“My mother had a tough time at first. She said, ‘You’ve had 22 years to figure this out, and you’ve given me five minutes. So give me some time.’” […]
I fell in love with Last Tango in Paris in the summer of 1973 when I was 20 years old. But now, decades later, I’m sorry to say I’ve fallen out of love with the film much as one eventually discovers that Old Spice aftershave (and the guy who wore it) wasn’t that cool after all. […]
“I read scripts submitted for consideration, providing a synopsis and my analysis of whether they are a good bet for the studio — the pros and cons of premise, character, storyline, dialogue, etc.” […]
While working at 20th Century Fox in the early 1990s, story analyst Christine Culler was assigned a steady diet of romantic comedies and children’s books. Then, in 1995, a different sort of project came across her desk: ‘Minority Report,’ a futuristic suspense film, heavy on action and low on meet-cutes. […]
‘Meet the Parents’ began life as a low-budget 1992 film of the same title. Through the years, assorted A-list directors flirted with the project without proceeding. […]
I’ve been a bookworm since I was a child, and I distinctly remember telling my parents that there were two professions I wanted to pursue as an adult. […]
We all want to be the hero of our own story. Such a wish is at the center of director Stephen Frears’ 1992 film ‘Hero.’ […]
Maybe two-thirds of my job involves reading screenplays, novels, non-fiction books, plays, teleplays and treatments. I evaluate their potential as movie or television projects. […]
I discovered the animal called “story analyst.” These people were allowed to sit on their tuchuses all day to read. And some fool paid them to do this! […]
Analysts — always the first to see material submitted to a studio or network — spend their working lives trolling for their company’s next big hit.
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