Seth Rogen Explains How to Write a Movie

Summary

The speaker reflects on their experiences working with Judd Apatow as a mentor, highlighting the valuable lessons learned about writing. They discuss exercises like coming up with 100 ideas, which helped overcome the fear of writing and reduced the preciousness often associated with creative work. The speaker emphasizes the importance of persistence in developing ideas, noting that the best concepts are the ones that stick around for years. They also touch on the creative process behind 'This Is the End,' illustrating how ideas evolve through brainstorming, emotional storytelling, and natural selection over time.

Takeaways

• 🤝 Judd Apatow's mentorship taught valuable lessons about writing, including embracing challenges like coming up with 101-page ideas.
• ✍️ It's important for writers to not overly revere or place too much pressure on every piece of writing.
• 📄 Writing for others is sometimes necessary, but it’s still important to bring your own voice into the work.
• 🎬 While writing *Superbad*, Judd Apatow gave notes, but it was still the writer’s choice whether to implement them since it was their project.
• 📺 The dynamic changed when writing for Apatow’s TV show *Undeclared*, where the writer had to follow all the notes because it was Judd's show.
• 🧠 The exercise of generating a hundred ideas helps overcome the fear of writing and stops writers from being overly precious with their work.
• 💡 Good ideas are those that stick around in your mind over time, as Seth and Evan discovered while working on multiple concepts.
• 😂 The initial concept for *This is the End* started as a joke about celebrities stuck in an apocalyptic situation, with iterations refining the idea over time.
• 🎭 Emotional and personal conflicts, such as the tension between old and new friends, played a significant role in shaping the narrative of *This is the End*.
• ⏳ Over years of refining, the team would narrow down hundreds of ideas, focusing on the ones that resonated most, eventually leading to the creation of a movie.

Q & A

Who is Judd and what role did he play as a mentor?

Judd Apatow is a mentor who provided valuable guidance to the speaker, especially in terms of writing and overcoming creative challenges. He gave exercises like coming up with 100 page ideas, which helped the speaker avoid being too precious with their work.

What was the significance of the exercise to write 100 page ideas?

The exercise aimed to reduce the fear and reverence around writing, encouraging writers to focus on creating rather than overly valuing or overthinking every idea. It helped remove the pressure and allowed the writer to generate ideas more freely.

How did Judd's role change when the speaker was writing for his TV show?

When writing for Judd’s TV show, the dynamic shifted, and the speaker had to follow all of Judd’s notes and direction. This was a contrast to working on personal projects where they had the final say. It emphasized adapting to the vision of others when working on collaborative or assigned projects.

How did the speaker describe the difference between personal and collaborative writing?

In personal writing, the speaker felt more freedom to reject notes or feedback, whereas in collaborative writing, especially when working for someone else like Judd, they had to follow directions more strictly, adapting to another person’s vision.

Why do some writers avoid writing and prefer talking about their ideas?

Many writers fear the act of committing ideas to paper and prefer to talk about ideas to avoid the pressure of writing. This leads to overanalyzing and delaying the writing process. The speaker mentions that writing for Judd helped break this habit by taking the reverence out of writing.

What process does the speaker use to determine if an idea is good?

The speaker and their writing partner Evan determine if an idea is good by how long it sticks with them. Ideas that they continue to think about over time, even years later, often turn into fully developed projects or films.

How did the movie 'This Is the End' originate as an idea?

The idea for 'This Is the End' started as a joke about famous people, like Seth Rogen and Busta Rhymes, being stuck in a supernatural or apocalyptic situation. Over time, the concept evolved into a full movie, beginning with humorous observations and growing into a more structured story.

How did the speaker and their partner organize their ideas for 'This Is the End'?

They made lists of various elements like types of apocalypses (zombies, Christian apocalypse, monsters) and built the story from there. Over time, their brains naturally gravitated toward specific ideas from the lists, which they organized into a coherent outline.

What emotional elements influenced the story of 'This Is the End'?

An emotional story underlying the movie was the conflict between old friends and new friends in the speaker’s life. This real-life tension was mirrored in the film, exploring themes of loyalty, friendship, and identity.

How did the brainstorming process help develop the final movie?

The brainstorming process was gradual and took place over years, during which ideas were tested, discarded, or refined. The best ideas stuck with the creators, and as they built emotional layers and external challenges, these ideas organically formed the basis of the movie's storyline.