Screenwriters: America's Storytellers in Portrait

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Summary: Customer
Review: As a screenwriter myself, I was inspired to explore the worlds of other writers...I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the arts of any kind

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Summary: An inspirational exploration
Review: Because writers are behind the scenes -- way behind the scenes -- we can only guess what they are trying to tell us with each new screenplay. That's why I loved seeing their faces and hearing their words -- listening to some of them go on and on about their craft and others sum up their reactions to years of hard work in 10 or 20 well-chosen words. I didn't need this book when I bought it -- or at least I didn't think so. Now I turn back to it time and again for inspiration. I don't feel as if I've been talked down to, rather that I got a glimpse deep into the writers' souls.

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Summary: Waste of Money
Review: Give me a break! If these people were such wondeful writers, they wouldn;t be writing such horrible movies. And who wants to look at their ugly faces?

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Summary: Buy this book
Review: I love this book. Initially, when I first bought it, it was for the photography, which is outstanding. But as I would leaf through it, again and again I was struck by the poetic and thoughtful writing. It's become something of an inspiration for me now as I work to remain creative with my own artistic endeavors.

All artists, especially struggling and neophyte screenwriters, owe it to themselves to check out this beautiful work. Another reviewer put it well; it's about time writers got their due.

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Summary: customer
Review: It's about time writers receive their 15 minutes of fame. This book has given me the inspiration to start writing again after a long break. Lumme and Manninen capture the screenwriters like no one ever has. I can't wait to see what story their next book brings to life.

Rating:
Summary: fairly decent
Review: On "America's Storytellers. . . " How does that old line go, it takes one to know one? Well, this one believes you've got the best seller of the century!!! Please, keep up the good work, (even when you're tired and hungry and thirsty and the kids are screaming and you have no one to help you. You gotta make some money somehow, you know.

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Summary: An inspiring study of the writer¿s craft
Review: This is a book for writers. Sure, it's full of pictures, but mostly it's about the pursuit of story. Everybody thinks actors and directors make movies, but it's the writer who creates the characters, dreams up the story, makes us care what happens. These are some of the world's greatest writers and they are incredibly candid here. It's funny to me that every magazine interviews novelists, but who interviews screenwriters other than Variety and, now, these guys? Screenwriters must be the most invisible, hardworking artists on the planet. Lumme and Manninen offer a very unusual glimpse, literally and figuratively, of the idea makers of Hollywood. Manninen achieved the impossible, finding compelling ways to photograph people who must spend 99% of their lives staring at a computer. The common trait in all the portraits is the writer's twinkle in the eye. There's an idea banging around in that head, maybe a couple. I found this a very refreshing take on the creative process. It is puzzling that Screenwriters is apparently the first such book. Personally, I'd like to hear more from the people who are pretty much the acknowledged masters of modern storytelling. Bonus: In addition to a bunch of funny and interesting anecdotes, there are a good many real writing tips divulged. I felt genuinely inspired by this book, and I don't even have an idea for a screenplay. Maybe I'll get one now. Two thumbs way up.

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Summary: An odd book
Review: We all know that movies are poorly written of late -- must we now see the perps? This book was designed for someone who has nothing better to do with his/her money.

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Summary: A rich, textured portrait of the Hollywood screenwriter.
Review: With "Screenwriters: America's Storytellers in Portrait", Lumme and Manninen have created a rich and varied collection of photographs, anecdotes, and dialogue that show us the world of the Hollywood screenwriter. Film, and whether we like it or not, Hollywood film, is the art form, the central mode of storytelling and cultural construction, of the twenieth century. Although it is of undeniable value to question and criticize the Hollywood film and its role in our culture, one must recognize that the creators of these stories are responsible for a massive shaping, an important defining of our ideas and dreams. What is perhaps most impressive about Manninen's photographs is their ability to richly recontextualize the role of the Hollywood screenwriter, both past and present. Beneath the often blinding surface gloss that is mainstream film's marketed exterior, there is a world of pure and true story creation, every bit as complex, emotional and vital as the regularly accepted role of the "legitimate" writer of novels and short stories. Manninen's work establishes a textured, intimate landscape of the writing life through photographic portraits that manage to elevate the screenwriter to the level of the celebrity, the star, but with an important exception: rather than being images steeped in the unattainable perfection of the actor's image, these charming, often gritty portraits are extremely human, resonating with the personalities of their subjects and our proximity to them. From symbolic water imagery (Kasdan, Arch, Schulman and Anderson) to sophisticated black and white (Benton, Darabont and Goldman), and through unusual, brilliant color (Melvin Van Peebles' chair-leaning, cigar-smoking blue room is a revelation), Manninen has created photos with the imagination of the screenwriters he shot: Each photograph tells a story through an image, each picture is action, emotion and character. Importantly, Manninen and Lumme have included many women screenwriters in the collection, and the book's interviews, anecdotes and quotes by screenwriters are funny and insightful. I've read a good many screenwriting books that have incuded interviews and screenwriting stories, but here are a number of candid, unusual tales unavailable elsewhere, a tribute to the level of comfort and trust that these writers must have felt with Manninen and Lumme. Whether you are a lover of film, photography or writing, this is a fine and important contribution to your collection. "Screenwriter: America's Storytellers in Portrait" is the rare work that manages to not only dazzle and move the reader / viewer with its stunning portraiture, but to give us an understanding of what makes these culture creators tick.