The bulk of my education consisted of reading and analysing other writers’ work. How did you study screenwriting? And what was the most enlightening aspect of that study period? Early on in my writing education, I read Source Code by Ben Ripley, and it was so good, it was actually demoralising: how could I ever author something as ingenious at this?! Once I started reading scripts, I enjoyed anything by Steven Knight. When a producer in Hollywood likened Miss Sloane to a hybrid of those two writers’ work, it was the greatest compliment I have ever received. I developed a great respect for Aaron Sorkin and Tony Gilroy. But as I grew older, I watched a lot of The West Wing. With a list like that, you’re probably wondering where a verbose political thriller like Miss Sloane came from. I discovered foreign-language classics: City of God, Oldboy, Battle Royale. I saw Memento at university and was so impressed by the complexity and ambition of Christopher and Jonathan Nolan’s body of work. In high school, it was all about Tarantino: Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. Strangely, both are based on similar premises: something indestructible and unstoppable coming to kill you for no good reason. Another film to leave a huge impression early on was Steven Spielberg’s directorial debut, Duel. I think I saw it when I was five or six we were passing around an illicit VHS tape at school. The first film that really blew me away was The Terminator. What films and screenplays have inspired you? Three-and-a-half years later, Miss Sloane and I had been optioned by FilmNation, John Madden was attached to direct, Jessica Chastain to star, and I had reached a point where I needed to quit my job to work as a screenwriter full-time. I taught English in China and South Korea, using my free time to educate myself in the basics of screenwriting, and develop a script of my own. I’d never even read a screenplay, but I decided I wanted to write movies for a living. I love movies, and I’m better at writing than anything else ( Pro Evo and Champ Manager exempt). I think all of the connections were sucked into the language centres of my brain.Īttempting to reconcile Lists A and B, I considered some form of journalism, but ruled it out: it lacks the strong creative element that I knew I would enjoy from my school days. I was (and remain) hopelessly innumerate. Creative writing assignments were always my favourite at school. I would never let anyone see them I just did it for fun. When I was bored as a kid, I would write short stories or fake scouting reports for promising young footballers. Seriously, I had some awareness that I was good with language from an early age. I recall some teachers at parents’ evening telling my mum that I had a way with words. LIST B: What are you good at? (Considerably shorter list)Īha! Writing. LIST A: What are you interested in? (Long list!) In truth, I only began to toy with the idea of screenwriting in the two months prior to my exit, when I was forced to confront the question that had been tormenting me for more than a decade: what do you want to do with your life? Colleagues either thought I was out of my mind, or that I had a killer start-up idea. Once the debts were cleared, I handed in my notice and quit the legal industry. I never wanted to be a lawyer, but it’s one of the better-paid graduate jobs, and I had uni debts to pay. I belonged there about as much as a vegan at a Brazilian rodízio. I was bored out of my mind and utterly miserable at a big corporate law firm. I had no intention of being a writer until I was in my late 20s (I’m 34 now). What was your earliest memory of wanting to be a writer? And how long was the gap between that initial inclination to actually screenwriting with intent? In this special Q&A for the Writers’ Guild, the Malaysian-based, British writer talks to WGGB Film Committee member James Hughes about his incredible journey, which has seen him become an inspiration to screenwriters around the world. Jonathan Perera (pictured above) was honoured at the WGGB Awards for Miss Sloane, the first screenplay the former lawyer and teacher had ever written.
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