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 Syd Field - Writer/Teacher “I’ve gone from reading his books, to being taught by him in courses! I think one of us must have done something right! I thank him all the time for inspiring me” |
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Acclaimed as the “guru of all screenwriters” by CNN, and “the most sought after screenwriting teacher in the world,” by the Hollywood Reporter, Syd Field is the internationally celebrated author of six books on screenwriting. His classic Screenplay, considered “the Bible” of the film industry, and The Screenwriter’s Workbook are now in their 40th printing, published in some 22 languages and used in more than 400 colleges and universities across the country. His book The Screenwriter’s Problem Solver has become an integral part of the Final Draft software program. He is a faculty member at the prestigious Masters of Professional Writing program at University of Southern California and has taught at USC, UCLA, AFI, UC Berkeley, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, among others and has conducted screenwriting workshops all over the world. He has led The Art of Storytelling Workshops for: the Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, Landmark Education, and The Nike Corporation and conducted the Catalyst Workshop for AFI for the scientists of JPL and NASA.
By special invitation of the Ministries of Culture, Field has taught screenwriting workshops in Buenos Aires, Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome, Vienna, Warsaw, Zurich, and Johannesburg, South Africa. He has conducted workshops for the Canadian Film Industry in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton, was the keynote speaker at the International Film Festivals in Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, Oslo, Norway, and Warsaw, Poland as well as being the President of the International Film Jury at the 1998 Flanders International Film Festival, Ghent, Belgium. Field was one the first inductees into the prestigious Screenwriting Hall of Fame of the American Screenwriting Association in 2001.
A screenplay consultant for 20th Century Fox, Touchstone Pictures, TriStar Pictures and Universal Studios, he has worked intimately with several prominent filmmakers, his students, such as: Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter: The Prisoner of Azkaban, Y Tu Mama Tambien,), Gary Marshall (Princess Diaries), Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman, White Palace), Laura Esquivel (Like Water for Chocolate), Roland Joffe (The Mission, City of Joy), James L. Brooks (Broadcast News, As Good As It Gets), Michael Haneke (The Piano Teacher; winner of Palm D’Or, at Cannes, 2001, Cache’) and Tony Kaye (American History X).
Some of Field's former students also include Anna Hamilton Phelan (Mask, Gorillas in the Mist), John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood, Poetic Justice), Randi Mayem Singer (Mrs. Doubtfire), Michael Kane (The Color of Money), and Kevin Williamson (Scream, Scream 2&3).
Hollywood professionals about Syd Field, his books and his teaching
“...the master of screenplay structure”
Roland Joffe
Director/Producer
The Killing Fields, The Mission
“Syd Field is the preeminent analyzer in the study of American Screenplays...”
James Brooks
Writer/Producer/Director
Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News
“I based ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ on what I learned in Syd’s workshop. Before, I always felt structure imprisoned me, but what I learned was structure really freed me to focus on the story.”
Laura Esquivel
Like Water for Chocolate, The Law of Love
“This is a terrific course for screenwriters who are trying to gain insight into the Hollywood system.”
David Kirkpatrick
Producer, former Head of Production,
Paramount Pictures
“If I were writing screenplays...I would carry Syd Field around in my back pocket wherever I went.”
Steven Bochco
Writer/Producer/Director
Hill Street Blues, LA Law, NYPD
“Syd Field takes the screenwriter on an exciting journey...and he gives you a ‘no-get lost’ map to hold onto during the trip.”
Anna Hamilton Phelan
Screenwriter
Mask, Guerillas in the Mist
“(This course is...) a fascinating view into the most overlooked area of film making.”
Michael Besman
Executive VP of Production, TriStar Pictures
“This course is a virtual must for screenwriters.”
Linda Obst
Producer
Sleepless in Seattle, The Fisher King
“This is what screenwriters should be standing in line for....”
James Brooks
Writer/Producer/Director
Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News
"Syd Field's Course is marvelous...packed with insight, intelligence and inspiration...I learned so much about the craft of screenwriting, and working with writers, [I now have] more confidence and understanding about the process of screenwriting than ever before."
Richard Roth
Producer
Julia, Red Dragon
“I’ve gone from reading his books, to being taught by him in courses! I think one of us must have done something right! I thank him all the time for inspiring me”
Frank Darabont
Writer/Director
The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile
When asked about how he got started writing screenplays he said “I read a book that literally changed my life - Syd Field’s Screenplay”
(NY Times)
Ed Burns Writer/Director
The Brothers McMullon, She’s the One
T.R. Pearson, whose critically acclaimed novels include “A Short History of a Small Place” and “Cry Me a River,” met John Grisham when they started out, signing early works in an Oxford, Miss bookstore….” The novel business has fallen on hard times and I’ve retooled,” Pearson said. “I sat down with Syd Field’s book about how to write a screenplay, wrote a few and when John Grisham saw one, we started working together.”
(Liz Smith Column, LA Times)
T.R. Pearson novelist/screenwriter
co-writer with John Grisham on The Runaway Jury
How did you get started writing screenplays? “I studied Syd Field’s books…”
Kevin Williamson
in the Los Angeles Times Interview
Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2
“Syd Field is God!”
Kevin Williamson
Script Magazine
Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2
“What are Matt Damon and Ben Affleck doing all the time? Sitting around reading Syd Field’s screenwriting books.”
Saturday Night Live, Weekend Update section
Feb 7, 1998, John Goodman hosting
“Syd Field is the Guru of all screenwriters….”
CNN Newsline, July 16, 1998
“I was working at the Mirage, on the graveyard shift, making $8 an hour; I invent bill boards for the heck of it, I’m writing letters and now you want me to write a screenplay?
So I went to the bookstore and bought three books by Syd Field on screenwriting…I began to write this movie…The Runner. Six weeks later, I had this movie that’s actually pretty damn good…and sold it for $35,000. That was the pivotal moment, the beginning of everything…”
Anthony Zuiker
Creator and Executive Producer
CSI and CSI: Miami
LA Times, Calendar January 6, 200
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