"What's so interesting to me about writing screenplays is, it's all about what you say and also what you don't say in the screenplay" - Paul Attanasio

A self-described “poet of pain,” Paul Attanasio has forged a highly respected career as a master of challenging film adaptations. His nuanced and gripping screenplays for Quiz Show and Donnie Brasco earned him Oscar® nominations, and he brought sexy, character-driven life to the Michael Crichton page-turner, Disclosure. The Bronx-born writer created the acclaimed Peabody Award-winning television show Homicide: Life on the Street, and he serves as executive producer of the popular medical drama, House, M.D. Also a frequently hired script doctor, Attanasio most recently adapted the post-World War II novel The Good German for director Steven Soderbergh. In this intense dialogue, Attanasio describes how he went from lambasting movies as a “snotty” Washington Post film critic to developing explosive and rewarding creative partnerships with Oscar®-winning directors Robert Redford, Barry Levinson, and Soderbergh.

DVD Chapters
1. Intro
2. 5 or 6 Scenes and Something In-between
3. It Requires Some Chutzpah
4. That Kind of Dead-Eye Thing
5. A Very Strong Sense-Memory of Cake
6. Really Dumb But Really Shrewd
7. More Drugs, More Fighting and More Fun
8. The Poet of Pain
9. A Sympathy Hole
10. The First Ten Minutes
11. I Got Tight
12. Truth Is in Behavior
13. They Killed Off All the Producers
14. Wrong But Not Stupid
15. Surrendering to My Own Ineptitude

THE DIALOGUE: In these in-depth discussions some of today's most successful screenwriters share their work habits, methods and inspirations, secrets of the trade, and eye-opening stories from life in the trenches of the film business. It's powerful knowledge-straight from the source.

DVD-Video
87 min
Digital Dolby 2.0