A time with 'Silence of the Lambs' Oscar winner Ted Tally ... and a Hot Fuzz tangent
Ted Tally won the screenwriting Oscar for best adaptation with Silence of the Lambs. Here's a consummate pro - who knew that, one fine day, I'd get to do a session with him.
I had been commissioned for adaptation work more than a few times, some of it was produced, some of it was floating in limbo and some went nowhere. I figured I knew a thing or two about this type of work and so, way back in 2014, I offered to do a session on screenplay adaptations at the 2014 London Screenwriters’ Festival. All was set, ticket in hand and ready to fly to London … when I got call that, frankly, freaked me out.
The festival organizers informed me that none other than Oscar-winning screenwriter Ted Tally would join the festival - and that he wanted to be part of my session on adaptations. Ted Tally, he of Silence of the Lambs, All the Pretty Horses, Red Dragon - talk about cream of the crop, talk about top-notch, talk about A-list writer!
What I knew about screenplay adaptations compared to him was probably like comparing a pebble with a mountain. I remember being panicked and thrilled in equal measure. I needn’t have worried. The man was all around wonderful, hugely insightful, entirely down-to-earth and genuinely humble. The session turned out to be amazing.
No need to duplicate what the indomitably intrepid Chris Jones has written - check out his excellent article on the session here. Oh, on this note a pitch is definitely required. Chris is the director of the London Screenwriters’ Festival, an absolute must-attend event for screenwriters. I’ve attended several times and the deeply immersive experience of insights, craft, spirit, warmth and community is something that supercharges every screenwriter at every level. If you haven’t been - the next edition will take place in April next year - get your tickets right now, right here!
BTW - going off on a tangent here - the appearance of Ted Tally wasn’t the rare exception - it is the norm. The writers and directors of many of the most iconic films, blockbusters and buzzing TV shows show up - above image shows Chris Jones in conversation with Edgar Wright - who’s given us, among others, Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Hot Fuzz. And since I’ve just watched Hot Fuzz again, probably for the twentieth time - allow me to highlight the utter perfection of just about every line and frame in that film.
Here’s the trailer and if you’ve never seen it then stop reading this and, before you doing anything else, watch the film now. Not only is it a stellar comedy, packed with outstanding wit and performances, Edgar Wright’s script is just masterful in so many ways. For those who have seen it - here’s a fun way to relive the joy:
End of tangent and back to Ted Tally - the London Screenwriters’ Festival organizers had another gift in store for me - I got to be on stage with Ted for the script-to-screen session of Silence of the Lambs! Imagine that, behind you on the big screen Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling were going toe to toe, while we were going through the shooting script, talked about the film and the various little changes that ended up in the iconic film we all know (from below image it ain’t exactly hard to tell just how happy this here fan-boy was, right?).
Here’s the LSF article written about the session - if you’re interesting in reading more about it → Silence of the Lambs script-to-screen session.
Finally, just a few things that stuck with me from my sessions with Ted Tally:
Ted mentioned that you get about five minutes of respect for winning an Oscar. Hard to believe but I’ve heard this before. Imagine you’ve climbed that particular peak … and now what? There won’t be a helicopter taking you to the next peak - you’ll make your way down and then climb the next one. There are no shortcuts - even for an Oscar-winner like Ted Tally.
Ted also said that everything you’ve learned is in the past - every new project has you starting from scratch. I do see his point, but don’t see it quite that dramatically. After a few decades a few things are learned, a few are clear, a few writing muscles have grown. I do find it easier, and I do find past insights helpful when tackling a next project. What’s true, of course, is that you’ll always start with the same blank page again.
An essential question, before adapting a novel, is always this: “Who is the protagonist?” That may seem obvious but isn’t - often a screenwriter tries to stick too closely to different points of view and thus makes it impossible for an audience to strongly identify with a protagonist. With Silence of the Lambs, Ted gave us most of the movie through Clarice’s eyes. The novel had different points of view - giving us the film that way would have meant a bloated film and a diminished impact on the individual characters.
Never assume the people who bought the rights to a novel have actually read it. Pitch your take on an adaptation as if they’d never read it. I’ve had that happen to me once, hard to believe but true. A production company may buy the rights for a novel based on strong word of mouth, a special pitch, a particular setting, an intriguing character or world, or even just a grabby title... Same old applies - never assume!
Ted’s never been interested in directing but says he’d love to part of the editing process. The final draft of the script happens in the editing room, he says. Never had that particular interest before... but I can see, I can definitely see, how I would find that intense process fascinating and hugely valuable from a screenwriter’s point of view.
Let me just end by saying that yes, Ted Tally has brilliant successes in his bag. He is clearly a master of his craft with insights and anecdotes and connections to spare. But what stood out, for me, was his kindness, decency, humility - a thoroughly warm-hearted human being. I believe that, in the long run, that is exactly the kind of professional screenwriter producers will want to call again for a next job.
