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Tag Archives: Garry Marshall

Writing Lessons Learned from Garry Marshall’s “Happy Days in Hollywood”

28 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Autobiography, Film, Humor, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Bing Cosby, Danny Thomas, Dick Van Dyke, Elizabeth Fais, Film, Garry Marshall, Gomer Pyle, Happy Days, I Love Lucy, I Spy, Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy, My Happy Days in Hollywood, Pretty Woman, The Odd Couple, The Princess Diaries, Wake Me When It's Funny, Writing

Garry Marshall headshotGarry Marshall is an entertainer, storyteller, but first and foremost a writer. I didn’t realize the extent of his talents until the day I listened to his Director’s Commentary on The Princess Diaries DVD.

Afterward, I immediately ran out and bought his first book, Wake Me When It’s Funny. A delight, with its real-world insider info on what it takes to be a successful writer … in any biz. It’s all about story … whether it’s a screenplay, a novel, or a comedy skit. [image: Wikipedia]

My Happy Days in Hollywood

A few weeks ago I saw a Twitter post about Garry Marshall’s new book, My Happy Days In Hollywood. I immediately went online and ordered it, except this time I opted for the unabridged audio book version that is read by Garry Marshall himself. A real treat. It’s like sitting in a living room with Garry, while he personally tells you his story.

The Writer

Garry Marshall was one of the sickly kids ever, because he was (and still is) allergic to almost everything. As a boy, his main goal was to get out of bed. But all that time in bed forced him to develop his talent for crafting stories. While all the other kids were outside playing, he’d lay in bed and made up stories to entertain himself. Scary stories made him scared, and depressing stories just made him depressed. So he quickly learned that amusing stories worked the best. He looked at life as comedy, and it stuck with him.

Garry Marshall started as a professional writer for stand-up comedians on the New York City nightclub circuit. From there he went to Hollywood, first writing for Bing Crosby, and then for television shows such as The Danny Thomas Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, I Love Lucy, The Odd Couple, Gomer Pyle, I Spy, and Love American Style. His time in the writing trenches eventually lead to producing and directing, fist television and later movies.

The Producer, Director, & Actor
Garry Marshall was the creator and producer of some of the most popular television shows from the 1970’s, including The Odd Couple, Happy Days, Mork and Mindy and Laverne & Shirley.

HappyDays

Today, most people know Garry Marshall for his more recent work as a director (the The Princess Diaries movies, 1 & 2) and actor. What you might not realize, is that his writing skills helped shape (and in some instances make) successes through the rewrites he contributed to a script. One of his script-transformation successes was Pretty Woman (1990).

The original screenplay was named Three Thousand, and was a dark story about a thirty-something hooker who falls in love with a wealthy businessman who leaves her, and then she kills herself. Disney execs didn’t think that story would do too well at the box office (duh), so they hired Garry Marshall to direct and “lighten the story up.” The rest is history.

I could go on and on about his other successes as a director, producer and actor, but I don’t want to ruin your experience of reading, or listening to, Garry Marshall’s My Happy Days In Hollywood. Instead, I’ll cut to the chase, with the practical lessons I learned from his autobiography. These are lessons that any writer/actor/artist can use to set their career on the success track. Because as one person so aptly stated…

Garry is allergic to everything but success.

Ten Valuable Lessons

Garry Marshall’s books offer a wealth of life experiences that writers, actors, and artists of all kinds can apply to their careers. Here are ten of my favorite:

  1. Go to school (take classes and seminars), learn and improve your craft.
  2. To succeed in Hollywood (or as a writer) you must be prepared for failure and rejection.  You have to feel it’s noble to fail and learn to rationalize, because you are going to get rejected.
  3. Allow yourself 30 minutes a day for self-pity. Then get back to your writing.
  4. You’ve got to try different things (write different types of stories), hit or miss.
  5. Developing friendships in the industry is important. It’s not always who you know, but you never know when it will help. Besides, it makes everything so much more fun.
  6. Pain + time = humor
  7. The key to directing (or writing) is don’t take it too seriously.
  8. Life is more important than show business (writing).
  9. Spend your money going to film festivals (writing conferences). You might meet someone who will further your career.
  10. The real power in Hollywood (publishing industry) is to have passion for your project. That passion radiates and convinces others to believe in it (and you!) too.

The Purpose of Our Craft

Garry Marshall said he wants to be remembered
“for making films that make you feel good … even if you don’t want to.”

How about you?
How do you want to be remembered as a writer?


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Who’s Your Hero?

27 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Badass, Blake Snyder, Hero, Inspiration, Story

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Ally Carter, Anne Lower, Aragorn, Blake Snyder, Ellen Gregory, Forrest Gump, Garry Marshall, Jack Sparrow, Janice Hall Check, Joan of Arc, Johnny Depp, Lisa Cron, Maggie Stiefvater, Meg Cabot, Neo, Princess Scribe, Save the Cat!, Shannon Messenger, The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Trinity, Winnie the Pooh, Wired for Story, You!

7 Great Characters = Heroic Inspiration

Two friends recently honored me with the Very Inspirational Blogger Award.  I owe a special thank you to Janice Hall Check and Ellen Gregory for this nomination, because they are both true inspirations to me.

The thing is, I feel like a poser accepting this award. Maybe because my inspiration comes from someone else. My heroes to be exact. Let me explain. In a recent blog post Lisa Cron talked about her book “Wired for Story” and the scientific evidence that proves we all are. Wired for story that is. We actually learn from the characters in stories because we…

…turn to story to teach us the way of the world…

So I’m not the least bit ashamed to introduce you to the characters who’ve inspired me the most … the good … the badass … and the ugly.

The GOOD…

This is the Fool Triumphant, the good-hearted soul who bungles through life, yet things work out despite the comic results of their actions. Always a good friend, they’re often helpful to a fault.

1. Pooh, in Winnie the Pooh, is a perfect Fool Triumphant, and one of my first and favorite heroes. Image from Wikipedia

2. Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks) is a modern, humanized version of Pooh, especially as portrayed in the film adaptation of the story. Forrest’s innocence keeps harm at bay, even when he’s thrown into the most dangerous situations at the height of the Vietnam war. His guileless simplicity prevents him from holding grudges or judging others. He loves is friend Jenny no matter what she does or how long she stays away. There’s a lot to be learned from the unconditional love in this character’s actions.

The BADASS…

These heroes don’t need much of an introduction. We know and love them because they forsake their personal desires, safety, and gain for the greater good.

3. Trinity, from The Matrix, 4. Joan of Arc, 5. Aragorn, from The Lord of the Rings trilogy 6. Neo, from The Matrix

the UGLY…

The Anti-Hero is a tricky one, because he’s flawed to a fault. So for us to care about this hero, there has to be something about him that we can empathize with on some level. Anne Lower’s blog post about developing the anti-hero in her series explains this character perfectly:

Give ‘em a limp and an eyepatch!” was one of Blake’s favorite phrases. And, by that, he meant try loading your character up with problems, challenges to face, physical quirks, troubled pasts that would work to help the audience identify with or be interested in your hero’s (or heroine’s) journey.

We want this ugly hero to win, despite what he’s done. My favorite anti-hero is …

7. Captain Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean series (Walt Disney Pictures). What he lacks in a limp and an eye patch, he more than makes up for with swagger and a sword. I admit Johnny Depp can never be ugly, even with eyeliner, dread locks, and a braided beard. But Jack Sparrow is a pirate, who by definition pillages, plunders, and even murders when necessary. What’s endearing about Jack Sparrow, is that he acts honorably toward his friends and ship mates, even when he doesn’t really want to.

Blake Snyder and the “Superhero”


Writers That Inspire

The following authors and screenwriters have been a true inspiration to me … what they write, who they are, and their personal writing journeys …

  • Meg Cabot
  • Ally Carter
  • Garry Marshall
  • Libba Bray
  • Maggie Stiefvater
  • Shannon Messenger
  • Save the Cat! — Blake Snyder
  • The Princess Scribe — Anne Lower

So… Who’s your Favorite hero?

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