Where are the good screenwriters? (*): Training and self-effort

For Vietnamese screenwriters to develop and keep up with the film market in the coming time, the most fundamental solution is still training, and besides that, screenwriters also need to make personal efforts to create their own image.

"Tripod"

When talking about the solution for the Vietnamese screenwriting industry to help the Vietnamese film market have golden screenwriters in the future, many people in the industry believe that there is no other way than training. In the 1990s, Korea sent many people to the US to learn about directing, screenwriting, production, acting, cinematography, critical theory, design, etc. This initial source of human resources has returned and created a new and attractive breeze for Korean films.

Producer and director Hang Trinh said that in a film project, the producer, screenwriter and director are like a "three-legged stool". If these three have the same level of expertise, the same voice, support and contribute equally to the same project, they will produce impressive works.

In order to become a professional screenwriter and grasp the correct structure of a script, screenwriters must study. Currently, there are not many formal training facilities for screenwriting and most screenwriters choose to self-study with their passion and enthusiasm through short-term classes, learning in the style of seniors guiding juniors. These short-term classes only provide initial knowledge for screenwriters. To progress and hone their craft, screenwriters must study more on their own.

"The scriptwriting team needs many formal training courses and also requires producers and directors to have corresponding abilities. This is to avoid some potential scriptwriters who are not discovered and supported by producers, making it difficult to create quality works" - producer and director Hang Trinh said.

In addition, audiences also need to be educated through the media to recognize what is a good and bad script for a film. Improving the audience's aesthetic level and helping them become more sophisticated in enjoying art is also necessary to help Vietnamese screenwriters develop.

In addition to formal, synchronous training that requires a long time for each step of development, screenwriters also need specialized playgrounds and script competitions to discover potential young screenwriters, such as the "Search for talented screenwriters" contest organized by CJ CGV Vietnam Company. Producer and director Charlie Nguyen once commented that these playgrounds will help young screenwriters gain experience, both to exchange and create opportunities for practical experience.

Biên kịch giỏi đang ở đâu? (*): Đào tạo và nỗ lực tự thân - Ảnh 1.

The movie “Mother Straw” is one of the movies with a good script, attracting audiences. (Photo provided by the producer)

Image Creation

Screenwriter Chau Tho believes that screenwriting is not an easy profession, but requires each person to have techniques, talent, and life experience. In addition to theoretical knowledge from training classes, screenwriters practice every day through works, collect personal materials, and constantly supplement their life experience and self-experience to be able to build realistic and attractive character portraits for the audience.

"Good producers and investors will discover good screenwriters with good works or order good ideas from screenwriters to produce works that are pleasing to the public. On the contrary, to win over producers and investors and gain their trust, screenwriters need to build their image and trust with quality ideas and works," said screenwriter Chau Tho.

According to Meritorious Artist - Director Nguyen Phuong Dien, the situation is that TV stations and producers trust Vietnamese films from Korea, Thailand, films adapted from literary works, reformed opera... more than original scripts. The reason is because they lack faith in Vietnamese screenwriters, doubting ideas that have not been proven by the level of audience attraction.

Experts believe that Vietnamese screenwriters need to make efforts to gain the trust of producers and investors with quality works, attracting audiences and thereby generating good advertising revenue. If they try to do their best in their current work, it will also contribute to bringing a better view to the Vietnamese screenwriters.

"Building a team of "golden" screenwriters is a macro issue, requiring a total effort under the direction of the management agency and of course will take a long time" - director and screenwriter Kay Nguyen expressed (Kay Nguyen is the co-founder of the group A Type Machine - a drama group that participated in many film scripts by directors Victor Vu, Charlie Nguyen, Ngo Thanh Van such as the films: "Mat Biec", "Nguoi Bat Tu", "Loi Bao", "Hai Phuong", "Teo Em" ...).

Meritorious Artist - director, screenwriter Hanh Thuy confided: "A scriptwriter needs to have special qualities such as intelligence, insight to find new stories, good storytelling, must be subtle to predict the audience's psychology, must be strong to dare to exploit the thorns of life, not avoid, not be one-sided...".

"A screenwriter needs to go out into the field to write, the more the better. Whatever the topic, you need to go, listen, and experience to have a realistic, truthful, and life-affirming way of telling stories. If you just sit at home, read information, and imagine, you cannot have the most genuine emotions. Screenwriters also need literary capital, so that when writing dialogue, they can describe the script appropriately. Once a screenwriter creates good scripts and wins over the audience, they will gradually create trust for producers and directors in their scripts," said Ms. Duong Cam Thuy, Chairwoman of the Ho Chi Minh City Cinema Association.

According to experts, building a “golden” team of screenwriters is a long and difficult journey. However, if we don’t start, we will never reap the rewards.

^(*) See Lao Dong Newspaper from issue dated April 5

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