The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

I enjoyed a passage from Tom Hanks' novel The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece so much that I want to quote it here. It's a nice metaphor that enables non-film-makers to get a glimpse of the impossible thing that is making a large scale film. And then there's the small matter of that film finding success, which is about as unlikely as hitting a bullet with another bullet - unless you have a brilliant screenplay that is, and even then all else after the screenwriting needs to be excellent.

But here's the quote.

“Making movies is complicated, maddening, highly technical at times, ephemeral and gossamer at others, slow as molasses on a Wednesday, but with a gun-to-the-head deadline on a Friday. Imagine a jet plane”—I love this—“Imagine a jet plane, the funds for which were held up by Congress, designed by poets, riveted together by musicians, supervised by executives fresh out of business school, to be piloted by wannabes with attention deficiencies. What are the chances that such an aeroplane is going to soar?”

Doncha love that.

If you're passionate about the movies and film-making, Tom's novel is well worth a read.

Happy screenwriting.