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Joseph Stefano: Simple Words
by Brent Beebe
(October 2002) |
“You can’t be a writer. You are a writer.”
Simple words, but so very true… so says Joseph Stefano, author of the screenplay (and some say, co-creator) of the film version of Psycho. He continues, “Don’t wait for others to agree with you that you’re a writer… just write.”
It was near the end of a recent Scriptwriter’s Network meeting that Stefano’s feelings regarding the writer’s role in Hollywood became apparent… much to the delight of his audience comprised of Network members and their guests.
The day began with Stefano’s tales of his capturing the job of adapting the novel (by Robert Bloch) Psycho for the screen… for none other than Alfred Hitchcock. Previous to this, Stefano had written only two projects: a feature film and an episode of Playhouse 90. Most writers in his position would have taken whatever they could get… but not Stefano. His plan was simple: present MCA a list of ten directors he wanted to work with and asked them not to call until he had a meeting with one of them. “It was a strange situation. I realized I had suddenly, out of the blue, become a screenwriter.” Obviously, he wasn’t too worried about money… at least he had enough to go to the movies. And then… surprise, surprise… Stefano’s phone rang – He had his meeting… several in fact… which culminated in the delivery of a text from Mr. Hitchcock… the novel, Psycho.
At first, it seemed as if this collaboration was not to be as Stefano, though enjoying the novel, felt it was unfilmable. But this soon changed when Stefano realized that it couldn’t be the story of Norman Bates… it had to be the story of Marion Crane… who only appeared in three pages of the novel before her bloody demise.
And thus when Stefano first went to meet with Hitchcock, and after a bit of small talk, Stefano said, “May I tell you how I would make Psycho?” He described the opening where Marion Crane is shacking up with her boyfriend while the audience acts as the voyeurs for the movie. Stefano proceeded to lay out the first half hour of the movie…up until the death of Marion Crane. Hitchcock told Stefano, “We could get a star.” Later the director suggested bringing in Anthony Perkins, who they got for twenty thousand dollars. Only twenty thousand, thought Stefano… just before learning that no actor ever turned down Mr. Alfred Hitchcock…
Later, Stefano called his agent who said he had the job. It was week to week and he was to start the next morning at nine o’clock. “Impossible,” said Stefano, as he explained this would interfere with his daily psychoanalysis session. “Ten-fifteen at the earliest,” he said… All this from a new kid on the block… “Ten-thirty will be your report time,” his agent said upon calling back… as well mentioning that Hitchcock was incredibly interested in hearing more about Stefano’s sessions.
Stefano had felt he had a lot in common with Norman’s story. For example, both men shared a hatred for their mothers. “I just felt that Norman and I were going to have a great time together.”
Upon their first pow-wow, Hitchcock informed Stefano that he was mostly interested in the plot or “what was going on,” and it was up to Stefano to deal with the characters… in other words, to give him living, breathing characters.
Further meetings were sparse; indeed, a number of them dealt with topics other than the production. But it was clear that Hitchcock was interested in the characters… he just had complete faith in Stefano to give him exactly that. It was at the end of one such meeting that Hitchcock asked Stefano if he had enough “information,” and in the next breath, told him to go home and write the script. And so he did…
The day Stefano handed in the script, Hitchcock took it with him on a trip with his wife, Alma. Upon his return, Hitchcock simply told Stefano… “Alma loved it.”
Flash forward a few months… Stefano was invited to view a rough cut… and afterwards, his heart sank. He hated it. However, Hitchcock informed him it was only the rough cut. Hitchcock re-edited the film, showed it to Stefano, and this time won his approval. Stefano was especially blown away by the music… “It (the music) was…thirty or forty percent of the picture.”
When it comes to writing, Stefano starts with a feeling, not an idea. (And for him, that feeling is usually anger.) He lays out a beat sheet, basically one page, numbered, showing what happens to help with understanding the spine of the story. His intention is to get the audience to stay in their seat and not walk out… a goal all screenwriters should strive for!
Dialogue is quite important to Stefano, and when it comes to today’s writers… Stefano’s not afraid to express his disappointment. The one true test when it comes to dialogue is to cover the names of the characters, then read the dialogue. If you can figure out who’s speaking without having to see the name… congratulations!
Stefano revealed how he weeds out lines that get in the way of what the audience, or he, wants to know. In fact, it’s the characters themselves that tell him what’s going to happen. Writing, for him, becomes akin to transcribing… he simply writes down what the characters tell him to write. Stefano has so much respect for his characters that, despite a lot of rejected scripts, he never transplants them from one script into a future script… The script is their life, and they would never feel at home in one belonging to someone else.
The thing lacking in movies, per Stefano, is any sense of truth. He makes mention of how you’ll hear audience members making a comment about something a character did and how they didn’t believe it… and if they don’t believe it, says Stefano, then you ain’t done what you were supposed to do. A character, no matter how outlandish, should remain truthful to himself at all times.
One thing to keep in mind during all this, Stefano says, is that it’s the writer’s job to write… not project what’s going to be done with the script when he’s finished... You’ve got enough to worry about with the writing end.
Once the script is finished, Stefano only shows it to his wife, Marilyn, who reads it and proofs it for him (I do the same thing, actually… My wife, not Marilyn…)
Now it’s time to hand in the script. This is when the writer’s worst fears come to life… the endless suggestions on how to make the script “better.” “Protect your credit!” says Stefano. Listen to the suggestions with an open mind, make changes if necessary, fight only when you really believe in something. Remember, if the writer won’t listen to suggestions or make any changes, then you may find your script snatched from your hands and given to another writer who’s more agreeable to such things…
Stefano’s writing has included work on the small screen as well. He is the co-creator/producer of Outer Limits (the original). Stefano also created the television show. Although he was contracted to write a few episodes for the show, he actually only wrote one. Instead, he did rewrites of other scripts without taking any credit for it. On one episode, Stefano rewrote a dual-story script into what were essentially two long scenes. When the network complained about their length, he explained it was the intention to intercut the sequences, but they were presented as two separate running scenes for the actors’ sake so that they performances would feel real to both themselves and the audience. Stefano also discovered a new aspect of filmmaking during his tenure with the show: editing. Now he could go over a story and remove elements that should’ve been removed during the writing process but for whatever reason, weren’t. Outer Limits remains one of Stefano’s (and many fans) favorite projects.
It was a few years later that Stefano was asked to check back into the Bates Motel for Psycho 4. This time, it would be a script from his own story, not someone else’s. But there was one problem… he would be working not for a single director, but for an entire network, Showtime… and, of course, everyone had their own “ideas” to contribute. But the worst part was yet to come… the head of Showtime was not, to put it lightly, a fan of the script, and even suggested that another writer be brought on. And Stefano’s answer? He sat, listened, and then the next day called the network head and praised him for his brilliant thoughts on his script. Another writer was never again mentioned even though Stefano only made some of the changes suggested. “You cannot think of them as the enemy because that is harmful to your career,” said Stefano. “The executives just run the palace, but the screenwriter has to please them in order to get his or her movie made.”
Unfortunately, sometimes there’s nothing you can do to win over the other guys. What was perhaps Stefano’s most personal story, Two Bits, was one such experience. Stefano was besieged from all sides: Al Pacino, the film’s star, had no desire to meet him and the director, James Foley, didn’t even want him on the set. However, since Stefano’s contract gave him that right (he was a producer as well as author), he had the last laugh… and a ringside seat on set at all times.
Movies today have changed, according to Stefano. Not only in content, but also in the way we view them as well. When Gus Van Sant decided to do an almost shot-by-shot remake of Psycho, he included Stefano’s original script… including long, dialogue heavy, scenes. Today these scenes, Stefano feels, would most certainly be either trimmed to a shorter length or intercut with others for the sake of satisfying modern audiences. Such audiences no longer know what it was like to see a film as did Stefano when he was a kid… like being a co-pilot charged with travel on a journey to a place hither uncharted. The viewer gave just as much as did the film. Now audiences do little more than pay their money and expect to be taken via automatic pilot to a destination they’ve visited many times before… as seen by the special effects film and/or the “tent pole” picture. If the film doesn’t cause offense to Stefano’s moral nature, then it most likely will cause offense to his digestive system.
Stefano’s narrative ended at the beginning: his entry into the world of screenwriting. He actually started out wanting to be a singer/dancer and wrote musicals that he appeared in with a group in New York as well as doing nightclub reviews. It was about this time that two changes in his life occurred: marriage and the purchase of a television (in that order). One night, while watching either Studio One or Robert Montgomery Presents, Stefano found himself drawn into the program. “I can do that,” he said.
And so, he began work on his first project: an hour-long episodic drama. He then secured an agent via a mutual friend who shopped it to various episodic dramas. However, the story caught the interest of some producers who wanted to expand it to feature length. There was only one problem: Stefano had never seen a screenplay. Luckily, a friend taught him exactly what he needed to know: Put in exterior or interior, then write what happens. He did, and the film was made with Sophia Loren in the lead. This lead to a seven year, two pictures a year, contract with 20th Century Fox. He and Marilyn moved to Los Angeles and lived happily ever after...
Well, not quite…
Stefano found himself uncertain as to his ability to fulfill the terms of his contract. He decided to get out of his contract much to the chagrin of his agent. Stefano was back to where he started… but not for long. Soon came a new agent and with that a new contract, this time with MCA. He knew what was next: Learn how to write. This task must’ve been quickly accomplished as his first assignment was with a rather well-known director by the name of Hitchcock…
It was his work with Alfred Hitchcock combined with the text, The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri, that taught him everything he needed to know about being a writer. Everything since, he says, has pretty much taught him how not to write.
“Write what you love,” says Joseph Stefano. “Even if it’s a horror movie.” And with this, he left the audience with perhaps the wisest advice any writer can get…
“I think you just have to write.”
- Previous Network Meetings:
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