Blake Snyder – A Giant Shadow

Less than two months ago, Mark Familton wrote a guest article in which he referred to his work with Blake Snyder. To honour Blake’s memory, today he shares a little more of his experience working with Blake.

I worked with Blake for nine months when he was hired by Screen Australia to consult my sci-fi thriller. We batted emails back and forth about the concept and then embarked on three months of beat-sheets (step outlines). Phew – was that an intense time! The emails flew thick and fast as the new draft emerged.

But here’s something I didn’t expect (or was used to) – within twenty-four hours of me sending him an email, he always answered. Wow – that’s customer service! But Blake was far more than just a conscientious email answerer, he was a gentleman (in the real sense of the word) with a sharp eye for story and a ’sixth sense’ for what beats didn’t work.

I was present at a lecture he gave at the Great American Pitchfest in LA, June 2008 – it was standing room only and the room was packed. Afterwards, I watched as people almost mobbed him, asking him to autograph his books and even asking him to sign their t-shirts! He quietly and politely signed away with a humble smile and a glint of amusement in his eyes.

During our work together, I asked him if this sort of admiration ever got to him. He said he felt so happy to help people but yes, sometimes he did feel a certain pressure. In another email, he said he’d been for a walk on the beach and had reflected how blessed he was to have been able to connect with so many, how lucky he felt to have met so many talented writers and how truly content he was with his choice of career.

A couple of times I received emails which would have been sent by him at three or four o’clock in the morning LA time. I gently chastised him, telling him to go to bed. He replied that ’structure waits for no man’. Such was his popularity and his stature, he was highly sought after by professionals and amateurs alike. It occurred to me that any consultant who had a business manager was someone who wasn’t able to stand still in one place for long. True enough, Blake emailed me from all over America. He had started travelling internationally to spread his method of teaching.

I guess when any person dies, whether well known or not, the question is always asked: ‘What was that person’s legacy?’

In Blake’s case the above shows his true colours – a humble, incredibly hard-working and committed man. The energetic loyalty demonstrated by his devotees proved he had achieved true fame in the world of amateur screenwriters. He was widely respected and admired by his fellow consultants. But don’t forget, he also achieved that most difficult of professional goals – to sell and see his work produced, although he joked that ‘Stop or my mom will shoot’ was completely rewritten by others except for one line, and that line wasn’t the best in the original script!

He was a talented educator for demystifying the nuts and bolts of scriptwriting, making the information so very accessible to so many people, myself included. When I first picked up Save The Cat, it occurred to me that Blake was a very brave man to write in such a casual, simplified style – quite different to many overtly intellectual and therefore, somewhat baffling books on the subject. He could have easily been criticised for ‘dumbing down’ the complexities of writing. The genuine admiration, gratitude and affection displayed by his audience that I witnessed, validated his approach.

I can only talk for myself (with only one script to my name), but he treated me with the absolute professionalism, was incredibly supportive and encouraging of my efforts (with the liberal use of multiple !!!! when he was showing his excitement of results) and extremely patient of my crappy ideas. What more could one ask of a mentor, teacher and consultant? I’m sure he would have been the same with everyone.

Blake cast a giant shadow. He made a huge contribution to the industry. Long may we remember him, his method and his humanity.

Dr Mark Familton

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    Cynthia Dagnal-Myron from Arizona, United States says:

   August 8, 2009 at 12:48

   Thank you for this wonderful memoir. With Blake’s passing, I have lost one of the most magical and magnificent friends I’ve ever had. Blake offered, a few years ago, out of the blue, to be my personal mentor “for life,” on a sort of hunch or whim or…I can’t explain why. But he worked with me tirelessly by phone and in person for a year…and remained a caring friend, traveling angel and mentor from then on. It was just Blake’s way of saying a huge “Yes” to the universe, as he so loved to do, by taking a chance on someone he believed would someday be able to have the career she dreamt of. He just loved people that way. Though I have had some close calls–-most of them due to Blake’s constant caring support–-I have yet to make good on that promise completely, though it was one of the scripts he loved best that I recently optioned. I know that because of him, that day will come. But I can say that without Blake here to cheer me on…when that day does come, it will be bittersweet.

   See you when I get there, you gentle giant you. And I’ll tell you “a story about a man who…” (His favorite way of helping me start a script…)

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    Orlanda Szabo from Manitoba, Canada says:

   August 8, 2009 at 13:11

   A truly enlightening vision of a wonderful man.

   Thank you, Mark

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