If You Can't Answer This One Question Your Script Will Be Rejected - Corey Mandell
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Corey Mandell is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter who has written projects for Ridley Scott, Wolfgang Petersen, Harrison Ford, John Travolta, Warner Brothers, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Fox 2000, Fox Family, Working Title, Paramount, Live Planet, Beacon Films, Touchstone, Trilogy, Radiant and Walt Disney Pictures.
Corey teaches screenwriting via private online classes using video conferencing to allow participants to see and hear each other in real time. His highly popular classes draw students from across the US, Europe and Australia.
His students have gone on to sell or option scripts to Warner Brothers, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Disney, Fox, Fox 2000, MGM, Universal, USA Network and Lifetime. Others have gained admission to the USC Graduate Screenwriting Program, the AFI Conservatory Screenwriting Program and Sundance Screenwriter’s Lab.
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Here is our full interview with Corey - ruclips.net/video/CWfcjN8ajHg/видео.html
This is literally the best advice EVER when it comes to screenplays!!! THANK YOU for this!
Glad it was helpful!
Corey is the absolute BEST at explaining through story.
I love lessons like this. Technically my story is about supernatural occultism but the one thing my story is truly about, is the internal process one goes through when they stop needing the acknowledgment of others to know who they are.
That sounds like an awesome story. Like bro I would love to see, hear and experience what that tale has to show. It's such a great concept that my brain is already leaking out what that can render into that. Dope shit man, fr 👍
@@benjaminjeter8105 if you’re a real human and you’re being serious, I love you
I'm real 😁 I love you too bro, chin up
@@benjaminjeter8105 are you a writer?
You could say that I'm still getting into it. I don't read often but I've been infatuated with words and storytelling for a long time now. I am well versed at the most. But yeah I dabble, I got something cooking myself.
His class is freaking stellar, I highly recommend. My degree emphasis is in theater and of course we went into detail of Stanislavski, and I genuinely feel that what Stanislavski did for acting is what Corey is doing with screenwriting. 'The Method' writers are about to take over Hollywood. Chances are, not me 😂 but some of my classmates were incredible and they only gotten better with the method.
This channel is a goldmine ❤
Thanks!
I find that advice to be really cool. Anytime I'm thinking of an idea, working through a story, or hearing a friend's story, I intuitively think "what is this really about?" But because I'm a novice, I would feel silly making connections to that singular question. I definitely need to practice it more.
Who needs film school when you got this gift of a channel, Thank you for the great content ❤
What do you think of this lesson? Do you agree with Corey?
I have been watching you for years and appreciate your guests and how support their knowledge with little interruption. The information they provide is often priceless and you are to be commended for your contributions to the greater community. And yes, I agree with Corey as some of my favorite movies/writers, that also happen to be lauded by others, can be summed up with the one question.
This one is great ! The story about the house/island was so helpful!!
💯💯💯
Uh, well sure... I agree. I would have explained it a thousand times better though.
Yes. The central theme is the soul of the film and it's the reason why so many films these days are soulless.
They're all agenda driven and not story driven. So they continue to build sections of the house on the islands of different segments of the population instead of a single house that can stand on its own.
Thank you for being so generous, Corey. You have a gift for distilling complex concepts into easily digestible examples and ideas; the mark of any great teacher and writer.
Your metaphor about the fragmented house on the island is a great image that I will continue to refer back to when I'm trying to zero in on my story and what it's REALLY (singularly) about.
Wow, the best, clearest example of digging deeper than I have ever heard.
In the space of 2 minutes I understood a 10 part script I have spent a decade upon.
My various piles of rubble are looking very embarrassing right now. On the other hand, I'm glad I'm not the only one doing this.
Love how he distills everything from how it all comes together as a writer to his learning how the processes work- he’s so honest and fun to listen to
Such a great interview, I love how he picks up on anecdotes and inspiring collabs to make his points. Thanks Mr Mandell for inviting us onto the right question... birthmark of my story here I come
Oh-the timing of this is perfect! I’m finally coming back to writing after years of taking a break when I wasn’t getting anywhere; how amazing that this popped in my recommended videos the week before I plan on plunging into writing seriously again!
I took corey's classes. They're really good. He tells that Ridely scott story a LOT!
Absolutely fascinating. As a voice actor, insight from great writers and directors are more valuable than actual instruction. The most valuable line I ever heard when approaching a script is "what is the writer trying to say?", with the understanding that the answer most likely lives in subtext. If you know that the rest takes care of itself. Corey articulates that beautifully.
Thank you Corey Mandell for pass your experience. It fell on good ears. God Bless.
Glad it was helpful!
The interviewer is consistently, thoroughly superb! She is in the flow of excellence interviewing. Her pace and well-researched and finely thought-out questions enable the interviewee to both broadly paint an environment in which the interviewee can weave a fabric of concise and substantive answers we listeners can embrace and Improve our writing through. The interviewers tone conveys warmth and sincerity through each Film Courage interview she conducts. I am convinced she is an exquisite writer. 🥇
This is singuarly the most important advice I have heard to get my head in the game. Golden! Thank you for sharing.
I'm not surprised he got the shot to work with Ridley Scott, he's very eloquent and honestly every word is used with such a precision that no point did my mind even wander for a moment.
5:45 👌👌👌
12:30 What's it about
13:05 Loglines
Thank you for releasing this.... Corey is so full of story-telling wisdom that I watched this video in chunks to process it one piece at a time. Very helpful stuff!
Wow ! Really needed to hear this today. I have a script I've been working on for 2 years, and gone through countless revisions, to the point where I'm feeling very lost. This is the answer!! Somewhere along the way, I seem to have forgotten what my film was meant to be about. Will have to do some digging, but I'm hopeful that I can salvage the project once I determine my North Star. This lesson also helps me to understand why other scripts of mine were successful and others failed. This is a game changer!! THANK YOU!!
This is helpful. I'm thinking about my current project and my one good script. The question is easy to answer for my good script, but is a little foggy for my current script.
Cheers Lon! Hope this helps you get to a point where you figure out your current script.
Cool. I'm going to go back through all my stories (from which I hope to make short films) and be sure I know what they're about. Thank you!
Danke!
Thank you so much Marcus! We appreciate you giving back and supporting our channel!
An addition to things Corey mentioned about Breaking Bad.. On second scene of Breaking Bad, at one point, exactly as Vince Gilligan put it down on pilot script, Walt seems like he's talking to himself and says "Growth, decay. Transformation. It's fascinating, really." This line is like the key of the world he's opening in front of us. And it's the purest and simplest way of formulating the whole story he's beginning to tell.. One of my professors always said that the ghost of the final should wander around, in the beginning..
Fascinating interview. The lessons here can be applied to other disciplines as well. Thank you, Corey! Congratulations on all of your accomplishments. The magic is in the work.
I watched this video twice in a row, then sat down and finally (FINALLY!) found the ‘One thing it’s about’ for my story: How do you live when the way you NEED the world to be CONFLICTS with the way it really is?
Thank you very much Film Courage and Corey Mandell
This was so helpful. It gave me a new way to look at my WIP.
5:56 That is the most brilliant insight about Network I have ever heard. 🏆🏅🥇🎖🎉🎊🎆🎇✨
The MAD MEN bit is at 6:43
This channel is a Fabulous resource oh my goodness thank you !
Cheers!
So insightful. This is something I constantly struggle with.
This dude's awesome
Great Idea/Concept to know, but personally, I'm not going to worry about it until after the first draft. When I have a story idea I figure out where and how I want to start it, then I have a pretty good idea on how I need to end it for the Bookend, but sometimes magic happens and the story heads in another direction. To worry that this new tangent is not at the core of the original idea or off the spine of a hard/fixed concept, would kill the magic for me and dismiss why it needed to go on a new tangent. So yeah, after the first draft I need to now find/define the core essence to hone the script. I will tell you the two things I looked for/asked in a script when I was a Reader. 1) Why have you brought me to this world? 2) What am I supposed to learn while in your world? *note: Using this video/advice as a guide on my last script, I am now able to sum up the script in a single line, which I wasn't able to do before... So, yes! Awesome advice!
5:27 Corey says the best screen play ever is Network 1976 written by Paddy Chayefsky. The movie is a must watch for writers. It's insane and still rings the same bells with what is going on in the world today. If you like it check out The Hospital 1971 also written by Paddy. However I must differ with Corey on Dog Day Afternoon. That movie makes no sense even though it's based on a book. But it's ok to disagree. Corey's advice is so great. I could listen to him all day.
Although Corey gives us the solution to all our writing problems, direct from Ridley, with several clear examples, it also comes with a dose of reality; you need the integrity to throw away great ideas you want to include that don't quite fit, in order to make it truly resonate. And the second crucial take away is that time spent on really defining what you're writing about is more important than just churning out words and ideas. While this advice is incredibly helpful in how to apply your time, it doesn't make the process of creating good art easy. It will still always be a grind, even if the grind itself is at times thrilling, among other things.
You don't have to have that integrity but it will come at the cost of cohesion in your story. If you watch YCombinator videos, they'll tell you the importance of being problem focused with a startup and that you should stick to solving that problem and avoid distractions. I see this "what's it about" as the problem you are trying to solve with your story. So all those "great ideas" will end up being distractions.
@@ssssssstssssssss Therefore integrity is part of mastering the craft and the process. Those who aren't self aware enough to assess their work coldly are unlikely to produce great work, unless by fluke. And that's why process is so important. Alternatively, artists who lack that integrity need an artistic partner or mentor that can insist on changes. That isn't necessarily a healthy relationship, but it could work.
Thanks!
Thank you so much Wisdom Vision! We had a great time interviewing Corey. Glad to see you find value in his teachings!
Thank You Film Courage.. Thank You Corey for throwing another Bone.. That's very very important. I watched another Screen play writer on here share his stories about being in college and a teacher would have the students in the class and He would lay his head down on the desk and ask each student What's it really all about? What's the point? All I can say- Thank you very very much. Happy Turkey Day to Film Courage and the Mandell family.. P.S I watched the trailer for- Network.. ( It looks wild).
Cheers Daniel! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your loved ones!
I really like this guy: down-to-Earth, knowledgeable, very very relatable. And this topic or insight is absolutely critical for the writing process. 164.
I just re-watched "Remains of The Day" with Anthony Hopkins, and it has got to be the very best example of what is being discussed here, as every single aspect of that movie advances the narrative of the main character's strengths and flaws.
This might be the most important insight into writing I've heard.
Corey has a lot of great insights!
So motivating and focused.
Amazing...❤
Very helpful vid, "core of the story" are often disregard in favor of characters and "climate".
It's funny that a month or two ago, I came to the conclusion that I need to have two "one-liners" for my script that I've worked on for ~10 years
It made me feel excited and confident that one has to be a "teaser" and the other is about the "true DNA of the film," which I'd never put on a poster
But at the same time, it made me feel like I'm making some weird excuse because I don't really know what it's about. Thanks to Corey, I learned that instinct sometimes can fill a gap in knowledge
...this fella is incredible...he is REALLY ABOUT WHAT HE'S ABOUT...(I'm one of many "workin' to get "there"...)...
Evocative thanks🎉
Wow that makes so much sense thank Q
Outstanding- thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it Allan!
Superb storyteller
Great story and excellent advice re : What's it About. Thanks,
Thanks for watching Timothy!
Great episode - with a deeply central point of storytelling. Thanks for sharing! :-)
Superbe! Thank you!
such a great lesson 👍 thank you for this and keep up the good work!🙂 Favorite channel on you tube!
Love this clip. This entire interview with Corey is excellent. Thank you Marcus, we are humbled to have your support.
10/10. I used to make warcraft pvp machinima videos, and i spent easily an entire year reviewing everyone's videos and wondering what set the good ones apart from the mediocre ones (back in 2008-2010), until I figured, the good ones have a main concept, theme, idea, whatever you want to call it, /whereas/ the mediocre ones were just surface-level copies that duct-taped a bunch of components that were all individually cool together, but lacked the cohesion and direction. Now, if you're a professional, that's a very basic lesson, "have a main concept" or whatever, but warcraftmovies was 99% amateurs and kids back in the day. This is one of my favorite topics in fact, but i'll stop here otherwise i'm writing a dissertation lol.
I don't know if Corey's the best writing teacher (how could you really know) but he's certainly the best orator.
The best script I ever wrote was one that I figured this out first before I typed a single word. Then I found a corresponding quote from a well-known writer, and made that the "TEXT OVER BLACK" after FADE IN:.
Glad i watched this to the end.
Great to hear!
Been told this from various sources and it's completely true. I deliberately don't attempt to answer this question when I watch a new film. Then after a while I do and it nearly always makes the film so much better. In the case of Miller's Crossing, it's one of the reasons why it's the greatest film of all time. There isn't one sentence in the whole movie that doesn't refer to what the film is about. That and the fact that the music, art direction, costume, performances, pacing and photography all being as good as they can possibly be is what makes it the greatest film of all time.
@9:03 similar “story” about Abraham Lincoln, he was challenged to chop down a tree in two hours. They asked him how he would do it, he said, spend the first hour sharpening the axe
How many laws would you break to prove your innocence? That’s what it’s about. Wow 😮 This is the most basic idea and it’s giving me so many new ideas💕
Excellent breakdown!
Glad you liked it!
This was great
So good I watched this twice
Nice!
In the old days we used ta simply call this the THEME.Aka the point, the ESSENCE of the matter.
Working with Ridley it became my job to try to get HIM to define what he wanted, er more or less the opposite of this person's experience. So I found it rather odd to be pushing one of my all-time heroes of film to fine-tune things.
As a once-upon-s-time script-ascribe I couldn't begin any work on my hoped-for script without having figured out the theme/the point/the heart o'the thing, especially the ending (I always found openings easy to come up with). Currently RE-agonizing that whole experience as I am getting back to writing for a project. It can be sheer (wonderful, but terrible), or terrible but wonderful) torture Time is usually the greatest obstacle, along with the energy it takes to keep the mind in FOCUS during those long periods of time it takes to get there. Ugh.
Thans for the video.
That was helpful.
Before hearing the answer to the question, I'd like to take a guess. It's the theme, the entire purpose of the story is the theme. The core principle(s) of the story was trying to emphisize from the very beginning. And futhermore the story explains why theme is important and why you shouldn't ignore or forget it, the story will show the bad consequences of not.
Did I get it right?...
You got a screenwriting job with Ridley Scott straight out on uni without knowing what subtext is?! Kudos
And then went on to Battlefield Earth.
Wow. This line came to mind from my favourite Alan Parsons Project song, "The dawn of reason lights your eyes, With the key you realise, To the kingdom of the wise".
While he did say "it's not a novel, it's a screenplay", I think this is applicable to all types of art. If you paint on a canvas a whole bunch of different things, you have a collage, if you paint many things atop one idea, you just might have something great.
Ironically, despite him saying "it's not a novel", this applies especially well to them. Most people, when reading a piece of literature, want to be enthralled by a story, they want immersion. In my opinion, without a unifying question or idea or concept the author wants to explore, that obsession from the reader is difficult to earn. Furthermore, the more media literate the reader is, the nore difficult it becomes to trick them into believing your everything story is actually unified under a strong core theme.
I love this advice, because simple questions like it have had the most impact on my own writing. Often times, the answer to a writer's problems are simple and far easier to address than they may think.
How would you know when you’ve dug deep enough to figure out what the story is about?
@@lancenwokeji6349 I think part of it is just about getting that feeling that you've really struck gold. For me and what I'm writing currently, I let my ideas simmer and I compare them to those of stories I really think have a high bar of quality to see if my own have cooked long enough. I also don't think there's necessarily ever a point where you can truly go too deep, most writers often say there are things they wish they could improve about the finished works.
For a more rigid and structured answer, I tend to consider a story at least good enough for rough drafting once I have several storylines and character arcs that all point back to the core theme of my story. A good example of this type of thing is the manga/anime Vinland Saga. Just about every character in that story has the same core dream of living in a peaceful world free of violence, yet they all go about their lives in different ways. Some of them try to achieve that dream, usually using drastically different methods, others don't even try to achieve it and simply resign themselves to coasting until their life is at its end. Point being, at least in my opinion, a great story is one where every character within has a natural parallel to every other character as a result of how the core theme is represented within them individually.
Sorry for the essay breakdown of an answer, lol, I don't have a filter when it comes to talking about writing.
Sundance Collab's Screenwriting: Core Elements' course starts off with identifying theme. This really helps me to understand why, and I don't think I'll start a script differently again.
Fantastic lesson! You guys are amazing, thank you so much for all of these interviews/clips 😊❤
Corey is excellent! Thanks for watching Scott!
Is he just talking about theme? “What is the story about?”
Is that just what is the theme or themes?
Thats the impression I got, like what's the purpose of the script and what are you trying to say
Yes.
I remember first looking at his website and thinking “holy effing balls, I’m not paying that much money for a course.” But the more I see of him, the more it seems like he knows. But it also seems like the writing industry is set up to be impossible to get into. I just gotta save the money to buy it while studying 3D animation, storyboarding, and screenwriting on the back of starting from scratch at 38 cuz my first career jump fell apart. F*ck…..my…life….. but you gotta keep going. It’s not about how hard you can get hit, it’s about how many times you can get back up. Plus, this is all I have left, lol. Art is all I have left. And I’d walked away from it years ago. Funny how that works. Life is weird.
What kept you from making it your passion years ago?
@@noteem5726 I never put 70 or even 80% effort into art. I was good at certain things, so leaned into those. That was impressive when I was young. In 5 years, most people were far beyond me. I never expanded into actually getting good. So to non artists, I could doodle something and I would get a positive reaction. But was embarrassingly elementary in my art for anyone studying art. I wish I had expanded. But now that I’m almost 40, I found a place to put art now that my main career fell apart. I can actually see art again. With 3D animation, I can put many things into motion that I can’t draw, but I also have an interest in writing as I’ve always written things, just not in a way I thought was useful. So strange. Now, I want to write and animate for myself. I finally have a medium to put all those ideas I’ve had for years into. I couldn’t see them as I was nowhere near art when pursuing my career that failed. If I get good at 3D and screenwriting, I may have a way back into my career in 10 years or so, but that’s if I’m still alive lol. The first career was for helping others, which is why it absolutely destroyed me when it happened. Art is more for me, which I love, but helping others is the thing I can’t seem to let go of. It just sucks that helping others doesn’t make a lot of money lol on average. Being poor isn’t so bad. Their smiles will fill me with content as I part from this world. A fair price to pay.
In IB Diploma Film subject we call it 'The Filmmaker or Artistic Intention' of the film.
So if I’m writing a story and the MAIN point of it is the dangers of addiction (gambling) on the surface, But the lead character has a tumultuous family life as a kid through adulthood namely with his father, would the One Thing my story is truly about is the importance of a Father in a boys life?
he reminds me so much of tarrantino. how do you find out what the deeper meaning of your story is? you may think its about one thing but what if that one thing is too surface?
Theme and log line. Get those two things, and you can write your story. 🤗
So once you know what your film is ultimately about, how are you supposed to incorporate this? For example, if your film is about longing for home, do you make every character "long for home"? How do you make everything conform to the theme?
He’s basically talking about thematic questions/discussion…very true, though
Can I get more examples from films and television of what the story is about? Like how Corey mentioned Breaking Bad is about "the study of change".
This question really makes you think about alot of awful movies being made that apparently didn't find an answer...
The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy is a hot mess with no discernible unifying theme.
I can't argue with his point and I certainly can't refute his accuracy--the Ridley Scott story proves that--but* I disagree with the universality.* Because even the "about" is subjective and finite (there are numerous possible "abouts" in any story, but which one does the artist choose?), so the selection by the artist is subjective...but it's not exclusive. I suspect that the "about" can change if the story and the contents within changes enough. Take _Dollhouse:_ it ends with the apocalypse. Well, whatever it was "about" before was determined by the pre-apocalyptic environs; the post-apocalyptic environs change the "about" now. You either stop the story there or change what it's "about" from that point on.
Take _Mad Men._ It could've been about Don Draper and his crew and the "about" that Weiner created. OR...it could also have been "about" the day-to-day life of humans in the city in the 1960s. The show could've jumped between 3-4 different work establishments with the sole purpose of forensically recreating the procedural life of the people with no plot constructed for it (think SLACKER, which has no plot, but is riveting because it moves between one compartment of minutiae to another). The same stories could've happened to Don Draper & co. but we'd never see half of it because the showrunner decided to make the "about" something else. The "Other About" would be just as valid....just as accurate...but would completely change the content of the show.
The "about" can be as organic as the world in which the "about" takes place, I argue.
How do u know what your story is about?????
Madmen is not a show. Its life. Its a extracorporeal experience.
Legend has it they're still trying to figure out what it's about
JHC this guy waffles on.
What is 'Pulp Fiction' about?
Fight club?
We should start a list here.
@@ErikBongers check out Patrice O'Neil's summery of fight club. It's hilarious and on the money!
@@ErikBongers yes. I wanna know though 😅
A Boxer trying to get back his watch (and out of town)?
A Hitman trying not to sleep with his Bosses wife?
Another Hitman trying to deal with a messy situation?
Personal choice and moral redemption. The characters who chose to "do the right things" (Butch, Jules) are "forgiven" for their sins, whereas those who don't (Vincent) don't survive. This is why the non-linear structure of the film works so well, because the last act chronologically isn't the critical moment in the film when it comes to theme, which is Jules' decision to walk away from the life.
"What is your story about...?"
The very core of the story, the single overriding theme and the driving force, amalgamated into a single sentence.
How's that?
I listened to the whole video and I still don’t have the slightest clue on how to come up with what’s it about?
Yes! This. This right here is what I hate about most movies. I’ve been trying to explain this forever.
Did dude just say, “my favorite thing is the thing I don’t understand until someone explained it to me” and that is what makes something good?
We all have to have things explained to us at times. And sometimes we go, “Wow! Amazing!” But a lot of the times we don’t and if needs to be explained to most then it is lost on most. Right?
Theme?
Edit: Yep, theme. I agree with your take that it is a universal guiding star and everything should be in service that that idea. I don't agree that novels don't do this, however. I think the good novels do this too.
Sort of like a premise, or what Lajos egri calls the "theme"?
To be honest it's a bit confusing. Is he talking about the theme? I would have said Breaking Bad is "how far would you go if life never gave you chance" or something to that affect. Saying it's about change is just too vague. Am I wrong?
Am I right in saying "what your story is about", is the same as the theme of your story?
But how do you know when you find the right answer? To what the story is about?
When the person with the most seniority agrees with you.
Curious though, when you have something as broad as 'the study of change', don't you think just about anything seems like it could fit that narrative? That really doesn't seem narrow enough to be used as a tool to help the show feel cohesive. It actually just seems convenient. Maybe I am missing something here. What it sounds like is the person picking out an overarching theme for the show.