Intervju med Melissa Rosenberg

En Intervju med manusförfattaren Melissa Rosenberg, OBS. Den är sjukt LÅNG:

First things first, how did you end up on the Twilight adaptation?
Well, Summit Entertainment and I had done Step Up together, and it was a really cool, collaborative experience. And then they asked me to do “Step Up 2,” and I was unavailable, so I thought, “Great, I just destroyed my relationship with a great company.” But then, a few months later, Eric Feig at Summit called again and asked, “Well, how do you feel about teens and vampires?” And I was like, “Oh my God, I love teens and vampires!” It just so happens that I was a huge, huge fan of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I would go as far as to say it’s one of the all time greatest series ever on TV. Plus, it’s highly likely that I’ve seen every movie featuring a vampire in it. Okay, maybe not every single one, but you know what I mean. So I was really excited to get that call. But I have to admit, I hadn’t heard about Stephenie Meyer’s book before Summit approached me. In fact, when I got the call, I was at a friend’s house. And when I asked my friend, “Have you ever heard of a book called Twilight?” my friend, like, jumped up and pulled it off his bookshelf. So that was convenient. So I sat down and read it immediately. And I was hooked. Stephenie came along and takes on this overused genre and completely reinvents it with a wonderful fresh new mythology. How lucky am I that I got to play in her world?

So naturally, I have to ask. Team Edward or Team Jacob?
It depends on which book I’m reading. In Twilight, you obviously fall for Edward and you’re less aware of Jacob. But in New Moon, I just loved Jacob. He’s so dynamic. I myself always love the bad boys. But I also love the smart, refined, mysterious Edward. And he’s a musician to top it off. For Bella, I’d choose probably Edward… or maybe Jacob. Oh, I don’t know! It’s just so hard!

So did you end up reading the books before you met with Summit about the adaptation?
I did not read any of the books besides Twilight itself, because the adaptation was supposed to be of the first book. In fact, I didn’t read them until I was done with the script because I wanted to approach the screenplay for Twilight as any reader or audience member would. I wanted to stay true to the first book; I didn’t want to leak what happens next. For example, Jacob in the first book is very different from Jacob in New Moon or the other books, so I wanted the movie version of Twilight to be a complete story on its own. But I was nervous going into that first meeting because the director, Catherine Hardwicke, was going to be there and I’m a big fan. But I was confident because my take was that it was a great book and that we should stick to the book as our bible. And I think that’s what they were hoping for because there was actually an earlier version at Paramount that they threw out. I remember Stephenie saying it was a great script; it just had nothing to do with the book. And with a project like this, you can’t really veer away from the book. So my pitch was to stay close to the book but really shape it into a movie.

So how did you really shape it into a movie?
Well, in the book there’s a lot of rich internal dialogue, [but] it’s really in Bella’s head. It’s hard to do that in a movie. And I wanted the movie to be from Bella’s perspective, but at first I really struggled with how to get into her head without using voiceover. A lot of it meant making her have conversations with others in which that internal dialogue could be externalized. It was really about unfolding how she figures out that Edward is a vampire. Who could she have that conversation with? I think I was pretty successful in doing that.

When did the voiceover come into play?
You know, it was Catherine that suggested I use voiceover. Because, you know, for screenwriters, they always say voiceover is a big no-no, although we do use a lot of voiceover on “Dexter.” But voiceover, anywhere, is really hard to write. But it was Catherine who said, “I think you should use it.” So we started using it very sparingly, because in the movie you really need to know what is going on inside her head and bring the audience along with her.

Also, with a script, you also need to keep moving really fast and have conflict in every scene, so it ended up being a lot of condensing of the novel. So when I pitched, I said, “Here’s what we condense, and here’s what we pull out to structure the story on.” And also, you don’t really see James and the other villains until to the last quarter of the book, which really won’t work for a movie. You need that ominous tension right off the bat. We needed to see them and that impending danger from the start. And so I had to create back story for them, what they were up to, to flesh them out a bit as characters.

How much collaboration with Stephenie did you have during the writing process?
Really, none at all, and in a way, every word. I had very little contact with Stephenie during the adaptation process because I had to bring my own vision to it, to really see it as a movie that exists separately from the book. But obviously, every word I wrote came directly from her imagination. So though we had very little contact, we danced together on the page. The one thing we really did discuss during my writing process was the setting.

The book starts out with Bella in Scottsdale, then transitions to the lush Pacific Northwest, which is very visually arresting. So I wanted to start in Forks, because for a film, it really works. But Catherine, Stephenie, and I talked about why she started with Bella at home in Scottsdale. It was also about introducing her as a character — how she sees herself as just a very ordinary girl compared to everyone else, which is exactly the opposite of how Edward sees her. So that ended up shaping the opening of the movie. It provided a stark contrast — not just where she’s headed, but where she’s coming from. It set up her relationship with her mother Renee, which ends up being important to the climax. And she sent me some pages that took me further into the characters’ minds and back stories. It was invaluable. We have collaborated a lot more deeply since then, and we’ll continue to, I think. She’s an amazing lady, very funny and smart.

What was your writing process on Twilight?
Well, I started working on this in August 2007. I do very, very detailed outlines, about 25-page single-spaced outlines for a feature. I think that’s where most of the work happens. It’s I guess coming from working on TV. In TV, there are so many people involved, and you really have so many layers to go through of people signing off on things. And features, really, can be similar because you’ve got the studio, you’ve got the director. So I wanted them to really know what I was planning to do before I moved forward with it. So I spent a lot of time on the outline. And I was also working on “Dexter” at that point. So essentially I was working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And it was great to have the director, Catherine Hardwicke, around to bounce ideas off of. She was a great sounding board and had all sorts of brilliant ideas.

And then at the end of August, I turned in the outline thinking “Okay, now I have another two months to write the actual script, which is great.” So then I get the call and they said, “We need the script in five weeks.” And I said, “Well, it just can’t be done in five weeks.” So they said, “Well, do you want to get it made?” Of course. So it turns out, you can write a script in five weeks — if you do NOTHING else. If you don’t shower, if you don’t eat, if you don’t say hello to your husband, you don’t pet the dog, you basically live and breathe the script.

How did the folks at “Dexter” handle that?
It was funny, we were just in the process of breaking down the finale script for the season. And then I got the phone call. I just panicked. And I walked into my co-executive producer Daniel Cerone’s office and I said, “Daniel, can you please, please, please write this last script by yourself?” And he was incredibly understanding. I’m really, really blessed to be working with this fabulous team at “Dexter,” because the same thing is going on now. I’m juggling another project along with the show. And I’m a co-executive producer now, so I’m growing with the show. But we’re all writers; we all understand when these awesome opportunities come along. You just can’t say no.

So you were plowing ahead fulltime on the script?
Yes, it really went by really fast. Luckily, Catherine was around to give me instant feedback and instant editing. So I’d finish off scenes and send them to her, and get back her notes. So it was a very organized, compulsive schedule. So it was first draft is done by this week, the second is done by this date, because we were all fighting a writers’ strike deadline, really. October 31st was the deadline for that. It was pretty much now or never. It was maybe five weeks to do the first draft and two weeks to do the second. And I was working almost to midnight on that last day.

Speaking of the Writer’s Strike, you’re pretty involved in the WGA, right? What did the strike mean to you?
Yes, I was Strike captain and on the line. It was very interesting because we all went into to it thinking, oh, I’ll get to write that spec I’ve been thinking about. But we all went into it exhausted, and the strike itself was just exhausting. No one got anything done. When you’re on the line, you’re walking four hours at a time, waving signs. It’s extremely hard work, but it was very empowering in a way, in this age of corporate greed, to really see all those creative people stand as one. We were fighting the corporate greed in this country, the power that would crush unions. They’ve been trying to do that for decades now. And we won.

We won — maybe not everything we wanted, but what we struck for. And we got a floor to start from on [the] Internet. And sure, we got a lot of blame for people being out of work, but really, people should have been blaming the corporations that were simply refusing to even come to the table. They didn’t want to even begin to negotiate, so it was interesting to watch how it was spun. But in the end, I think, I hope that it benefited all the unions. I was on the board of directors of the WGA for five years, but I bowed out a few years ago because you can get really, really wrapped up in it. So I’ve sort of taken a step back from it a bit now.

Are you still chairing the WGA Diversity committee?
I was, but it’s gotten to the point where, though I’m still involved, I just don’t have the time. It takes a lot of time and energy just emotionally, so I’m doing it in my own way. I’m mentoring some young women and really speaking about it when I can. But I’m really starting to look at the issue now from a national perspective. I’ve always wanted to get involved in national politics. So now I’m involved in another group, it’s the League of Hollywood Women Writers.

What does the League of Hollywood Women Writers do?
It’s largely fundraising to support candidates who support things like freedom, fighting corporate integration, and things like that — the quote-unquote women’s issues. It’s non-partisan, and it’s open to anyone who really supports our issues. One of our issues is pro-choice and another is pro-gay rights, so that typically leans to the left. Yup, the typical bleeding heart liberals. But really, it’s a group of primarily women show runners and a couple of feature writers. And we just came to the realization that when we all work together, we can actually get stuff done. We can actually make stuff happen. So we decided to harness that power and take action to raise funds. I’m going to a conference in Chicago to speak, and I think Michelle Obama and even Barack will be speaking there. It’s a conference of the biggest female fundraisers in the country. I think I really missed my calling in politics.

How did the League come about?
Well, it’s about agenda-setting. What we realized during the Writers’ Strike was that we were going to all these fundraisers held by producers in Hollywood. And we’d just write our checks and the corporate types, who had collected the funds, who [would] be able to, along with those checks, sort of peddle their agenda to the people in power. So we didn’t have any real connections to the politicians – and when that politician needed information, they’d be calling those fundraising producers. And during the strike, it became clear that their issues are not our issues when it comes to freedom and intellectual property and all of the creative issues.

So what we realized is that we need the money to be funneled through us so that when those politicians are agenda-setting, our voice is also part of the conversation. We want to be the ones they call, and we want to tell them, here’s what they need to know from the creative perspective. People really don’t understand the whole issue about Internet freedom. It’s very complicated, so we want to have our voices heard. We can be a source for them and help educate them. These aren’t just Hollywood issues — these are crucial issues for the American public.

Considering the hoopla about the four female best screenplay Oscar nods last year, do you think women writers are more well-represented in Hollywood these days?
You know, honestly, it’s not getting better. If you look at the numbers, the WGA diversity reports, the numbers for both minorities and women are essentially the same as they were years ago. They just haven’t moved. It’s discouraging. And it’s exhausting. You think you’ve made some headway, and you really haven’t. But if you don’t keep fighting, then the other side wins. So you have to keep fighting, but you may not see the change. It’s hard. I think one of the problems is that women are 51 percent of the general population, but maybe 28 percent representation in the WGA. And the Directors’ Guild has it worse than we do. There numbers are even lower. It’s just challenging. And it’s discouraging.

Have you experienced the boys’ club mentality yourself?
Yes, the first half of my career, I was more often than not the only woman in the room. Now, there are a few more women-centered shows on which you’ll see more women writers, but it’s still really tough. You’re always looking for that balance — how do I be one of the guys in the writers’ room without being a traitor to my own gender and really losing my own voice? In my first TV job, I found myself defending my gender constantly, which sort of alienated me from the group. Next thing I knew, there were story meetings happening in offices that I wasn’t included in, because they just didn’t feel comfortable hanging out with me. I’ve been [in] writers’ rooms for 16 years, and [it's] true, you need to be comfortable to bring the creativity, but they can get really crass. And it’s been a career-long challenge.

Do you think TV is a lot more open to women writers?
Yes and no. I mean, there are definitely more female show runners out there now. Shonda Rimes [the writer and producer for "Grey's Anatomy"], for example, is very color-blind and inclusive when staffing her writers’ room. But I remember getting these calls from my agent and I’d say, “What about this show?” And the response would be, “Oh, they didn’t [or] want to read you because they already have their woman.” Because clearly you only need one woman writer per show, right? That still happens today. Just bring in that one woman for the female perspective. But I’m no longer the only female writer in the room. Even on a show like “Dexter.”

You’re a co-executive producer on Showtime’s “Dexter,” which is a big job. How do you balance TV and film?
Well, with “Dexter,” I’ve been very lucky. Yeah, there’s a procedural element to it, but it’s really character-driven, so it feels like home to me. And if I can do cable for the rest of my career, I’ll be happy, because that’s where you can really do quality, character-driven work. I’ve been on the show for three years, and I just signed on for another two. I’m staying. I love TV. I’ll never leave TV. I now have, finally, the career that I want on a show that I love, that creatively satisfies me. And I do that for six months of the year, and the other six months, I get to write films. Well, that’s in theory anyway. Ideally, that’s what it is. Right now, I’ve been trying to do both at once. But I love it. I’m an overnight success 16 years in the making. I mean, between “Dexter” and Twilight, this is the career I always wanted. I just want to enjoy the sunshine. I’ve had a long career, so I know what it’s like when the sun isn’t shining on you. When the opportunities come, I have to do them. I’m working seven days a week, five days a week on “Dexter,” two days a week on the other project. But my husband [director Lev Spiro, who's done TV like "Ugly Betty" and "Weeds"] has had enough.

There’s already talk of New Moon being on the production slate. Are you going to be involved with that, if it’s happening?
I would be, yes. But you have to understand, nothing is official yet. We’re not announcing it, and it’s not a final conversation yet. This is all still in the works. But if and when it happens, I will be involved in it, yes. And I’m just thrilled. I’m such a huge fan of Stephenie’s work and this vivid world that she creates. It’s so complete and so rich and complex emotionally. It’s just a delightful world to play in. As a reader I’m a huge fan, but as an adaptor, I couldn’t ask for a better world to work with.

Do you prefer adaptations or do you prefer writing original stuff?
It’s weird, you always hear people say that adapting a work is so much harder than writing an original. And I always think to myself, how can that possibly be true? There’s nothing more difficult than a blank page. Even if all you’re able to salvage from an adaptation is the title, you’ve still got something to work with. More than you’d have otherwise. But I say that coming off the experience of adapting a really great novel. I’m sure other writers have had a harder time because they don’t all have great material to work from. Stephenie’s work is so complete and so rich, it’s like a feast, a huge buffet of options. Every time I got stuck, I could just go back to the book and say, “Oh, I can do that!” What she gave me to play with was amazing. So, based on that experience, I’d love to always adapt books. But I might be eating my words, down the line.

With a best-selling franchise like the Twilight saga, though, is there a lot more pressure there to make it perfect, to live up to the fans’ expectations?
Oh yeah, there’s definitely a lot of pressure there. Twilight fans, as you know, have been pouring over every detail of this film’s production. In the beginning of this process, I was not aware of the following these books had [like] the Twi-Hards, and I purposely tried to stay unaware of it, to tune it all out. Otherwise I’d drive myself crazy. But now I’m hyper-aware of it, so it’s become even more intimidating to know that you really do have to be passionate about this book, to stay true to the book. I had to stop reading the sites because they all took apart my bio and 10 people would say, “Oh, this will be great, she did ‘Dexter’ and Step Up,” but one would say “Oh, I hated Step Up!” And of course, that’s the one that sticks with you. And then they found some early version of the script. And they’ll analyze every line. “Hey, this line isn’t in the book.”

I love the enthusiasm, but I just have to tune it out. It just kills me. I just can’t read the comments. But I think we’ll deliver, because we’ve got a fabulous director in Catherine, and the cast is just perfect. It’s all resting on them, really. Your iconic leads have to be whom the readers imagined in the book, and I think the fans really embraced Rob and Kristen.

~ av bellaedwardsweden den oktober 30, 2009.