Arts & Humanities Series 2010 - 2011

After last year’s sell-out success, VAA is pleased to announce the 2010-2011 Arts & Humanities Series, a five-event Sunday evening series, 7 p.m., at Blue Heron Art Center designed to spark the imagination and enhance understanding and appreciation of our cultural landscape. Series tickets, $75 VAA members and seniors, $85 general, are available now at 463.5131. This program is organized by Islanders Gerry and Mike Feinstein and is sponsored by Humanities Washington.

Oct. 10, screenwriters Robin Swicord and Nicholas Kazan discuss inspiration they glean from living half-time on Vashon to prepare their screenplays such as Memoirs of a Geisha and Bicentennial Man. Nov. 7, historian Rebecca Albiani offers an introduction to Picasso. January 16, hear internationally known soprano Awilda Verdejo perform African American writer Langston Hughes’ poetry as interpreted musically by 20th century composers. February 20, lyricist, playwright and theatre director Brian Yorkey will discuss the evolution of Next to Normal, acclaimed Broadway musical that earned him the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2009 Tony Award for Best Score and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Score. March 6, noted poet and cultural historian Robert Bringhurst addresses Native oral tradition. For more information, please click on the brochure pdf or call 206.463.5131.

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The Art of Writing for the Screen

Sunday, Oct. 10, 7 pm
Tickets: $18 VAA members, seniors/$20 general (This event is sold out. Please call 206.463.5131 for more information

Robin Swicord and Nicholas Kazan

An Interview with Robin Swicord, Nicholas Kazan and moderator Kenneth Turan
By Janice Randall

Oscar-nominated screenwriters, producers and directors Robin Swicord and Nicholas Kazan recently discussed their passions: writing, Island life and most of all the creative process. They acknowledge that making Vashon their part time retreat more than 20 years ago has played a vital role in their personal lives as well as in their professional creative successes. They will share more in the first event of VAA’s 2010-11 Arts & Humanities Series with interviewer, Kenneth Turan. The Series is sponsored by Humanities Washington.

While Island solitude inspires them, Los Angeles undeniably resides at the center of the film universe, so they split their time between Vashon and Southern California. “Living here puts us close to nature, we love the quiet rural woods; it’s a refuge,” says Swicord who grew up in South Carolina. Kazan was born and reared in New York City, but spent much of his childhood in rural Connecticut. Swicord adds, “Neither of us are big city people.” Their two daughters grew up attending Pirate Camp, Blue Heron art camps and whiling away summer days at Pt. Robinson. Swicord admits that in recent years they find themselves gravitating more frequently to Vashon.

Kazan, son of iconic director, Elia Kazan, says he followed in the steps of his mother, a playwright. “My father considered himself a writer, but no one else did,” he adds. Kazan wrote screenplays for Reversal of Fortune, Fallen, Enough, Bicentennial Man and more.

Whether writing a screenplay or producing their own work, Swicord and Kazan approach subjects similarly and all involve extensive research. “One of the great joys is spending months doing the research, expanding your knowledge and becoming an expert,” says Kazan. Swicord, who wrote the screen story for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, screenplays for Memoirs of a Geisha, The Jane Austen Book Club and Practical Magic among others points to a stack of instructional videos about open heart surgery she’s studying for a current project. “I love to write. To me it’s all kind of the same thing,” Swicord adds.

Steps toward project completion differ, according to Swicord. Benjamin Button represents a 20 year process from start to finish. Matilda, the 1996 film based on Roald Dahl’s story, happened start to finish within one year. “You can never really predict these things; it’s reinvented every time,” she says. “A lot of times you have no idea what will happen; you just can’t worry about the outcome. It’s a collaborative art form. Writing for film isn’t any different than other kinds of creative endeavors.”

When asked what type of projects they enjoy working on, Kazan says, “Whatever obsesses me the most; I’m interested in extreme situations.” Swicord says probably her most challenging project was Benjamin Button because it took 20 years and four directors to see it to fruition. “But I had so much pleasure from it; it opened many doors,” she says. “Other times (as in Memoirs of a Geisha) I have horrible deadlines; that can be stressful.” They both agree that one of the most frustrating aspects of their chosen careers is when projects are never filmed. “They’re all miraculous, that they get made at all. But there are many good scripts that never become movies,” adds Swicord.

Do they ever watch their own films? Swicord responds, “Neither of us goes back and looks at any of our movies. For example, The Jane Austin Book Club
I loved every aspect of it, but will probably never want to see it again!”

Swicord talks about how the movie industry has changed over the past 30 years. “Most of us came into the business because of our love of movies. In the 1980’s the studios became more interested in the blockbuster, so now you see sequels of sequels, video game movies. It’s an interesting time; you have to keep making your own path.”

Brooklyn-born Kenneth Turan, film critic for the Los Angeles Times since 1991, the familiar voice of NPR’s Morning Edition film reviews and USC journalism teacher was once called ‘the guy who hates anything popular.’ “Completely untrue,” he laughs. “I like many popular movies.” Turan met Kazan during their freshman year at Swarthmore College and they’ve stayed friends ever since. He earned a degree in history, then received his MA from the Columbia School of Journalism. “Writing was where I came from,” he says. “But I’ve always enjoyed watching movies, loved film and was involved in the college film society.”

When asked how he dissects a film he says, “ I watch the film, I react with my feelings and emotions. I try to see if the film is doing what it set out to do.” His current favorite films are Toy Story III and Animal Kingdom (an Australian crime saga). As for his all-time favorites, he includes: Children of Paradise; French cinematic masterpiece The Earrings of Madame de… and Orson Well’s 1950’s classic Touch of Evil.

When interviewing friends Swicord and Kazan, he says ’they hope to give people an idea of how it all works---the creative process.’