Diablo Cody Masterclass

Diablo Cody’s spontaneity and humor became evident during her masterclass on Monday, November 17th at the John Kassavetes Theater. The American screenwriter and producer, who has won 18 awards – among them the Oscar for Original Screenplay and the BAFTA for Original Screenplay – for her début script for the film ’Juno’, is one of TIFF’s International Jury’s members.

‘Writing this script has been the most exciting experience for me. I enjoyed it even more than when I received the Oscar! I loved the procedure and the script’s characters became my friends. Every night I couldn’t wait to find the time to go on with my writing’, admitted Cody and added: ‘I didn’t want to copy somebody else’s story. I didn’t want my story to repeat the same stupid stories, that are so abundant in American film’. As for the characters in ‘Juno’, she said that they were composed of a mixture of elements of herself and people she has met. ‘My heroes come from the real world. It irritates me whenever I see characters in movies that are extremely smart or weird. However funny they might be, they are fake’.

She also added that she is utterly satisfied as far as the contribution of her director, Jason Rightman, to the film’s success is concerned. ‘In the hands of another director it may have turned out to be a bad movie. Screenwriters often feel that a film belongs to them and that directors are trying to take it away from them. In ‘Juno’s case though, Jason showed great respect, shared my vision and assured me that he was going to keep the ideas of the film as they were’.

Regarding her experience during the shooting of the film, she said: ‘During the first two weeks all I could do was sit and watch. What I considered extremely important for this film was the rhythm of the dialogues, the way the actors would carry the words out. Normally, this is the director’s job, but Jason wanted me to feel safe about everything being done the right way. However, I didn’t take part in the rehearsals. I would have been the worst actress in the world!’

‘I believe that anyone who loves cinema and watches films can write a script. Even small children can write a story with a beginning, middle and end. That is all you need. There is no recipe. Scriptwriting is not mathematics. You just need to find something to inspire you and tell the story with your own unique voice’.

When asked about her future steps, Cody noted that sudden success can become a trap. ‘After a big success everybody wants to make serious films, win more awards… In my case, however, I want to write fun scripts, for comedies and horror films”.

She also talked about her next film Jennifer’s Body, a horror film that will be released in the spring of 2009. ‘I love horror films. Like Juno, Jennifer’s body is focused on a strong female character. This is something not very common in Hollywood where women usually get the supporting roles. They never get the good lines and this is why I feel like I have to give them to them’.

She also added: ‘I would like to write a novel one day. A big book, like one of those you can hit a man on the head with! It is extremely difficult, I know, but at the same time it satisfies your ego because it depends entirely on yourself. On the other hand though, there will be no director to improve it!’

‘My diary was based on my private life and included real facts. I had to invent a character and use an alias just as everybody does on the Internet. If my mother knew about it she would have felt ashamed. When she finally did learn about it, she wanted to kill me! I set it right for her only when I won the Oscar!’
She defended blogging as a means of expression for every prospective writer. ‘Blogging has been heavily criticized, but has a great advantage. In order to publish a book you have to get an appointment with a publisher, think of what they want you to write… It is a long and complicated procedure. On the web, however, things are a lot easier. I can write an essay today and have the feedback of thousands of people by tomorrow. I keep writing in a blog from time to time but I find it more difficult now that I have so many other activities in my schedule’.