Liz Hannah talks about finding the central story of the first screenplay she ever sold (THE POST) and how it went on to be an Academy Award nominee.

Key Insights

Coming of age films don’t have to just be about teens - coming of age moments can occur throughout our lives as they did in the film Liz Hannah wrote called The Post - a story about Katherine Graham.
Your first draft of a script is only the beginning, and the story often doesn’t emerge right away - drafts may contain portions of the story you’re developing and need to find
A script is like building a house - you can rearrange all the furniture, but it doesn’t matter if the structure isn’t sound.
Consider using notecards to breakdown the scenes in your script and physically rearrange the pieces of your story to find the optimum way to tell it.
Your creative team must be aligned - be sure you’re all trying to tell the same story and you agree on what movie you’re making.
It’s vitally important that your creative team include key people who are from the population you are representing in your work.
Remove your ego from the process of receiving notes and feedback.
Although it’s hard, writing should be fun - bring others along with you into the experience of the characters and story.

Liz Hannah

Screenwriter

Liz Hannah is the writer of THE POST, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. The original screenplay was nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award. THE POST was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, as well as Best Actress for Meryl Streep. Along with co-writer, Josh Singer, Hannah was the recipient of both the 2018 Writer’s Guild’s Paul Selvin Award and the 2018 Humanitas Prize for feature drama. more...