I JUST DID AN INTERVIEW FOR VEJA MAGAZINE IN BRAZIL
for a LECTURE THAT I WILL BE DOING IN BRAZIL SOON!
(It's the TIME Magazine of Brazil and the text is below. Enjoy.)

QUESTION: We’re experiencing some changes with the advance of the
internet and social media. Stories began to be told by anyone and in a
different way, with a small number of words and the help of images and
videos. Can these stories be compared to the “classical” idea we have
of storytelling? Did this new possibility change the way we receive
stories or the way we expect stories to be?

ANSWER: This is a great question and one that we are just beginning
to understand. However, here are my thoughts on the subject.

Yes, more new stories are being told than ever before in history, and
these stories are being told in ever new and changing ways... New
tribal formations are being formed every day and people all over the
globe are engaging others and connecting in ways never thought
possible...

Now, with the rise of all these new stories, it's becoming very hard
to process all this information and thus we have to pick and choose
what stories we want to tell and listen to. And so, the question
arises what new stories engage and stick with audiences and why?

I and the other speakers will be discussing this topic in depth in our
free conference on May 10th. But a short answer is simply this --
the stories that truly affect people are those that still follow the
classic fundamental rules of narratives. These are the same basics
that Aristotle discussed over 2000 years ago and are still in play
today. This is true because even though the way we tell stories
have changed a great deal over the years, human beings
essentially remain the same.

Cervantes, Shakespeare, Garcia Marquez, and all the great story-
tellers knew this. We need stories to help make sense of the
confusion of daily life. Like all great art, they help put the
chaos of existence in order and allow us to have a road map
of how to life.
 
QUESTION: What’s the importance of storytelling your
consultancy see nowadays?

ANSWER: James McSill and I provide a service that does not
really exist today but is incredibly necessary. We are lecturing
around the globe to demonstrate to people that the rise of
things like POWERPOINT are leading to the death of storytelling
in the world today. And it is this very rise of things such as
Powerpoint that are indicative of what is wrong with storytelling today.

You see, Powerpoint allows us to put information in bulletpoints
and lists that seem to be easy to read. But these forms are
actually counterproductive to how human beings process and
retain information. We learn by storytelling, so that much of
what is presented today just filters through people and they
retain little to nothing of it.

Think about it. It is easier than ever to write a story. With
the rise of computers and the internet, anyone can sit in
front of a keyboard and pump out a story in a few minutes.
This is both a blessing and a curse. There are more writers
than ever before, and there are also more bad writers than
ever before. The ease in which computers allow us to create
and distribute stories leads to many people not taking the
time to CRAFT their stories into a powerful and transformative
work of art... And that's what stories should and must be if
they are to survive.
 
What do people expect from books, movies and television
shows? Are there rules or a pattern that can be taught to
those wanting to write something successful? Do this
change over time?

Yes, the good news is that there are rules that govern
storytelling! And the better news is that we will share
many of these rules with people at the free seminar on
May 10th.

We believe that these rules are constant and no matter
how the forms of storytelling change over time, they rules
remain the same. And the good news is that no matter
how talented a writer you are, you can learn these rules
and become a better writer and storyteller.
 
QUESTION: What is the most common mistake people make
when writing a book or a script? How can you guys help them
overcome this problem?

ANSWER: The most common mistake I see is that people are
too nice and too lazy. What I mean by this is that they are
too easy on their characters and stories. They fall in love with
their characters and they are willing to make their lives as difficult
as they must be for a good story to occur. Drama is about conflict
and tension and it is a storyteller's job to discover what is the
worst possible thing that could happen to the characters in
their story and then have that exact thing occur.

And then, even if a writer is able to do this, they usually don't
want to do the draft after draft after draft necessary to perfect
the story. Writing is hard work and most people are not willing
to do the years of work necessary to become a great storyteller.
 
QUESTION: What would you say to someone who’s beginning a
writing career in Brazil and in the world? What is the most
important tip you could give to him/her?

ANSWER: Take your time. Study your craft. See the best movies
from all over the world. Read the best books. Watch the best TV
shows. See the best plays. Write, write, write and then throw
out everything you've written and start again. Think about what
makes your story unique and different than any story ever been
told in the history of the universe and then decide what form
would be best to tell your story -- film, tv, theater, fiction,
non-fiction. Then, write and rewrite and then share your work
with other writers who can offer constructive feedback. Do
NOT send your work out into the world until it is ready. And
then rewrite some more!!!

And expect to be rejected and know that you are being rejected
because you still need to grow and learn more before you will
be ready! Don't take the rejection personally but instead see
it as an opportunity to grow and learn and change as a human
being. This model of learning and growth is the basis for my latest
book that recently came out in Brazil, BE THE HERO OF YOUR STORY,
in which Brazilian Author Eliana Barbosa and I talk about how you
can be the hero of your story if you are willing to see the obstacles
in your life (like the obstacles in every great hero's story) as being
there to prod you forward to grow and change and learn what you
need to learn to become the hero you were born to be.
 
QUESTION: What do you think of the television series that are
on air currently? Do you have a favorite? If so, which one and why?

ANSWER: There is more great television in the world right now
than ever before. I love show like The Newsroom, Game of Thrones,
Girls, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Damages. The list could go on and on.
I think many times the writing is now better on TV than in movies.
I miss The Sopranos and Seinfeld  and love any TV show when a
great writer really has a chance to explore themes and characters
deeply.
 
QUESTION: Game Change writer, Danny Strong, said your classes
were really valuable to him and that your lessons still influence
his writing process. Were you involved in any of his projects
directly? What can you say about this improvement he’s
declared to have had in his writing?

ANSWER: The two movies that Danny wrote for HBO, Recount
and Game Change, are two of the best movies that have been
written in America in the past ten years.  Period. They just
happened to have been written for TV instead of for the
big screen, but that doesn't devalue the great storytelling
in both of them.

Danny did not write them in my class. He was a young writer
when he was in my class and we did mostly exercises that were
a page or two long. However, it was by doing these exercises
and learning his craft that he was able to write such great
scripts 10 years later. I think this is a good example of the
growth of  a writer in terms of big picture thinking and
many years of writing instead of instant success.
 
QUESTION: Can you give me some examples of your work?
For instance, the characters you helped improve, the stories
that you helped develop. What was the biggest challenge
you had to overcome during this job?

ANSWER: Much of what I do is ghostwriting in which I can't
talk about the project and that's okay with me. I enjoy diving
into a story and trying to fix it. All writers, myself included,
are sometimes blind to the failings in our own work and we
must find others to help heal our stories. There is no shame
in this and it is part of the process that we all go through
to get a piece of work to reach its dramatic potential.

So, it is hard for me to think of a project that I can talk
about here, but I can mention this. A few years ago, Sunsilk
Shampoo realized that it wanted to tell hair dramas instead
of just showing pictures of beautiful women waving their
glossy hair around in the air. They knew that to connect
and engage female consumers that bought shampoo, they
needed to tell hair dramas.

Therefore, they hired me to work with the copywriters around
the world to write short scripts for TV commercials that talked
about real hair problems that real women had. These hair
dramas proved to be the basis for the most successful ad
campaign Sunsilk ever had. And for me, this was further
proof of the power of storytelling.
 
QUESTION: How can storytelling be used to improve
advertisements’ power?
 
ANSWER: The story I just told works is an example of how
narrative can endow advertising with a power beyond the
ordinary. There are others, as well, especially with the rise
of the internet and the fact that all brands have their own
websites now which allow for more brand storytelling than
ever before.

QUESTION: You are coming back to Brazil  in May. Do you
know Brazilian literature, movie and television productions?
What do you think of them? Who’s the most promising
 Brazilian author/screenwriter in your opinion?

The wonderful Brazilian films, City of God and Central Station
are two of my all time favorite films. However, they are both
at least a decade old so what this demonstrates is how
unfamiliar I and most Americans are with modern Brazilian
cinema. This is a shame and it's a function of how big
budget Hollywood studio films dominate the screens in
America and keep great international stories away
from American audiences.

However, with the rise of digital media, I think there is an
opportunity for storytellers all over the world to self-distribute
their film and books and get in touch with audiences that
they would previously not be able to engage and connect
with. So, again, we see the rise of the power of good
storytelling to touch and transform global audiences.

In terms of Brazilian storytellers, I am looking forward to
meeting and working with new faces from Brazil. I always
find it exciting to discover new voices outside of Hollywood
that have something fresh and original to say. In fact, I
remember 20 years ago, a shy 18 year old Chinese-American
boy from a little town in Northern California who walked into
my classroom and handed me startlingly wonderful and
original scripts every week. I instantly new that an
important new American voice had been born in my class.

And then just last week, I looked up on the movie screen
and that student, John M. Chu had just directed GI JOE!
It was wonderful to see his name on the screen and to
see how far he has come... But it didn't happen in a
few days, and the majority of successful people seem
to be 20 year "overnight successes."

I have also felt excited about some of the writers I have
worked with in Brazil. For example, I have been privileged
to read the work of a young writer in SP by the name of
Andre Schuck who is developing an animated project, a
novel and a graphic novel that are all wonderful. He
understands Hollywood storytelling, but brings a fresh
Brazilian sensibility to his stories that make them
clever and fun to read.

And James McSill tells me that two authors that have been
published by DVS, Márcia Luz and Branca Barão, are
wonderful writers. And in fact, we shouldn't forget
James McSill and Editora DVS who will revolutionalize
kids books in Brazil with the new literature that they
are developing for the youth market.

QUESTION: Are you working on a new project for a
book or a screenplay? If so, can you tell me something
about it?

ANSWER: Thank you for asking. I am always working on
several projects at once and love to jump from filmmaking
to playwriting, fiction and non-fiction. So, I have just
finished two new plays with American actor, Joseph
Bologna who starred in the wonderful American film
about Rio with Michael Caine, BLAME IT ON RIO. One is a
comedy about a senior citizen trying to use a computer
and the other is a historical drama about Abraham Lincoln.

And I have a new documentary film coming out soon,
Making Light in Terezin, which tells the story of how
theater, comedy, dance and song helped the Jews in
the Terezin concentration camp in WWII survive the
Holocaust. I have also been doing a companion book
to this piece that features all the interviews from the
film in their entirety. And I have two new books that
I've written, a murder mystery and a young adult
fantasy series that I recently finished...

And as I mentioned earlier, I'm also proud to say that
I have a book in print in Portuguese in Brazil that
came out last year, BE THE HERO OF YOUR STORY,
written with the wonderful Brazilian writer, Eliana Barbosa.

Please contact me if you have any questions about this great weekend -- RKrevolin@yahoo.com...