From Script to Screen

Tue Sep 25, 2018
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (120 min)

MASTERCLASS BY PAUL HAGGIS FROM SCRIPT TO SCREEN MODERATED BY TERESA CAVINA Tuesday, September 25, 10 AM, TU Berlin (Audimax)

Screenwriting and filmmaking may seem like two very different jobs at first glance. In reality, however, they have many shared characteristics; they both require the ability to create worlds and characters, the imagination to develop stories, and the communication skills to transfer a personal vision to a team of professionals.

Should one think like a director while writing a script, or rely on their familiarity with the script while directing a film? What does it take for a successful writer-director to bring the best out of each identity?

Within the scope of this masterclass, celebrated director, screenwriter and producer Paul Haggis will be discussing the nature of the responsibilities that await writer-directors in the industry.

Paul Haggis is the first screenwriter to write the scripts for two Best Film Oscar-winning movies back-to-back: Million Dollar Baby (2004), directed by Clint Eastwood, and Crash (2005), directed by himself. Crash won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the 78th Academy Awards, after being nominated in three other categories, including Best Director. Over the following years, Haggis wrote and directed several acclaimed films with stellar casts, such as In the Valley of Elah (2007), The Next Three Days (2010) and Third Person (2013). Currently, he is co-directing a feature length documentary on the AIDS crises in San Francisco, called Ward 5B. Equally committed to his private and social concerns, Haggis is the founder of Artists for Peace and Justice, through which underprivileged communities in Haiti and around the world are introduced to medical and educational opportunities..

TERESA CAVINA has been programming major film festivals, among others: Venice IFF, Locarno IFF and Rome IFF. Currently, she works also closely with filmmakers, producers, script labs and funding bodies, including Italian Ministry of Culture, Premio Solinas, DFI Grants, Open Doors Locarno as script and film project analyst.