4. Coffee is the only drug to write on
Miller: There is a myth that people think, because the stuff that we write is pretty out there, that we must be drunk or high when we’re working. The truth is [that there’s nothing other] other than caffeine, which is a drug. It’s an alcohol-free zone when we’re working. I couldn’t possibly get anything done if we were…
Lord: We’re also like way too square.
Miller: I think if you’ve ever seen either of the ‘Jump Street’ films, you’ll know that we have no idea what it’s actually like to be on drugs.
Lord: That’s exactly true. But coffee’s great. It’s full of antioxidants. The enlightenment wouldn’t happen without coffee and different coffee shops, so that’s very important. Then you’re going to get down to business.
5. Beware of being satisfied with your own work
Miller: Everybody I’ve known that has made works that are great all share in common a sort of obsessive, neurotic desire to make it better, even when it’s already good. And if I hear somebody say, “Oh I’m really excited about my screenplay, I think it’s really great, I’m super happy with it,” I have a bias where I think, “Your screenplay’s terrible and this is bad.” Because the closest I’ve ever come to saying something like that was like, “Well, it’s on its way.”
Lord: That means you think you’re going to win an Oscar. Slow down buddy, don’t get too big for your britches.
Miller: We are very obsessive, never happy and never satisfied.
Lord: We’re telling you that anybody can do this job, but don’t do this job.
Miller: It’s total misery.
Lord: If you can, do anything else. We don’t have any other skills, so we’re stuck.
Miller: So once we get into these scenes, like when we’re talking about them together, we’re asking ourselves a million questions, like “is this scene necessary? Does the story work without it? Is there a way to tell this story more efficiently?”
Lord: Or “I wish I liked this character more” or “I feel like this is a stock move. Is there something more specific? Could we observe something about somebody that we know? Oh, this reminds me so much of like my friend’s mom, and she has this very specific human problem, and how could I express that through like Lego Batman.”
6. You are smarter than a bird
Lord: So okay, this is like our concluding mission statement. Humans are the best animals, right? We are the smartest animals, and our art-making is better than any other animal in the animal kingdom. Except possibly for birds. Right, I’m super excited about birds. This is a Bowerbird, it makes these crazy nests. And if you take one thing and you move it out of the way, the bird will come and put it back. It does this as a mating ritual: it uses our garbage and turns it into like these beautiful things. And the reason that we wanted to show you this is that you are all way smarter than a bird.
Miller: Birds are really dumb. So if a bird can do it…
Lord: Birds are so stupid! And look what they can do.
Miller: But they work really hard to make these crazy beautiful garbage nests.
Lord: And it’s very important to us that people remember that they have this innate ability to tell stories and make art. It’s baked into the DNA of basically every living creature on Earth to be able to do this.
Miller: And all you have to do is not underestimate yourself and work really, really hard, be open, listen to other people, and work your butt off. That’s it.
Listen to the full lecture below.
