I had the privilege of collaborating with screenwriter Anna Aleta A. Nadela last night. She is one of the lead writers on a soap opera in the Philippines. Her successful career in network television took off about seven years ago and she is now expanding into feature films.

She and her producer contacted me to analyze and consult on their feature film’s story structure. Their goal was to develop the film for multiple cultures in the Asia Pacific region and in additional countries that have Filipinos who are working overseas to help their families.

The story is tentatively titled The True Hero and will be filmed in the Philippines and Hong Kong. Aleta’s writing was strong and she created highly dramatic and emotionally charged scenes that worked well, greatly simplifying my job.

Over the past five years, I’ve studied numerous story structures and how each impacts audiences in various cultures and countries. The beats and structural elements that are designed for a universal audience can be integrated across multiple cultures.

The key to a successful integration of the elements into any given story is based on a strong visual and emotional platform – Something that few screenwriters consider. The majority of writers focus on the plot points, character development and dialog. However, to crossover multiple cultures the visuals and emotional elements must take priority.

Thanks to Aleta’s talent and flexibility, we were able to get on the same page quickly. Her mastery of the craft and creativity allowed us to remold the original story using a structure that has made hundreds of millions overseas in the past five years.

Within a short time, Aleta reconfigured several of her key story elements into the new structure and was ready to start typing. In all of the years I’ve consulted, I’ve never seen anyone learn and apply a cross-cultural, universal story structure to his or her existing screenplay so quickly.

Based on our collaboration process, I’m expecting her drama to bring me to tears during my next read. She already hinted at a few true-life character modifications that she’d make to heighten the story. In fact, each of her characters was based on a composite of real people that she interviewed.

It was a thrill to work with Aleta and I’m looking forward to her next draft. I always count it a good day when I get to collaborate with an artist of Aleta’s caliber.

Copyright © 2013 by CJ Powers

Last Friday, I facilitated a team of  creative artists that brainstormed a web series into existence. The creative process was a fantastic experience because each member, top people in their fields, collaborated in a way that drove our ideas into a great storyline.

The only rule was that we weren’t aloud to use the word “No.” This was much easier than I had anticipated because each person on the team commanded such great respect, due to his or her expertise, that there was no reason to ever say no. That’s not to say that we didn’t build on each other’s ideas, we did, but no one ever shot any idea down.

During a very short time, we were able to establish the overarching story arch, outline the beats of episode one, and develop the three main characters. We also selected key Chicago locations that will enhance the story and determined the beats of the story arch.

In all my years creating story, I’ve never worked with a team that pulled so many story elements together in such a short period of time. For instance, it took 24 hours over a three-day weekend to develop the first draft of the Tried & True story structure. This team did the same work in two and a half hours, which was absolutely amazing.

I’ve got to admit that watching creative experts brainstorm a story into existence was astonishing. The artistry, creativity, and playfulness had us dropping our jaws in awe of each other’s ideas. I counted the experience as a privilege to have been a part of it.

The seven or eight screenplays will be developed over the next three months with plans for shooting the first episode in January. Word has already gotten out and there are several actors clamoring to participate, based solely on the people involved in the creative team. The goal is to release the series toward the end of May.

While I can’t share too much about the story at this stage, I will say that it’s unique and centered on one of the facets that make Chicago the city it is. The locations are also very Chicago-esque and the story would not be able to be shot anywhere, except in Chicago. Even the characters will seem very familiar to those who’ve lived in the area for years.

During the development phase of the webisodes, we’ll be looking for sponsors to help offset our production and post-production costs. The fees will be low for the first season and the sponsor will have their ad embedded into the show so it will be seen no matter how many times the videos are forwarded.

Any companies interested in helping us launch this Chicago based storyline can contact me for additional information. Our goal is to get one million viewers during the first season, but we understand that the fans might push it much higher. The only thing I can confidently attest to is that the creative team is demanding the story is entertaining.

Copyright © 2013 by CJ Powers

Hollywood is filled with people who know people, just as in Chicago everyone knows a guy who knows a guy. If you want something done in Chicago, you need the right guy to introduce you to the guy that can get things done. In Hollywood, you need to be in touch with the people who are in touch with the person that can get things done.

Unfortunately, some times a person who can get you to the next right person wants more than you are willing to give up. Other times, they just want to add in their expertise to make the project better, which means you have to sift and sort through everything you hear before making a decision that might take your property in the wrong direction, or save it.

The difficult thing is trying to maneuver through the ideas while maintaining what makes your story great. Years ago I was a part of an incredible motion picture titled Legend of the Lightstone. The script was the most fantastic story I had read in years and I was thrilled to be brought on to direct it.

But, about the time I was working with Lucas Films Ltd, on the special effect storyboards, the producer and writer were in Hollywood to get a distribution presale. Every executive that had the power to suggest certain changes did so with a promise that it would make the story more marketable or bankable. The writer got excited and pumped out the changes, only to find that it wasn’t quite what the executive was looking for.

In the meantime, the writer went to additional meetings and met with the top executives in the business, who all added to the story. By the time the trip was done, I reread the story and hated it.

The thing that made the story unique was replaced by something familiar – More marketable. Its uniqueness was gone and it no longer had the luster that could make it great. The cast was no longer interested in being a part of the story, the distributors were no longer interested because there was nothing unique about it, and I was no longer willing to direct it.

With “Working Title” I’ve met with several top people in the industry and they each had something to share about the story. I’ve taken about 10% of the suggestions to heart and have walked away from the rest. In some cases, it didn’t change the connections, but in others it cut off our possibilities. Each incident was handled in its own way.

One Hollywood heavyweight read the script and was excited about the story. She was amazed that the story was so unique and fresh, yet captivating. She too had a few suggestions for the story, but told me to only consider it, if it helps the story. She was emphatic about me not changing the story unless her idea would work, because the story was already so well crafted.

David Coleman and I spoke on the phone yesterday. He is a co-producer at The Nerd Machine, a company he and Zachary Levi (Chuck, Thor: The Dark World, Tangled) started. Dave and I talked about co-producing “Working Title” and the strengths of the story. He too had a few concerns about possible changes, but not due to the story itself, but rather due to the actors we were interested in having star in the picture.

The conversation reminded me that some films are based on star power and others are based on story. The ideal film being one with a great story and great actors attached, which seldom happens. Only Sandra Bullock could play Ryan Stone in Gravity, only Robert Downey Jr. could play Iron Man, and only Michael J. Fox could play Marty McFly in Back to the Future.

No one is able to separate the great combinations. When one name comes up, so does the other. If I were to say Rocky, you couldn’t help but think Sylvester Stallone. The same holds true for Tom Hanks as Forest Gump, Dustin Hoffman as Tootsie, and Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow.

The key is finding the right balance between enough star power to draw an audience to the box office and enough story power to stir word of mouth for the film’s staying power in theaters.

I gave Dave the names of four stars I was interested in having play our lead character. It turns out he is best friends with two of the four, which can do wonders for our film. However, the actors need to decide if they can live with the story as it was intended, suggest minor changes to improve the development of their characters, or suggest significant changes if they are interested in being a part of something different.

My next decision would be to determine how important the star is compared to the story and decide to what degree I’m willing to be flexible, if at all. The core elements of the story can’t be compromised without changing the story to something different. I can always find a different story for an actor, but right now I’m focused on finding an actor that wants to be a part of this unique story.

We’ll see how the collaboration process works when adding in the actors. It took the writing team hundreds of days of intense collaborating to finalize the story that has been received well by many. Now we have to tweak it for the actors, but not change the core of it. After all, we don’t want another Legend of the Lightstone.

Copyright © 2013 by CJ Powers