Charlie Kaufman Reminds Screenwriters Who They Really Work For
At the 2023 Writers Guild Awards, the ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ scribe came out swinging at an industry that systemically devalues screenwriters
If there’s one thing I have learned from my years of working as a screenwriter in Hollywood, it’s how inconsequential screenwriters are perceived to be in Hollywood — quite often even to themselves.
Charlie Kaufman, the Oscar-winning screenwriter behind Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) was lauded a year or so ago at the 2023 WGA Awards, and he took the opportunity to passionately remind his peers that they are not stepping stones in someone else’s journey to get a film made.
Rather, they are the foundations upon which all cinematic endeavors are erected — this despite the systemic, anti-screenwriter culture that has pervaded Hollywood for more than a century and been internalized as gospel truth by many scribes.
More, the screenwriter’s job isn’t to help executives protect their jobs, or move projects forward at all costs, or to fill studio coffers with gold.
The screenwriter’s true job is to reflect the world around them, to help others understand that world, and, in doing so, make the world more bearable and, if possible, a little more beautiful. It’s the job of every artist, in fact, and one that must be vociferously and violently guarded at this period in history when truth-tellers are increasingly difficult to find.
As one of 5AM StoryTalk’s semi-regular educational resources for artists — tools meant to add to their education and expand their understanding of craft — I thought I’d share the transcript of Kaufman’s speech as well as a link to a video of it.
Here’s the speech’s transcript:
Twenty years ago, I’m in the back of an auditorium watching a seminar called “How to Pitch”. One by one, supplicants approach a microphone at the foot of the stage on which sits a panel of experts: producers, executives, etceteras. No writers.
The first student of the pitch speaks, voice shaking. “We open on a barge in the middle of…”
“Stop! You’ve lost me already.”
Student of the pitch two, voice shaking. “A young man falls from the sky into…”
“No, no! Jesus, come on!”
And so it goes, these nervous young people step up to be shot down. Sadistic, I think. Payback for the way the panelists were once treated, I think. Garbage, I think. Training, I think.
We writers are trained by the business. We are trained to believe what we do is secondary to what they do. We are trained to do the bidding of people who are motivated not by curiosity, but by protecting their jobs. And we lose sight of what our work is.
It is not to contribute to their fortunes or our own. It is not to please them or critics, or even the audiences who have also been trained.
Our work is to reflect the world. Say what is true in the face of so much lying. The rest is window dressing at best, Triumph of the Will at worst.
Adrienne Rich wrote, “I do know that art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of the power which holds it hostage.”
The world is a mess. The world is beautiful. The world is impossibly complicated. And we have the opportunity to explore that. If we give that up for the carrot, then we might as well be the executives, the etceteras. Because we have become their minions. I have dropped the ball. Wasted years seeking the approval of people with money.
Don’t get trapped in their world of box office numbers. You don’t work for them. You don’t work for the world of box office numbers. You work for the world.
Don’t worry about how to pitch. Don’t pitch. Be nervous. Be vulnerable. Just make your story honest, and tell it.
They’ve tricked us into thinking we can’t do it without them, but the truth is, they cannot do anything of value without us.
Thank you for this award. I’m so grateful for the opportunity it’s afforded me to reflect on what it is that’s important to me about the work that we do.
You can watch Kaufman’s speech here as he accepts the 2023 WGAW Laurel Award for Screenwriting:
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I saw CK in conversation with Boots Riley last year in that series Ed Solomon hosts; I took some notes, and a couple of the things Kaufman said that I still think about: "If you can't see it, don't draw it." And when asked about whether they enjoyed the writing process, BR: "I enjoy the outcome" & CK: "When it's going well--otherwise it's pretty painful, which is usually."
Just moments ago, I read these words (by Nick Cave from RHF #234)… “Art is the agent best equipped to bring light to the world. That is its purpose. That is its promise.” And then I came upon your post… “you work for the world.” Great speech. Makes me want to rewatch his films through that perspective. Thank you for sharing.