The screening writing guru Robert McKee will devote the final day of his famous “Story” seminar to a six-hour, scene-by-scene analysis of “Casablanca,” which he considers a paragon of excellent writing.
“These days, apparently, I have to offer trigger warnings for you snowflakes,” the screenwriting maestro Robert McKee declared the other day, addressing the participants in “Story,” a three-day seminar he was conducting, at a Westin near LAX, for approximately the four-hundredth time. “First of all, language. I use profanity because I like to. It keeps my energy level up.” Other potentially offensive topics: politics, religion, sex.
Over a lunch break—salad in his hotel room—McKee expounded. “I grew up in the theatre,” he said. “I started acting when I was eight years old.” Later, he got into directing, and directed some sixty plays. In his thirties, he moved to Hollywood to become a screenwriter. “It’s called development hell,” he said. “I had a couple dozen deals, and you can buy a home and put in a swimming pool on those deals. I put my kids in private school. But then the movies don’t get made.