Robert Bolt, Rod Serling, the Epsteins and Howard Koch for CASABLANCA for screenwriting; James Joyce, Herman Melville, and Shakespeare for the written word.
-What is the main challenge you encounter while writing your work?
Trusting the original concept even if I have doubts about how the story will roll out. If it’s there thematically, the details of plot eventually follow. Just have patience and never stop thinking about it. Funny how the brain continues to work even when fingers do not.
-Is there someone you always turn to for their opinion as soon as you finish writing?
Although there have been others, Robert McCullough, who started Santa Barbara International Screenwriting Competition, is my go-to guy on all of these projects. He has a special talent for spotting errors of all kinds and a keen sensibility of what works and what doesn’t.
-Are you currently working on a new screenplay?
Currently working on a three-act theatrical play, a comedy, set at at a pool deck in a famous Palm Springs hotel. It pokes fun at the city, the residents, hoteliers, kitsch art, and tourists. (This one I didn’t want to do at the start of 2024 and suddenly all three acts are almost ready for Robert McCullough to review. So, somehow I believed in the original concept).
-If you had to describe your writing style?
Persistent, positive, and patient. (stuck in the “P’s” not intentionally)
-Who is Barış AKBULUT? I am Barış AKBULUT, a traveler and photographer dedicated to exploring life and capturing the essence of different cultures through photography. I have had the opportunity to visit many cities across Turkey and over 20 countries around the world. The landscapes, cities, and stories of the people I encounter on my journeys inspire me deeply. My journey in photography began with the desire to immortalize these moments during my travels; now, each shot reflects the soul of the places I’ve visited and the unique atmosphere of that moment.
–What inspired you to become a photographer? The biggest inspiration for my photography has been the diverse landscapes and people I encountered on my travels. Every city, every country, every culture tells its own story, and I wanted to capture these stories and share them with others. From a lone figure walking along the shore to children playing in a historic street, each detail allows me to rediscover the world in a single frame.
-Do you think cinema can bring about change in society? Absolutely, cinema is a window into different cultures and a force that brings people together. Watching a film allows us to witness the lives of people living in other countries or cities and to feel their emotions. I try to capture this cinematic effect in my photographs as well; through images taken in different countries and cultures, I aim to remind people that shared emotions exist all around the world. Like cinema, photography is a powerful tool for fostering this understanding
-What would you change in the world? I would love for more people to travel and experience different cultures and people. Traveling has helped me to understand different ways of life and perspectives, which has fostered a greater sense of tolerance and empathy. If more people explored the world and appreciated cultural diversity, I believe it would lead to a more peaceful and connected world.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years? In the coming years, I think the film industry will become richer with technologies like virtual reality and interactive experiences. However, I also believe that films and visual storytelling must retain their ability to create an emotional connection. As in photography, cinema should both entertain and provoke thought, allowing people to better understand their own world and experience different cultures.
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E. Hemingway, Jack London, E. Remarque, Diana Springfield.
-What was the main challenge you faced while writing your work?
Good editors are expensive, and I’m a retiree. I’ve only been writing scripts for 4 years, and professional feedback is very important to me.
-Every screenwriter needs feedback after completing a project. Is there someone you always turn to for opinions as soon as you finish writing?
First, I share it with my son, daughter, and husband. I take their comments into account, make adjustments, and then give it to an editor for the main and final revisions.
-Are you currently working on a new script? If so, could you tell us more about it?
I’m currently working on three scripts: a story about three sisters in love with the same man, and two fairy tales – _”The New Adventures of Baton the Cat”_ and _”The Snow Queen’s Bracelet.”
-If you had to describe your writing style with three adjectives, which ones would you choose?
Screenwriters: Aaron Sorkin and William Goldman. Novels: Stephen Hunter, Thomas Harris and Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I buy the latter authors in print usually hardback from Barnes and Noble to support the last major national bookseller. All authors make more money in print and I want to support them. Just as I went to Horizon in the theater because I wanted to support Kevin Costner. I’ll also see Gladiator II there.
-What is the main challenge you encountered while writing your work?
I know this may sound arrogant, but I don’t seem to have many limitations on my imagination or skill set in bringing ideas to fruition. That said, getting the novels into screenplay format has been difficult. Having written both, I can tell you indubitably scripts are much more difficult to write– well– than novels. I’ve written ten at this point but only really tried to market three of them, all listed at Film Freeway. If anyone reads all three they’ll see on the first read they’re very different, but to me they all have the same elements: romance, action/adventure, humor and usually some type of art, history or science. Time and the research involved are also a challenge. Two of my novels, unpublished as of yet, required me to query prominent professors, one on wormholes (Kip Thorne) and the other on prions (Stanley Prusiner). I needed information I couldn’t find either online or in libraries and they were both definitive sources. Both gave me personal replies that answered my questions. Both subsequently won the Nobel prize in their fields. I’m not saying this to brag but to illustrate the lengths to which I’ll go to make my research accurate. And I’m also very good at tracking down people and information, which was an advantage in my development career and is surely an advantage in screenwriting too.
–Every screenwriter needs feedback after completing their project. Is there someone you always turn to for their opinion as soon as you finish writing?
I have two screenwriter friends, one in LA who has won tons of festivals, done multiple shorts, and works in management at a prominent LA based festival. Per her suggestion I just joined the Blacklist a few days ago. We’ll see what happens. The second one lives in Austin and is in my critique group. I manage it and we meet twice monthly. He’s the only experienced screenwriter in the group as he was a paid but uncredited writer on a major film, and used to be a script doctor. He’s given me great feedback. Funnily enough, when I pitched to him my idea of bringing in Robin Williams in da Vinci and Me to teach God to be a comic, he was negative on the idea. I saw it clearly in my head, however, and cried for weeks when Robin died. I wanted to give him a tribute as well as da Vinci, and when this screenwriter read the 12 page sequel opener, he ‘loved’ it. The other four in my critique group are all very good writers but didn’t have much feedback on the two scripts I printed for them because they liked them and were not sure what to critique. I can say I never market a rough draft; I revise multiple times before I even take it for a critique. I’ve also received coverage from several film festivals but they seldom make the same notes. I’m just not a formulaic writer, either for my novels or scripts, which I think has made it difficult for me to make all the plot points clear. I’m working on a rewrite now for the Blacklist.
–Are you currently working on a new screenplay? If so, can you tell us more about it?
I think I’ll probably write the first ten pp of the last of the trilogy, Rafael and Me. Da Vinci and Me, if it gets written, will be considerably different to Heaven’s Hero, its source material, especially as I’ll bring da Vinci to our time, unlike in the book. I already have multiple scenes in my head, such as having a scene where da Vinci has to borrow a helicopter to help defeat the antagonist. I’m attaching a rendering of his machine, just delete if you think it doesn’t fit your format. As for the last story, Rafael and Me, I haven’t come up with a logline yet I love but a kinder, gentler Gladiator meets Star Wars fits pretty well. Rafe will be given the same choice as Mike and Honor: transport to another era on an important mission for humanity. But he’ll be going to the year 3000 when humanity has traveled to the stars. I’m an optimist so I believe we’ll make it that far, hopefully much improved as a species. In my story humanity has evolved into empaths. Artists, engineers, architects, scientists. Because of the earth wars that sent them there they abhor violence and are about to be conquered by an alien race who have based their world building on ancient Roman ideals and ruthlessness. Rafe, homeless and unhappy back in modern NYC because he misses the SEALS that unfairly cashiered him out of their ranks, is in God’s plan to teach them to fight (again, shown in the Sistine Chapel). In the process, he’ll fall in love with the lead empath’s daughter. It may sound like a lot, but I know this last story will have the same elements as the others and that I can pull off this unusual combination. I have the first chapter and a synopsis that my editor offered for, but we couldn’t come to terms. Many of my reviews of Heaven’s Rogue and Heaven’s Hero mention a request for Rafe’s story. Author’s note: Whether Hollywood considers me small potatoes or not, I know I’m a professional fiction writer. These days I only write something I think I can market. I’m working on a virus thriller now that will be the first of a series. Of course if I sell Michelangelo and Me I’ll put it aside and concentrate on screenwriting, but I’m not just going to twiddle my thumbs lol. I’ll be writing until the day I die and there’s much longevity in my lineage.
–If you had to describe your writing style using three adjectives, which ones would you choose?
Shakespeare , Rimbaud and Baudelaire . With them visit all spheres of life and the celestial in writing that is the Verb. So when the immensity unfolds , open yours eyes wide to marvel. To write poetry in my screenplays is to love life and embrace it all its dimensions . Creativity demands the salt of life , caravel of words , I feel like a woman !
– What is the main challenge you encountered while writing your work?
No challenge ! No support except God . Dolls that float in time . Contemplative , I smell the sky touch the stars and my writings rest in the palm of God . From then on the word emerges from the living in this writing which gives birth to beauty , inkjet plays with the marvelous .
-Every screenwriter needs feedback after completing their project. Is there someone you always turn to for their opinion as soon as you finish writing?
Not feedback ! I only my soul to give son many graces in the word life ! This power that is given to me ! The grace of living the infinite and to live it fully in this intoxication of the dream that becomes reality !
-Are you currently working on a new screenplay? If so, can you tell us more about it?
Yes after the one on Rennes the Castle , the Priory of Sion and the treasure of Abbey Sauniere published by Edilivre Editions who got 230 Awards Winner and the last on Camille Claudel and Rodin , now I write a new screenplay about the marvelous ! Because the cement sky of my creativity plays with density in various tones. Walk near stars , it’s opening the window of my creativity for a hundred years . My thoughts fly away like an angel kneeling before God ! Echo of his cross , melodious caress of the sky , give the best of yourself . With God, I see everything in greatness and majesty . Thus when reading the living the Grail ignites. “ Rimbaud , Eternity has not passed !” I find it in the smallest pores of life and in my creativity . Vines of grapes , red white wine desire, the blood of Christ !”’
-If you had to describe your writing style using three adjectives, which ones would you choose?
Sleeper, Annie Hall—for which he won an Oscar—but above all, Manhattan are just some of the screenplays Marshall Brickman co-wrote with Woody Allen.
Just a few hours ago, Marshall transitioned to another dimension. I imagine him already in deep conversation with Federico Fellini about Juliet of the Spirits, much like the iconic scene in Annie Hall, where Diane Keaton and Woody Allen’s characters discuss art while waiting in line for the cinema.
Screenwriters are often an underappreciated category, despite Alfred Hitchcock’s famous statement: “To make a great film, you need three things: the script, the script, and the script.”
Today, we at the WILD FILMMAKER Community wish to honor a remarkable screenwriter, fully aware that we live in a world where the most important things are often misunderstood, and truth turn into lies—like in a George Orwell novel. For me, the screenplay of Manhattan, written by Marshall Brickman, inspired a pivotal decision: in 2018, I chose to produce a film in New York.
For some, it was a self-destructive folly to leave Rome and attempt to create a film in Manhattan, titled Dance Again with Me Heywood!, a tribute to the most Chaplinesque contemporary artist.
I arrived in the U.S. for the American premiere of my first film, Sweet Democracy, which featured the late Nobel laureate actor and playwright Dario Fo. I also came to Manhattan to deliver a masterclass on independent filmmaking at New York University.
What was meant to be a two-week stay turned into two months. I vividly recall the first time I saw 6th Avenue. Walking silently among the towering skyscrapers, I kept repeating to myself: “I love this place; I never want to leave.” It was a cold November evening. Back in my hotel room, I rewatched Manhattan on my computer, and in that moment, I decided my next film would be made in New York. I brought that vision to life the following year, even securing James Ivory as a special guest—who, incidentally, won an Oscar that year for Best Screenplay. It was a dream come true for a small Italian producer deeply in love with New York.
This love, ignited by Marshall Brickman’s creativity, has only grown over time. My most recent film shot in New York, O – the fiSRt mOvie by aN alien, brought me the immense honor and joy of working with Academy Award-nominated actress Mariel Hemingway, the co-star of Manhattan.
Marshall Brickman will forever remain a source of inspiration for anyone creating projects with WILD FILMMAKER. True cinema, after all, never dies.
