Wednesday, 2 October 2019

Meeting Jurassic Park / Mission Impossible Screenwriter David Koepp

"I was researching a fungus that takes over the body of an ant,” says David Koepp. "It's something my son suggested. Nature has grotesque ideas!”

It's Monday 23rd September and we're upstairs in Waterstones Deansgate where broadcaster Phil Williams will be interviewing screenwriter David Koepp, he of Jurassic Park / Mission Impossible fame, who has decided, “all at once” as he put it, to to go into novels. His first, Cold Storage, is launching tonight.



He reads a segment of the novel, in which hero Roberto finds himself on the roof of a building in an Australian town, where everyone else has also climbed on top of their homes, unless they're dead. And a few people are. “Sci-fi horror, but fun,” as Mr Koepp describes.

"Novel writing is so much easier,” he says, “because you get to spell it all out. You can show emotion.” Mr Koepp goes on to describe the writing process, his answers channelled by Mr Williams' keen questioning. Some days he has zero page days, some days twelve page days. If it's the former, he turns off the internet, something he describes as “the worst thing in the world” for getting writing done. (I concur.) That said, he claims his novel's plot is still “pacey,” like a movie script.

Mr Williams asks, how do you make a virus relatable?

"You can never reveal your monster as a monster,” Mr Koepp explains. “It's just trying to obey its prime directive: to spread.”

But despite the deadly intent, the book is fun, and funny, claims Mr Williams.

"The rule is,” says Mr Koepp, “'would I buy a ticket to this film?' It's the same with a book. My tone is for ages 14-24, when your tastes are formed.”

And on the issue of films, Paramount has the rights, he says, and are in the process of adapting for the screen. Question is, could he have done it himself? “I considered it, but seeing the characters in a script would be difficult. I could feel it growing, getting darker. You can be a lot more dispassionate about someone else's book. In fact my favourite scene in the book I can't put in the script as it's all in a character's head! William Goldberg, who wrote Marathon Man, he adapted his book for the screen but he lamented that his favourite book scene didn't make the film for the same reason.”

The conversation twists and turns through movies to TV, to the advent of streaming sites like Netflix opening new opportunities to actors (“yeah, but should it? We're not in the golden age of TV. I can look on Netflix for an hour and not find anything. Isn't that why I should keep doing it?”) through to being on the movie set of his films (“You're really not needed. It's not how you saw it in your head, and you'll feel like it's wrong. I show it on my face! Then actors want to change stuff!”).

That said, his work on 1993 gangster film Carlito's Way didn't end with the completed script. “(Director) DePalma wanted me on set. Now, terrible things can happen on a movie set, and one of them is Sean Penn.” Penn played Kleinfeld, Carlito's (Al Pacino's) drug-addled shady lawyer. In one scene, Kleinfeld has been hospitalised, and Carlito's enemies may well be coming to find the pair of them there. In the real world, Pacino had just won an Oscar for Scent of a Woman, so the two actors' egos were monumental at this period. The scene in which (spoiler alert) Carlito surreptitiously unloads Kleinfeld's gun, thus allowing his assassination, went through draft after draft, with Mr Koepp dragged into heated debates.

"Al wouldn't come out of his trailer. I was sent in to talk him out. He was saying, 'Carlito wouldn't go to the hospital.' DePalma shouted, 'But we just built the whole hospital!' I had to coerce Al into going ahead.”

The redrafts only served to improve the finished film, though, although, as Mr Koepp explains, the opposite should happen for the character. “The goals are very clear in this scene: to get to Grand Central and to get away. You set the suspense, then milk it. You always want things to get worse for your character. Any coincidences must be bad. Good ones aren't accepted by the audience.”

Mr Koepp worked with DePalma again 3 years later on Mission Impossible. “It was the first movie to have Tom Cruise as the producer. Tom was second-guessing Brian, but on War of the Worlds (2005) directed by Steven Spielberg, Tom didn't question him at all.” He then quickly disregards The Mummy (2017, which he co-wrote, also starring Tom Cruise) as a 'shitshow.'

"I'm 56,” says Mr Koepp. “I'm more tired. Tom, not so. He's full of energy. He'll chest-bump you at 11:30 at night. He'll shake everyone's hand. I had dinner with him in London recently. He'll amaze you with the small details he'll remember about you.”

The audience Q+A weaves through various topics.

Any advice for your younger self?

"I'd encourage myself, but I wouldn't listen... Jurassic Park was a big deal. I'd say, 'I know it's hard but try to forget this one. It's an anomaly.'”

How do you switch from one project to another?

“Know the literature. If I'm writing a spy movie, I'll watch spy movies. I listen to classical movie scores to put me in the mindframe. On Cold Storage I listened to the Dunkirk and The Social Network scores.”

Are you ever surprised by actors or their interpretation?

“A piece of casting can be fantastic or can cripple you, but I'm often pleasantly surprised. I've been spoiled by great directors. I go on set and watch their work. Spielberg does masterful cinematography.”

You've worked with Spielberg a few times. Have you got to a point where you know how a director will interpret your work and does that influence how you write?

“Yes. If they're taking notes it's discouraging: they need to interpret it themselves. During Snake Eyes, (director) DePalma asked for a rewrite so one scene could be shot.” Mr. Koepp goes on to describe Death Becomes Her (1992), in which script he described Meryl Streep's character as 'teetering at the top of the stairs like Wile E. Cyote.'


(Goddamn. How was this film a PG?! HOW?!)

Mr. Koepp is due on TV tomorrow morning. He promises us he'll try and sneak a word into the show for us. An audience member suggests 'persecution.'


I notice I'm 'wearing a fez' just after this picture is taken. Mr. Koepp offers to do it again, but I quite like it.
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