“I’m pretty anti-violence. I don’t want to do more movies about violence” – Billy Bob Thornton.
In this excerpt from a classic interview with Creative Screenwriting, Billy Bob Thornton discusses his critically-acclaimed film Sling Blade.
By Erik Bauer. Now perhaps best known for his starring role in the recent reimagining of Fargo, Billy Bob Thornton first gained critical acclaim for Sling Blade, in which he not only acted, but also wrote and directed. Sling Blade was Thornton’s feature-length directorial debut and the first solo script of his screenwriting career. Billy […]
Re-revealing Shakespeare: Baz Luhrmann on Romeo + Juliet
Baz Luhrmann discusses his second film, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.
By Erik Bauer. He is well known for recent box office success with The Great Gatsby, and before that, Moulin Rouge. But Baz Luhrmann’s first two films, Strictly Ballroom and William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, blasted a path from the remote outpost of Sydney, Australia, all the way to the heart of Hollywood. Growing up on […]
“It’s just a movie” – Peter Jackson on The Lord of the Rings
With the final instalment of The Hobbit just hitting the big screen, we return to Creative Screenwriting's detailed interview with Peter Jackson, just prior to the release of the first instalment of The Lord of the Rings.
By Erik Bauer. Born in New Zealand on Halloween in 1961, Peter Jackson began making movies with his parents’ Super 8 camera at an early age. At seventeen he left school and, failing to get a job in the New Zealand film industry as he hoped, he started work as a photo-engraving apprentice. After purchasing […]
“I Like Violence” – Shane Black
An in-depth interview with action genre pioneer Shane Black.
by Erik Bauer. Shane Black is a Pittsburgh native whose solo screen-play credits include Lethal Weapon, The Last Boy Scout, and The Long Kiss Goodnight. In addition to these original scripts, Black co-wrote The Monster Squad and The Last Action Hero. Black enjoyed spectacular success in the ’90s spec-screenplay market, earning $1.75 million for his […]
John Carpenter on The Thing
John Carpenter analyses the script of his most celebrated movie, and why it was lambasted at the time.
by Erik Bauer One of the undisputed masters of the horror genre, John Carpenter’s career has spanned forty years and over forty films. A director who straddles the line between mainstream and cult filmmaking, his most personal work, including John Carpenter’s The Thing, Halloween, and less successfully, Prince of Darkness, is permeated with a sense […]
