
(March 1999) |
Collaboration has long been a viable option for screenwriters to hone their craft. At last month's general meeting, Karen Leigh Hopkins and Steven Rogers, two of the five credited writers for the blockbuster hit Stepmom, which stars Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts, shared their experiences as writers, and spoke about the collarboration process. Both had prior screenwriting credits when they were brought on as hired guns to polish the Stepmom script (Karen penned Welcome Home, Roxie Carmichael and Steven wrote Hope Floats, which stars Sandra Bullock, and more recently HBO's Earthly Possessions with Susan Sarandon).
As with many big budget features, a script is often bought from the original writer and then altered or totally revamped by one or more additional writers. Many drafts later, a final shooting script is born. Steven and Karen spoke about the challenges, pitfalls, and rewards of working with other writers on a particular project.
What collaboration boils down to is rewriting another writer's work. There really isn't any magic formula. The point is to rework the story into a great script. Collaborators are brought in to deepen the scenes, punch up the dialogue, energize the action, add more tension, or make the characters more interesting and colorful. Collaboration can be a good thing. It can also be a disaster. And unless the original writer can stay attached to the project, he or she will have little if any control over the end product once the rights are sold. It's like buying a house and then reconstructing the windows, walls, and floor plan.
Karen believes that collaborative writing is best achieved by working with like minds. It's important to choose co-writers wisely. Karen was brought in to Stepmom by Jessie Nelson, who was not the original writer but was attached as a co-writer/director during the early stages of the project. Aside from being a gifted actress, Karen is known for harvesting great themes and messages along with ideation skills and a vivid imagination. She understands the concept of shared vision and the importance of being in sync and on the same page with the director, co-writers, and overall project objectives. "Collaborating is about relationships," Karen noted. "It's important to set the rules and respect each other's contribution."
Steven Rogers put a bit of a different spin on the collaboration process. He only accepts assignments that he can feel passionate about, preferring to tell his own stories. Trying to get inside another writer's head to rework their thoughts or ideas is not Steven's favorite work. Also an actor, Steven never studied screenwriting, but grew up with an instinct for dramatic storytelling that he learned from his father, who produced regional theatre. His success could be attributed to extraordinary pitching skills, a strong sense of character, thoroughly knowing the story, and keeping the audience spellbound. "Getting an agent who understands you is critical," Steven affirms. "Relationship is everything in collaborative work."
Many agree. Relationships are indeed everything in Hollywood, however we also know that it doesn't hurt to be a great collaborator and storyteller.
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