John Truby

Last updated
John Truby
Occupation(s)screenwriter, film director, author and screenwriting lecturer
Notable workAnatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller
Website truby.com

John Truby (born 1952) is an American screenwriter, director, screenwriting teacher and author. [1] He has served as a consultant on over 1,000 film scripts over the past three decades, and is also known for the screenwriting software program Blockbuster (originally "Storyline Pro"). He is the author of Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller, a book about screenwriting skills.

Contents

Screenwriting career

In the 1980s, Truby received his first credits, writing three episodes of 21 Jump Street , as well as serving as a story editor. He later received a co-writer credit on the 2011 Disneynature documentary film African Cats . [2] [3] A portion of the proceeds for the film were donated to the African Wildlife Foundation and their effort to preserve Kenya's Amboseli Wildlife Corridor. [4]

Teaching

Unlike many authors and teachers on the subject, Truby is critical of Syd Field's three-act "Paradigm", viewing it as a mechanical means of storytelling, and argues that most teachers of screenwriting emphasize inner transformation of characters but not the moral effect their actions have on others. Instead, Truby crafted his own 22-step outline, which formed the basis of Truby's first book, The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller published in October, 2007 by Faber and Faber. [5]

Truby has since spun off his techniques into worldwide Masterclasses. [6] [7] [8]

Works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Film genre</span> Classification of films based on similarities in narrative elements

A film genre is a stylistic or thematic category for motion pictures based on similarities either in the narrative elements, aesthetic approach, or the emotional response to the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Goldman</span> American novelist, screenwriter and playwright

William Goldman was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. He won Academy Awards for his screenplays Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and All the President's Men (1976).

High concept is a type of artistic work that can be easily pitched with a succinctly stated premise. It can be contrasted with low concept, which is more concerned with character development and other subtleties that are not as easily summarized. The origin of the term is disputed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Priest (novelist)</span> British author

Christopher Priest is a British novelist and science fiction writer. His works include Fugue for a Darkening Island, The Inverted World, The Affirmation, The Glamour, The Prestige, and The Separation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antagonist</span> Character of a work actively opposing the protagonist

An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief enemy of the protagonist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Schrader</span> American film director

Paul Joseph Schrader is an American screenwriter, film director, and film critic. He first received widespread recognition through his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). He later continued his collaboration with Scorsese, writing or co-writing Raging Bull (1980), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), and Bringing Out the Dead (1999). Schrader has also directed 24 films, including Blue Collar (1978), Hardcore (1979), American Gigolo (1980), Cat People (1982), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Light Sleeper (1992), Affliction (1997), and First Reformed (2017); the latter earned him his first Academy Award nomination. Schrader's work is known for its frequent depiction of alienated men struggling through existential crises, a premise known as "God’s lonely man."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screenwriting</span> Art and craft of writing screenplays

Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession.

The Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden is a sculpture garden at the Quadrangle in Springfield, Massachusetts, which honors Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, who was born in Springfield in 1904. The monument was designed by Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, the author's stepdaughter, and created by sculptor and artist Ron Henson.

Stephen Volk is a Welsh screenwriter and novelist who specializes in the horror genre. He wrote the screenplays for numerous horror films, including Ken Russell's Gothic (1986), The Kiss (1988), and William Friedkin's The Guardian (1990). In 1992, Volk wrote the teleplay for the BBC mockumentary Ghostwatch. Other screenwriting credits include Octane (2003) and The Awakening (2011).

A scene is a dramatic part of a story, at a specific time and place, between specific characters. The term is used in both filmmaking and theatre, with some distinctions between the two.

A setting is the time and geographic location within a narrative, either non-fiction or fiction. It is a literary element. The setting initiates the main backdrop and mood for a story. The setting can be referred to as story world or milieu to include a context beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. Elements of setting may include culture, historical period, geography, and hour. Along with the plot, character, theme, and style, setting is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction.

John Skipp is a splatterpunk horror and fantasy author and anthology editor, as well as a songwriter, screenwriter, film director, and film producer. He collaborated with Craig Spector on multiple novels, and has also collaborated with Marc Levinthal and Cody Goodfellow. He worked as editor-in-chief of both Fungasm Press and Ravenous Shadows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alastair Fothergill</span> British TV producer

Alastair David William Fothergill is a British producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema. He is the series producer of the series The Blue Planet (2001), Planet Earth (2006) and the co-director of the associated feature films Deep Blue and Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Tse</span> American screenwriter (born 1976)

Alex Tse is an American screenwriter who wrote the 2004 gangster film Sucker Free City, co-wrote the 2009 superhero film Watchmen, and wrote the 2018 film Superfly. He is also a writer and executive producer for the 2019 series Wu-Tang: An American Saga.

Disneynature is an independent film studio that specializes in the production of nature documentary films for Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The production company was founded on April 21, 2008, and is headquartered in Paris, France.

Blake Snyder was an American screenwriter, consultant, author and educator based in Los Angeles. His screenplays include the comedies Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) and Blank Check (1994).

<i>African Cats</i> 2011 American documentary film

African Cats is a 2011 nature documentary film about a pride of lions and a family of cheetahs trying to survive in the African savannah directed by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey. The film was released theatrically by Disneynature on Earth Day, April 22, 2011. The film is narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. A portion of the proceeds for the film were donated to the African Wildlife Foundation and their effort to preserve Kenya's Amboseli Wildlife Corridor. The film's initiative with the African Wildlife Foundation is named "See African Cats, Save the Savanna," and as of May 2, 2011, ticket sales translated into 50,000 acres of land saved in Kenya.

Keith Scholey is a British producer of nature documentaries for television and cinema, and a former television executive. He is the joint series producer of the Netflix original documentary series Our Planet, the joint director and executive producer of David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, and executive producer of Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet. He is the executive producer of the 2021 BBC / Discovery series A Perfect Planet, The Mating Game and The Earthshot Prize: Repairing Our Planet. He also co-directed African Cats, Bears, and Dolphin Reef with Alastair Fothergill for Disneynature, and is also the executive producer of the series North America for the Discovery Channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felicia Pride</span> American author, educator, and entrepreneur

Felicia Pride is an American author, screenwriter, producer, and director. She is the author of six books, including the young adult novel Patterson Heights. Pride has written for the television shows Queen Sugar and Grey's Anatomy. Her 2020 directorial debut tender received the STARZ/Lionsgate Short Film Award at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anjum Rajabali</span>

Anjum Rajabali is a veteran Indian screenwriter and teacher. He has written films like Drohkaal (1994), Ghulam (1998), The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002) and Raajneeti (2010). He is also known for his leadership and lobbying for the rights of Indian screenwriters, as a senior activist of the Screenwriters Association, India.

References

  1. Ward, Lewis. "Interview: John Truby on Screenwriting and Breaking In". Script Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. Retrieved 2007-07-31.
  2. "African Cats (2011)". The Wrap . Archived from the original on December 3, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  3. "Upcoming releases: 'African Cats,' 'Potiche'". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  4. Kilday, Gregg (2009-05-19). "Disneynature starts up two new films". Hollywoodreporter.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  5. 1 2 "Nonfiction Book Review: The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby, Author Faber & Faber $30 (445p) ISBN 978-0-86547-951-7".
  6. "News".
  7. "John Truby TV DRAMA Masterclass". Archived from the original on 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  8. "John Truby's The Anatomy of Story Master Class". www.writersstore.com. Archived from the original on 2011-02-13.
  9. "The Anatomy of Genres". Macmillan. Retrieved 2022-09-27.