THREAD: Back when I was in film school, I was fortunate enough to take a class where legendary screenwriter Tony Gilroy came to speak and a few of the things that he said have stuck with me ever since. Wanted to share those with everyone, as they're simple and very true. 1/

It was the fall of 2001 and I was in my senior year at NYU. I was fortunate enough to take a class taught by famed writer E. Max Frye. Max had already written the incredible SOMETHING WILD (which he wrote in college!!!!) and has since written, amongst other things, FOXCATCHER. 2/

Max was a fantastic teacher and would also bring guests to talk to the class. Tony Gilroy was one of them. I personally believe Tony is one of the great living screenwriters. If you don't know Tony's writing, I highly recommend you read one of his scripts ASAP. 3/

His style is insanely evocative and readable -- he prioritizes the read and emotion above all else. He developed his technique from William Goldman, my personal vote for the most iconic screenwriter, and became a collaborator of his. Gilroy's scripts are a delight to read. 4/

He's since gone on to become an amazing director, directing one of my favorite films of all time, MICHAEL CLAYTON, as well as the very underrated BOURNE LEGACY and working in a writer/producer capacity on ROGUE ONE 5/

At the time of the class, Gilroy was best known for having written DEVIL'S ADVOCATE and DOLORES CLAIBORNE. He'd written THE BOURNE IDENTITY, but it was in post, had been a tortuous shoot (as has been extensively documented) and Tony didn't seem to know if it would work. 6/

Tony was kind enough to talk about his process and to take questions from us students. The first thing that he said that made an impression on me was that he was always trying to "have as much white space on the page as possible." 7/

As in, to have as little superfluous description, scene headings, and so on. As much as possible to have dialogue convey the emotion, direction, tension, and action of the scene. If you read a Tony Gilroy script, you'll notice this immediately. 8/

When there are description or action lines, they're sparse and as terse and as evocative as possible. The dialogue bounces back and forth between each character like they're in a tennis match, drawing you in, getting you to turn the page to get to the next line... 9/

Which brings me to the next point he made. Tony noted that he viewed his job, as a screenwriter, as "to get them to keep turning the page." Which is as succinct a description of successful writing as I've ever seen. 10/

He was also speaking about that regarding any sort of screenwriting "rules" -- as in, there are NONE. Whatever gets them to turn the page, do it. Whether it's pre-laps, voice-over, "describing something that can't be shot," song cues, or whatever people say NOT to do. 11/

When my father, who's not in the entertainment industry, read @ElyseHollander's BLONDE AMBITION script, he told me afterward that he was amazed how easy it was to read. "I just kept turning the page!" That was really incredible to hear -- that's the ideal response! 12/

And the final thing that Tony Gilroy said that stuck with me? Well, I asked him how he dealt with nerves while he was waiting to hear back about what others thought of his latest script. He just smiled and said, "I don't - I'm busy writing the next one." 13/

Which, y'know, is a bit of a glib response and maybe he's as tortured as the rest of us. But I truly believed him and it's certainly an attitude to aspire to! My takeaway was: don't put all your emotions and hopes on one project. Always be working on something new. 14/

Which doesn't mean to always be writing blindly ahead, but certainly means to always be thinking of new ideas and what you might write next. As a manager and producer, I've certainly seen the benefit in developing a broad range of projects and a broad roster of clients. 15/

Sometimes the thing you think is 100% guaranteed doesn't work out. Something the one you thought was a lost cause becomes triumphant. You just never know! 16/

Few final notes: 1) If you want to learn more about Tony Gilroy, I highly recommend this New Yorker profile on him from 2009. It's a spectacular read: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/03/16/twister-2

2) After the passing of William Goldman, @briankoppelman did an episode of his excellent podcast with Scott Frank and Tony Gilroy where all three spoke about him. Absolutely worth listening -- so many amazing stories and pieces of screenwriting gold: https://bit.ly/2CrUYte 

3) When THE BOURNE IDENTITY finally came out in the summer of 2002, I went to see it the day it came out at a theatre up in Santa Clarita (where I'd moved to start working in the industry.) As we all know now, despite Tony's reservations, the movie WORKED. It's an incredible film

I knew it would be a hit because... at the end, when Jason Bourne jumps down a stairwell, shoots a guy in mid-fall, and uses another guy's body as a cushion to break his fall, the audience erupted in applause and someone yelled out: "JAMES BOND NEVER DID THAT!"

Thus... a franchise was born. And in the next James Bond movie, CASINO ROYALE, suddenly James Bond DID do stuff like that. BOURNE 1 -a movie that its creators weren't sure would work had become iconic and massively influential. You just never know! END