CS Weekly Archive > From the Trenches > 2/27/09

American Dreamer:
Crossing Over's Wayne Kramer

By jenelle riley

With Crossing Over, writer-director Wayne Kramer takes a personal look at the global issue of immigration.

Filmmaker Wayne Kramer has modest expectations for his new film, Crossing Over, despite the fact it features performances from actors like Harrison Ford and Ashley Judd. "I've pretty much assumed no one is going to see the film, because it's in seven theaters between New York and L.A. and there's no huge marketing push," he states bluntly. "It's tough. It's your child, and even if it's taken away and repackaged, it's still yours and you want the best for it. Maybe we'll be surprised. I'm staying realistic."

Kramer made a powerful debut as a feature filmmaker in 2003 with The Cooler, a drama about the aging world of Las Vegas casinos and one very unlucky man played by William H. Macy. He followed that with the action thriller Running Scared, starring Paul Walker as a mob flunky enduring a hellish evening. With Crossing Over, Kramer shifts the focus onto an ensemble cast to tell multiple stories about the plight of illegal immigrants in present-day Los Angeles.

The film began its journey over a decade ago in a short of the same name Kramer made in 1996. That movie told the story of a border patrol agent who spends an evening with a female immigrant trying to get back to her son. The same storyline actually appeared in the feature version of Crossing Over, with Sean Penn playing the agent, but was ultimately cut from the film. "At some point I would really like to address the reasons it was cut, because they are bizarre, to say the least," he notes. "But I can't do it at this time."

Was there a personal interest in making Crossing Over, being an immigrant yourself?
Yes. I immigrated to the United States from South Africa in 1986. I'd always wanted to come live here; I have a profound love for the country and the opportunities its given me and the laws that enable this society to function, which don't exist in many other countries. I wanted to tell the film from the point of view of someone who has been through the system and has seen other people go through the challenges.

Your previous films have centered on a main character; what was it like writing an ensemble piece?
I felt it was the only way to look at the wider canvas of immigration. I know the film gets compared to Crash and Traffic and those multi-character pieces, but I was actually working on the Crossing Over script probably for a year or two before I even heard of Crash. I arrived at that format because I wanted to give an overview of all the different kinds of immigrants in the United States. I've always been fascinated by peoples' stories, no matter what their background is. This is a country that was founded on immigration, and immigrants have contributed so much to this culture, and yet there's such a negative attitude towards immigrants today. I felt there was a lack of films made in the United States that dealt with immigration. Other than films like El Norte and comedic films like Cheech Marin's [Born in East L.A.] or even Up in Smoke—I seem to remember there were immigration raids in that—most films don't really look at the issue from the point of view of people caught up in it.

Do the comparisons to Crash and Traffic bother you?
It's regrettable that the multi-character storytelling device has become a bit passé now because so many films have come out and taken advantage of it. Crossing Over was shot two years ago, but if I had to approach it today, I think I would probably do it differently, because I think audiences might be a little burned out by the format. At the same time, I don't mind the films I'm being compared to. One early review said, "If you hated Crash and you hated Babel, you'll really hate this film." So you're comparing me to two Academy Award-nominated films and acting as if hating them was the norm. It's interesting how attitudes have changed in such a short amount of time.

Can you talk about your process? How long does it take for an idea to be turned into a script?
I tend to let an idea percolate in my brain for a couple of months, and in the case of Crossing Over, sometimes years. I never use cards, I try to write it either in longhand in a notebook or right on my computer to form the basis of a very rough outline/treatment. When I feel I've got a beginning, a middle, and an end—specifically the end, because I like to know where I'm driving to—I will start the physical writing. That will usually take a month to two months to get a first draft. I might be plugging in different things and changing things during that time. It's a very organic process for me, and I've always found it difficult to take what is in a lot of screenwriting books, which say, "This is the step you should hit here, this is the step you should hit there." To be honest, when I'm writing, I have no idea where the acts are. I'm just going for it.

What sort of books have you read on screenwriting?
When I first arrived in America and started educating myself on how screenplays were written, I think one of the only books that was available was the Syd Field book. I remember picking that up, and in retrospect, I find it very dry. I remember it gave an example using Chinatown, which is a fantastic screenplay. It's my favorite movie of all time, so I'm not putting it down. But I wonder if somebody slapped somebody's else's name on Chinatown and changed the character names and locale, if it would make it in the marketplace today, because it's very novelistic in its storytelling.

How else do you think screenwriting has changed?
I'll tell you what's very interesting. I think Shane Black came along and changed the way screenplays are written and the voices of screenplays, and I think he was partly inspired by Walter Hill. Once Shane came around, screenplays took on a more interactive approach with the reader, as opposed to the dry telling of a story. I think a lot of what Shane brought to screenwriting has stuck over the years. Even current scripts I'm seeing, and the one I'm doing next for Joel Silver [Fully Automatic], has a very Shane Black quality to it.

How many drafts do you usually go through?
I'm a screenwriter who, ironically, does not show the script to 150 friends to get input and ideas. I tend to follow my own instincts. So, to please myself, I'll probably go through at least 10 drafts before showing anyone.

Which is harder for you to write, the dialogue or the text?
I tend to find dialogue fairly easy to write, but I feel that comes back to character. If you know your characters, you know where the story's going and the dialogue is going to be easier to write. I do spend an enormous amount of time on the description in trying to make it very cinematic, so when somebody reads it they have a very film-like experience, as opposed to just text on a page. The actual text and narrative take longer to craft, but I think the dialogue is equally as challenging.

Do you ever suffer from writer's block?
I never have writer's block in the sense that I don't know what to write. I have writer's block in the sense that I sometimes write myself into a corner, or the resolution I thought I was going to do didn't end up working for me. I'll try and jumpstart my mind by not writing for awhile or going off and seeing another film. But I found the one thing that actually works the best for me is getting on the elliptical running machine and depriving myself of all stimulation—no music, no TV—and just running until the endorphins start kicking in and ideas start flowing. The solution often comes to me in that situation.

As a writer-director, do you like actors to improvise?
I always give actors the latitude to find the characters however they need to. On this film, there wasn't that much improvisation in terms of actors going off the text. The last film I did, Running Scared, involved a character who was so unhinged due to the events of a single evening, there was more improvisation in the ways he reacted to things. There was a lot more profanity that came out than was in the text. But I felt it was important to sit back and go with that.

You mentioned Fully Automatic, which you're working on from a script by Randy Feldman. Is this your first time working on someone else's original screenplay?
Yes. I actually find it way easier than writing originals because, like everyone else who gets to work on a film, there's a text there, there's a jumping-off point. I've been offered other scripts in the past and came close to doing them. I would never say yes to a script I thought had a glimmer of a good idea but was poorly executed, because it just means I or someone else would have to do a big rewrite job on it. For the struggle of getting that right, I might just as well write an original script. It's nice to just jump on board and know there's a film that's going to be made, and with a little tweak here and there, you can go off and do it. I'm hopefully directing it. It's a very cool screenplay, because it's sort of a self-aware, buddy-cop action film that tries to put a new spin on the genre in the same way Scream did with horror films.

What else are you working on?
I just wrote a script for HBO. These two producers came to me and had the rights for a wonderful story called Freedom Riders, about the first 1961 Freedom Ride, where civil rights activists went down to the South in busses and challenged the segregationist laws on busses and restrooms. It's almost like a civil rights action film. It's all true and an incredible story about people of different ages and races all deciding to go on this ride. We're waiting to hear from HBO about moving ahead on it.

Jenelle Riley really wishes Alec Baldwin had won the Oscar for The Cooler.



Crossing Over courtesy The Weinstein Co.

From the Trenches
Working screenwriters discuss in their own words a particular aspect of screenwriting, from the mechanics of writing to the personal and professional impact that writing has had on their lives. > VIEW ARCHIVE

The Big Picture

Features that cover all aspects of screenwriting, from our "Seven Best" lists to analysis of old favorites and new classics. > VIEW ARCHIVE

Weekend Read
Film, book, web site and technology reviews from a writer’s perspective. How can these items help a writer on his or her journey, or make that journey more enjoyable? > VIEW ARCHIVE

DVD Review of the Day
DVD reviews from a writer’s point of view. What aspects of this script and features of this DVD illuminate the writing, development, and storytelling process? > VIEW ARCHIVE