KILLER SCREENWRITING: THE JIM MERCURIO INTERVIEW
by Jim Cirile
I remember the first time I met Jim Mercurio. It was almost ten years ago,
and I’d been invited to a poker game by a friend who told me it would be
“an industry game.” Little did I know that the players largely consisted
of the editorial staff of “Creative Screenwriting” magazine! There was Jim
Mercurio, a whirlwind at the table, an H-bomb with his take-no-prisoners
style, mathematician’s brain and his frickin’ uncanny Daniel Negreanu-like
ability to intuit your hole cards. Curse you, Merky! Jim and I went on to
work on several projects together, and we frequently consult on each
other’s material.
The thing that impresses me about Mercurio is not so much his encyclopedic
knowledge of movie structure, which is amazing enough, but his uncanny
facility with character. This man makes me seriously up my game in terms
of thinking about my characters as real, dimensional people, not just
automatons serving the needs of the plot. Jim brings psychology to the
table, and as a result, he forces you to transform your characters into
living, breathing, noble, flawed, brilliant yet fallible entities—in
short, real people. This sounds easy, but trust me, it’s not.
We spoke with Jim about what he’s up to post-Creative Screenwriting and
about his upcoming seminar series.
Coverage, Ink: I'm sure a lot of folks remember you from your great column
in “Creative Screenwriting” but also for coordinating the Screenwriting
Expo contests. Tell us about what you're into lately.
Jim Mercurio: As always, I am balancing working in and around
screenwriting as a teacher, consultant and gun-for-hire with finding time
to write my own stuff, too. The Expo experience has been great. What I
am looking forward to in my Killer Screenwriting classes and in long-term
script mentoring is to have an ongoing relationship with writers and
really have an impact on them. It's like the difference between Dr. Phil
and your personal therapist. It was fun to reach hundreds of people all
at once at the Expo, but I have very little idea if what I gave those
writers is going to impact them. I like the intensive and ongoing
environment which allows me to see the growth and adjust to make sure I am
really being helpful to my clients and students.
CI: There's a couple of screenwriting seminars out there. How does your
approach differ from the others?
Mercurio: Look, we will probably spend ten hours on structure but the 20
interactive hours where we spend time on the nitty-gritty craft is where
this class is special. Maybe in spec markets past, a cool concept or good
structure was enough, but now you have to be the complete writer. You
have to have a great concept and good story—which is the focus of most
classes and workshops—but my class is going to elevate your scene
writing, clarify your characters, improve your dialogue, sharpen your
jokes and make your script the best read it can be.
CI: You've been involved in the poker world for a while, too. Tell us
about that. Any possible crossover into movies?
Mercurio: Some of my connections may lead me to raising money for films
and, of course, I have a rom-com set in the poker world in my head, but
surprisingly the biggest effect poker has had on my life as it relates to
movies is in helping me understand learning and mentoring and the
importance of a dialogue, a back-and-forth in the learning process. I have
had access to some of the greatest poker minds ever and as a student of
the game, it has humbled me to be on the other side of learning. Teaching
poker may be harder than teaching screenwriting, but I have learned unless
you are one of the top 1% of people who have amazing natural talent, its
about learning the craft/fundamentals. Like one of my poker mentors said
to me: “Talent has nothing to do with it. There are a zillion things you
have to learn before you even get to your talent.” I guess I feel the
same way about screenwriting craft. There are hundreds of things you can
learn about screenwriting and storytelling before you pour your heart and
talent into it. I am not saying that you can't write whenever or whatever
you want. But if you are an intermediate writer, I have hours of material
and examples that will push you to become a better screenwriter and
storyteller.
CI: What do you see is the biggest mistake writers make? I think it's
sending out scripts too early, or not being receptive enough to doing
heavy lifting that is often required.
Mercurio: Back to the poker analogy...when an intermediate player plays
against a pro, it's impossible for him to have an idea of how much better
his opponent is, because he is limited in what he knows. I think so many
writers are limited in their view of scriptwriting and their craft that
they think their script is done, good enough. But if you have read
several thousand screenplays like I have, you can quickly assess writer's
weaknesses. My goal in Killer Screenwriting is for writers to leave the
class with higher expectations for themselves and for every aspect of
their craft, which allows them to find their own path to improving as a
screenwriter.
CI: Tell us about the coolest or most remarkable thing about doing your
Killer Screenwriting class.
Mercurio: I am really proud of the fact that the class is like a living
and breathing work of art. A lot of the examples and clips and are taken
from or inspired by the student's work. The class is never exactly the
same. A portion of the class is actually tailored to what the students in
that class need. For example, if I find a writer has problems with hiding
exposition or reverting to clichés, I will take an excerpt from a produced
movie or script and use it to illustrate how another writer was able to
solve that same problem. So the class is interactive even before the
first day.
CI: Thanks, Jim. Anything else you'd like to say to our readers?
Mercurio: Respect your passion and your craft. Seek out and face all of
your weaknesses as a writer and push your stuff to be as good as it can
be. I know you’d be the first person to agree that when you nail it and
your writing is firing at all cylinders, it rises to the top. It will get
you noticed. And I hope that it will change your life.
