"Prof. K.'s STORY DOCTOR/CONSULTING WORK
How it works...
1.) Email me what you're writing
2.) If I think I can help, I will annotate the margins of the pages as I read it, giving you instant feedback on most every page. It's as if I am there, coaching you on how to make your script or manuscript better, page by page.
3.) I will then email the script or the manuscript back to you with all the notes as well as a 10 page single-spaced general analysis/critique.
4.) Throughout the whole process, I will be available via email for questions and support.
Let me help you make your script or manuscript as good as it can be!
And DON'T send it out to the world until you have had it professionally reviewed and critiqued. You only get one chance, so make it as good as it can be.
Consultation fee: subject to the size of the job.
Please contact him for details and fees:
Richard Krevolin, rkrevolin@yahoo.com
"Richard Krevolin has a great eye for story. His insight and editing skills are unparalled."
Wanda Morris, Award winning author of "All Her Little Secrets," etc.
How it works...
1.) Email me what you're writing
2.) If I think I can help, I will annotate the margins of the pages as I read it, giving you instant feedback on most every page. It's as if I am there, coaching you on how to make your script or manuscript better, page by page.
3.) I will then email the script or the manuscript back to you with all the notes as well as a 10 page single-spaced general analysis/critique.
4.) Throughout the whole process, I will be available via email for questions and support.
Let me help you make your script or manuscript as good as it can be!
And DON'T send it out to the world until you have had it professionally reviewed and critiqued. You only get one chance, so make it as good as it can be.
Consultation fee: subject to the size of the job.
Please contact him for details and fees:
Richard Krevolin, rkrevolin@yahoo.com
"Richard Krevolin has a great eye for story. His insight and editing skills are unparalled."
Wanda Morris, Award winning author of "All Her Little Secrets," etc.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My book on Business Narratives in being published by Career Press and it's called, THE HOOK, and the reviews and blurbs are already starting to come in.
"For a brand to make an emotional connection with its customers, story telling is essential. THE HOOK demystifies the process." -Terri Alpert, CEO Uno Alla Volta
“I wanted to begin this quote with a glib anecdote about how I took a relatively unknown brand of washing powder and within a few years, incorporating many of the marketing and storytelling techniques of Prof. Krevolin, I transformed that brand into the number one washing powder in the world with grosses in the billions! Instead, I will just say that his teachings contained in this book are an oasis from the same old reheated poppycock present in most marketing seminars and books. Instead of relying on lists of information, his book moves like a good story—in keeping with his emphasis on narrative and storytelling. Learn from him. Enjoy his lessons. Be inspired to tap into your natural brilliance and that of your colleagues!” — Simon Clift, former President, Marketing: Personal Care, Unilever
“Prof. K’s passion, expertise and charismatic style of crafting deeply resonating narratives have been pivotal in unlocking love for our brands, inspiring marketers to be storytellers and build true consumer empathy. His contribution is immeasurable in both immediacy of impact and shaping the future” — Shekar Khosla, Chief Marketing Officer, Kellogg Asia Pacific and Africa.
"For a brand to make an emotional connection with its customers, story telling is essential. THE HOOK demystifies the process." -Terri Alpert, CEO Uno Alla Volta
“I wanted to begin this quote with a glib anecdote about how I took a relatively unknown brand of washing powder and within a few years, incorporating many of the marketing and storytelling techniques of Prof. Krevolin, I transformed that brand into the number one washing powder in the world with grosses in the billions! Instead, I will just say that his teachings contained in this book are an oasis from the same old reheated poppycock present in most marketing seminars and books. Instead of relying on lists of information, his book moves like a good story—in keeping with his emphasis on narrative and storytelling. Learn from him. Enjoy his lessons. Be inspired to tap into your natural brilliance and that of your colleagues!” — Simon Clift, former President, Marketing: Personal Care, Unilever
“Prof. K’s passion, expertise and charismatic style of crafting deeply resonating narratives have been pivotal in unlocking love for our brands, inspiring marketers to be storytellers and build true consumer empathy. His contribution is immeasurable in both immediacy of impact and shaping the future” — Shekar Khosla, Chief Marketing Officer, Kellogg Asia Pacific and Africa.
The full length documentary film,
MAKING LIGHT IN TEREZIN
is available for sale or rental on Amazon.com
To get a copy of the companion book to the film which includes all the complete transcripts of every
interview done for the film,
please click the image to the right.
BE THE HERO OF YOUR STORY
uses stories and story structure
to help you think about the
narratives in your life and how
you can rewrite them.
uses stories and story structure
to help you think about the
narratives in your life and how
you can rewrite them.
Everything you wanted
to know about screenwriting,
you can learn from
"The Wizard of Oz."
Double Click this image to the left
To get a copy of this book.
HOW TO ADAPT ANYTHING INTO A SCREENPLAY
To get a copy of this book.
HOW TO ADAPT ANYTHING INTO A SCREENPLAY
Double Click this image to the left
To get a copy of this book on Kindle
SCREENWRITING FROM
THE SOUL
Double Click this image to the left
To get a copy of the DVD
SCREENWRITING FROM THE SOUL
Double Click this image to the left
To get a copy of the DVD
PROF. K's MASTER CLASS SCENE WORKSHOP
To get a copy of the DVD
PROF. K's MASTER CLASS SCENE WORKSHOP
Double Click this image to the left
To get a copy of the DVD
HOW TO ADAPT ANYTHING INTO A SCREENPLAY
Richard Krevolin's Screenplays
All scripts are finished and ready to shoot!
Rednecks & Bluebloods -- A family of Southerners have to pose as Rednecks to get the Yankees next door to move back up North! This is a romantic comedy that could be shot on an ultra-low budget.
Max Holt, Ultra-Mega-Super-Stunt-Boy! -- A lonely boy who dreams of becoming the world's greatest stunt artist like his missing father, has to use all his stunt skills to survive once the FBI shows up in his school looking for him.
The Wings of Love -- The magic and romance of Like Water for Chocolate with the intrigue of a political assassination. This is a beautiful love story filled with heartache and betrayal set in the time of Leon Trotsky's exile in Mexico. The plot -- Leon Trotsky's adopted daughter, Sylvia falls in love with a man who might have been sent by Stalin to kill Trotsky. Can she stop him in time?
The Fall of '51 -- (Written with Steve Hetherington) Based on the true story of Homer Rice who invented the triple option. Rice turned a bunch of farm kids in Kentucky into state champs. We have all life rights.
Eldorado -- (Written with Morton Reed) Sean Mallory, mid - 40's, has just spent the last 7 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Now, he's been released and he's the only one who knows where a bag with millions of dollars in gold is hidden. Sean grabs the gold and disappears in the middle of nowhere, namely, Eldorado, New Mexico.
UNTOUCHABLE -- (Co-written and will be co-produced by Tom DeSanto who produced X-men and The Transformers.) Larry Hoover, the notorious gang leader of the Chicago’s Gangster Disciples, is planning to launch the largest crime syndicate this country has ever seen and a U.S. District Attorney named Ron Safer is the only thing that stands in his way.
Debergs & The Bees – (Written with Kevin Burke) A funny, romantic, rock and rollCyrano in High school. A shy teen, Peter Deberg, writes a song that ends up getting played on the PA system in school. Next thing Peter knows, the captain of the hockey team claims it as his own and now he needs Peter to help him carry on this charade to get the girl that they both love.
Sympathy For The Devil -- (Written with Morton Reed) Ian Graham is the prince of darkness of rock and roll. When he almost dies, he is in the intensive care unit next to a sweet young high school cheerleader. As Ian dies, the demon that possesses him leaves his body and enters the sweet young girl's body, awaking her from her coma, but also changing her into a much darker soul. This is a low budget HORROR film.
Hostile Takeover -- The human genome is discovered, altered and out of control - killing everyone and thing in its path.
Lawrence of Suburbia – A poignant love story about fathers and sons, ping-pong, politics and pickled herring. Based upon the hit Off-Broadway play, Boychik. This is a Sundance type prestige art picture that could be done on a low budget.
King Levine -- (Written with Joseph Bologna based upon a stageplay written by Rich Krevolin) A modern day Comedic King Lear. A frozen food millionaire has to divide up his kingdom among his three daughters…
Immortality -- (Written with Susie Saary) The Matrix meets Ghost. A beautiful, young nuerosurgeon is haunted by the soul of her lost love inhabiting a world he created in cyberspace.
Naked on the ‘Net -- (Written with Kevin Burke) The day before Jay Birde is going to ask the woman he loves to marry him, he finds pictures of her NAKED online.
Hoops – (Story by Bruce Taylor, Dale Rosenbloom and Rich Krevolin, written by Rich Krevolin) The Bad News Bears play basketball. A multi-cultural bunch of learning disabled junior high school kids give their new gambling-addicted b-ball coach a lesson he'll never forget.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RICHARD KREVOLIN'S STAGEPLAYS
All plays are finished, full-length and ready to be produced!
Bitter Angels – (written with Joe Bologna) This new two-character play dramatizes the relationship of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. It was inspired by the historical fact that Frederick Douglass was the first African American to meet with and advise a sitting President of the United States. He and Lincoln met at the White House three times against the backdrop of The Civil War, yet little is known about what was spoken. This tabula rasa served as fertile ground for the playwrights’ imaginations, bringing to life an important American friendship.
Attachments – (written with Joe Bologna) Control, Alt, cute meet.
One millennial I.T. nerd plus one computer illiterate senior citizen, equals one unlikely attachment. Eileen Roth, a widow who needs to learn how to use a computer in order to communicate with her beloved grand-daughter = hires Stanley, a frustrated video game designer and as they fall in love, they change each other’s lives.
Break Room -- This play is meant to unsettle and challenge stereotypes—and the very moments and ways we get unsettled by words ideas and preconceptions—it is timely. It is the story of a transgender employee at a national big box bulk discount store and the use of the bathrooms at that store… And it’s a love story, too.
Mind the Gap (A Play about The So-Called “United” States of America) – This comedy with music takes place in a playwriting classroom and features 8 students who all have written a short play that comes to life onstage during the course of the class. Their assignment is simply to write a play with 8 of the greatest characters from US history and bring them to life onstage. It’s a funny, crazy, eye-opening look at America today.
The Gospel According To Jerry -- (written with Rabbi Irwin Kula)
Jerry Silver is a divorced rabbi in a Yankees baseball cap searching to fill a personal void. Nia Thompson is a reserved African American woman desperate to lose weight. Their lives intersect when Nia signs up for an Overeaters' Anonymous group that Jerry is leading to get more hours for his master's degree in social work. With just Nia in the group, Jerry must work hard to keep things flowing. A heartwarming relationship unfolds in this funny new play that takes a contemporary look at family, Jewish - African American connections, stereotypes, and spirituality. This play features only two actors, powerful gospel music and wonderful new version of classic Jewish songs.
Adult Ed-JEW-cation: A Comedy that Takes You Behind the Matzoh Curtain & Gives You Nachas --
An interactive comedy in the vein of Late Night Catechism, but Jewish. In this 90 minute comedy, Evelyn Schwartz, a Hebrew School Teacher and Eddie Shulman, a Reform Synagogue Cantor team-teach an Adult Education Class on the principles of Judaism. The play is structured so that the audience is treated as if there are members of the class and so, when they give a right answer, they are given GELT (Chocolate money) and when they give a wrong answer, they are banished to the “Cocakamamie Corner." And during the class, of course, Evelyn and Cantor Eddie argue constantly, sing Jewish melodies and fall in love. The play needs only two actors, a digital projector, a screen, and a laptop computer – and since the play itself takes place in a "classroom," it can be done anywhere quite easily...
The Wings of Love -- The magic and romance of Like Water for Chocolate with the intrigue of a political assassination. This is a beautiful love story filled with heartache and betrayal set in the time of Leon Trotsky's exile in Mexico. The plot -- Leon Trotsky's adopted daughter, Sylvia falls in love with a man who might have been sent by Stalin to kill Trotsky. Can she stop him in time?
Lawrence of Suburbia – A poignant love story about fathers and sons, ping-pong, politics and pickled herring. It was a hit one person Off-Broadway play and at that time, it was called -- Boychik.
King Levine -- A modern day Comedic King Lear. A frozen food millionaire has to divide up his kingdom among his three daughters: one a cold MBA, the other a ditzy artist and the third, a radical, lesbian feminist… It is written for one actor to play the king and one actor to play all three daughters... And was a huge hit in LA.
12 Daze of Xmas-- A raunchy series of 12 comedic monologues by the twelve characters portrayed in the classic Xmas song. So, for example, we meet one of the 7 swans a swimming, but she turns out to be a post-operative transsexual who was once an ugly duckling…
How to Succeed in Art without Really Dying – A satirical look at how most of the great art movements of the Twentieth Century originated in Fouke, Arkansas.
Lamentation (A Play about Our Town) -- A comedy about what happens in a small town in New Hampshire when a sexually confused seventeen year old boy falls in love with his drama teacher while they are rehearsing a production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town.
Albino Black Jewish Lesbians on Zoloft -- A former TV star who now fashions herself as a drugged-out punk rocker is forced to take care of her wheelchair-bound grandmother.
__________________________________________________
One Person Shows:
BOYCHIK: A Play about Fathers, Sons, Ping-Pong and Pickled Herring – A touching tale of a secular son’s reconciliation with his orthodox Jewish father.
Seltzer Man – The comedic and poetic tale of the last angry man left on the lower east side.
The Lemony Fresh Scent of Diva Monsoon – A big-time NY fashion designer, Diva Monsoon, visits her mother’s Miami Beach apartment to clean up after her mother’s funeral.
The Little Man & The Law: The Meyer Lansky Story – (written with Joseph Bologna). The true story of the gangster Meyer Lansky’s life and his attempts to emigrate to Israel. This play is a powerful drama with comedy. It was a Streisand Award Winner and ran off-Broadway for 12 weeks starring Mike Burstyn who was nominated for an outer critics award for his portrayal of the infamous gangster. (Based on Prof. Robert Rockaway's book, But He Was Good to his Mother.)
Love Mountain – A man gives up on society and dedicates his life to painting a mountain.
Industry Focus: Richard KevolinFrom Coffee Shop to Big Screen:
Hollywood for WritersBy Layton Green
This month I have a special guest on International Thrills. I’d wager that all writers have at least one mentor who has impacted their careers along the way, from high school English teachers to professional editors to older writers. I have several, and one of them is Rich Krevolin, an extraordinary storyteller who has spent most of his life creating stories in various forms and imparting his wealth of knowledge to students the world over. Rich is an award-winning screenwriter, author and playwright who taught for many years in the USC film school, considered by most to be the No. 1 film school in the world. Rich has tutored more than 20,000 screenwriters and novelists, and his students have gone on to sell film scripts and TV shows to Universal, Fox, Paramount, Dreamworks SKG and numerous other big studios and production companies.
Many years ago, I signed up for one of Rich’s private seminars and was blown away by the breadth of his knowledge. When I heard he was coming to ThrillerFest to teach the Masterclass on Screenwriting for Novelists, I jumped at the chance to chat with him in person and discuss his fascinating career, the art of storytelling, and the long hard road a novel has to travel to make it to the Big Screen.
Thanks for taking the time to chat, Rich. Before we get to the good stuff, the super-easy, five-step process for adapting a novel into a million-dollar screenplay, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself? How did you come to be the Buddha of Storytelling?“
As a grad student at USC, I was awarded a teaching fellowship and then I created a series of lectures that I started delivering around the country. At one of these lectures, an acquisitions editor, Paula Munier, heard me speak and told me I should write a book on writing, so I compiled my lectures and wrote my first non-fiction writing book, Screenwriting From the Soul. (Years later, Paula actually became my agent.) Once that came out, I was swamped with scripts and manuscripts that people were emailing me. So, in a way, I sort of stumbled into it, or you might say it was thrust upon me as a result of my love of teaching. And I kept doing it, because I enjoyed helping people and it’s one of the few jobs you can do in bed in your underwear.
You’re a published author, playwright and screenwriter. Do you find one path easier or harder than another?
Well, they’re all pretty freaking competitive. Think about it. If you study hard and work hard and finish med school or law school, there are thousands of jobs out there for qualified people. But the arts aren’t like that. Even if you get an MFA in writing, that doesn’t mean you can even make a living as a writer. So, they all are difficult, but today, there are also opportunities that didn’t exist before. You can self-publish, you can produce your own plays, you can make your own low-budget film based on your script. So for the person who loves it and refuses to take no for an answer, there are more options than ever. And recently, I have come to see that I have many more clients who are novelists rather than screenwriters. I think this has come about because of several factor: the spec script marketplace has dried up and there are a hell of a lot more novels published every year than TV and film projects that are produced.
What traits do you think make for a successful novelist? Do you think that same skill set transfers to screenwriting? What else might be needed?
I always tell my clients that nobody writes a perfect first draft. The main thing that separates a published author or a produced screenwriter or playwright is that a real pro is a person who knows what to edit out and what to add to that imperfect draft to make it into something better that people want to publish or produce. And the professional writer understands that there could be many, many drafts involved and that it’s his or her job to take notes and to constantly revise the work.
Which aspect of screenwriting do you think novelists have the hardest time grasping?
In the most reductive sense, novelists deal with the inner lives of their characters while screenwriters must deal with their outer lives. In other words, novels are psychological, while scripts are visual. (And stage plays are dialogical.) So, the act of trying to write a script is a wonderful exercise in learning to tell a story visually and embody the golden rule of “Show me, don’t tell me.” As a result, I urge all my clients to try to write a script or adapt their novel into a script, because the act of doing so will make them into a better writer even if they never get their script produced.
Let’s assume one is thinking ahead, at the story conception phase. What does a novelist need to keep in mind if he or she would like to see a work adapted one day?
Those novels that tend to be adapted share certain similarities. First, they are successful brands that have a following and second, they have great, fresh, unique protagonists with stories that can be produced into a TV or film series franchises.
Do certain themes, stories or genres sell better than others?
I do think we see certain themes emerge as a result of the emotional and psychological needs of today’s culture. Hence, if there seems to be a lack of justice in society, I think you will see that some of the most popular stories emerging will be those that confront the theme of justice. Beyond that, I do also believe that aspiring writers need to think deeply about genres, in general. In other words, if they are considering writing a legal thriller, for example, they need to read all the best novels in that genre and have a deep understanding of what readers of that genre expect in terms of storytelling. Genres have fairly rigid rules and it’s impossible to achieve success in that genre without an understanding of those rules. In addition, with a deep understanding of the rules of each genre, you come to see that you must stay within the guard rails of that genre but also push the limits of these boundaries so that your work stands out and is differentiated from all the other work in that genre.
In your opinion, what are the best ways to generate film and TV interest in one’s novel? I assume mega-bestselling sales numbers is the general rule, but have you seen any other routes to success?
Yes, because producing a TV or film series is so expensive, in Hollywood today, the primary issue in terms of which novels to adapt is one that is based upon the pre-existing success of the brand. This makes sense, since successful novel series already have a large fan base that will be interested in watching the TV show or film adaptation. With that said, the best way to have a successful novel series is to have a film or TV series based upon the novel, so it becomes a sort of vicious circle. The fastest way to hurdle over the fact that maybe your novel is not a successful brand is to write a script adaptation yourself to prove to the world that it would make a good film or TV series.
Do you advise working with a film agent, entertainment attorney, or both?
Yes, like the New York publishing world, the world of Hollywood is driven by agents and lawyers so it does help to work with them. With that said, if one doesn’t have either, there are still ways to make contacts and move forward without them, and then if one makes inroads, the agents and lawyers will happily appear to help seal the deal.
Let’s assume one’s work has been optioned. Do you think it’s a good idea to try to adapt one’s own work? What considerations should be made?
Yes, I recommend adapting one’s own work, if you feel like you have the openness to change. What I mean by this is that yes, nobody knows more about your story than you, but due to the nature of scriptwriting, the screenwriter must be willing to combine characters, edit scenes and make massive changes to the story. Either way, as I mentioned, there is much to be learned about both novels and scripts by engaging in the process, since it will force you to understand both mediums at a much deeper level and since scriptwriting is such a highly structured form, you will be forced to become a better storyteller.
If the choice were made to adapt one’s own work, where would you begin? What resources do you suggest?
Well, without this sounding a bit too much like a shameless self-serving plug, I would recommend that anybody who is interested in writing scripts and/or engaging in the process of adaptation, read my book, HOW TO ADAPT ANYTHING INTO A SCREENPLAY, which presents a five-step adaptation process.
I once heard you say that the screenwriter owes nothing to the adapted work, i.e., to the original novel?
What this means is that the adaptor must not be slavishly faithful to the original work. It is the adaptor’s job to do whatever is necessary to write a good movie and if that means changing or adding or editing out elements of the original story, it must be done.
Any final advice you want to pass on to novelists with dreams of navigating the tricky waters of Hollywood?
Be bold, be daring, tell your story and as long as you keep becoming a better writer, keep writing and revising. And don’t send your work out too early!
Who are your favorite screenwriters?
When I was a film student, I read some of the early scripts of Shane Black and loved them, but there are many wonderful screenwriters out there, alive and dead–Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Woody Allen, Aaron Sorkin, Larry David, etc.
What should we wear to our Red Carpet premiere?
I suggest wearing black since it’s slimming.
To get a copy of the DVD
HOW TO ADAPT ANYTHING INTO A SCREENPLAY
Richard Krevolin's Screenplays
All scripts are finished and ready to shoot!
Rednecks & Bluebloods -- A family of Southerners have to pose as Rednecks to get the Yankees next door to move back up North! This is a romantic comedy that could be shot on an ultra-low budget.
Max Holt, Ultra-Mega-Super-Stunt-Boy! -- A lonely boy who dreams of becoming the world's greatest stunt artist like his missing father, has to use all his stunt skills to survive once the FBI shows up in his school looking for him.
The Wings of Love -- The magic and romance of Like Water for Chocolate with the intrigue of a political assassination. This is a beautiful love story filled with heartache and betrayal set in the time of Leon Trotsky's exile in Mexico. The plot -- Leon Trotsky's adopted daughter, Sylvia falls in love with a man who might have been sent by Stalin to kill Trotsky. Can she stop him in time?
The Fall of '51 -- (Written with Steve Hetherington) Based on the true story of Homer Rice who invented the triple option. Rice turned a bunch of farm kids in Kentucky into state champs. We have all life rights.
Eldorado -- (Written with Morton Reed) Sean Mallory, mid - 40's, has just spent the last 7 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Now, he's been released and he's the only one who knows where a bag with millions of dollars in gold is hidden. Sean grabs the gold and disappears in the middle of nowhere, namely, Eldorado, New Mexico.
UNTOUCHABLE -- (Co-written and will be co-produced by Tom DeSanto who produced X-men and The Transformers.) Larry Hoover, the notorious gang leader of the Chicago’s Gangster Disciples, is planning to launch the largest crime syndicate this country has ever seen and a U.S. District Attorney named Ron Safer is the only thing that stands in his way.
Debergs & The Bees – (Written with Kevin Burke) A funny, romantic, rock and rollCyrano in High school. A shy teen, Peter Deberg, writes a song that ends up getting played on the PA system in school. Next thing Peter knows, the captain of the hockey team claims it as his own and now he needs Peter to help him carry on this charade to get the girl that they both love.
Sympathy For The Devil -- (Written with Morton Reed) Ian Graham is the prince of darkness of rock and roll. When he almost dies, he is in the intensive care unit next to a sweet young high school cheerleader. As Ian dies, the demon that possesses him leaves his body and enters the sweet young girl's body, awaking her from her coma, but also changing her into a much darker soul. This is a low budget HORROR film.
Hostile Takeover -- The human genome is discovered, altered and out of control - killing everyone and thing in its path.
Lawrence of Suburbia – A poignant love story about fathers and sons, ping-pong, politics and pickled herring. Based upon the hit Off-Broadway play, Boychik. This is a Sundance type prestige art picture that could be done on a low budget.
King Levine -- (Written with Joseph Bologna based upon a stageplay written by Rich Krevolin) A modern day Comedic King Lear. A frozen food millionaire has to divide up his kingdom among his three daughters…
Immortality -- (Written with Susie Saary) The Matrix meets Ghost. A beautiful, young nuerosurgeon is haunted by the soul of her lost love inhabiting a world he created in cyberspace.
Naked on the ‘Net -- (Written with Kevin Burke) The day before Jay Birde is going to ask the woman he loves to marry him, he finds pictures of her NAKED online.
Hoops – (Story by Bruce Taylor, Dale Rosenbloom and Rich Krevolin, written by Rich Krevolin) The Bad News Bears play basketball. A multi-cultural bunch of learning disabled junior high school kids give their new gambling-addicted b-ball coach a lesson he'll never forget.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RICHARD KREVOLIN'S STAGEPLAYS
All plays are finished, full-length and ready to be produced!
Bitter Angels – (written with Joe Bologna) This new two-character play dramatizes the relationship of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. It was inspired by the historical fact that Frederick Douglass was the first African American to meet with and advise a sitting President of the United States. He and Lincoln met at the White House three times against the backdrop of The Civil War, yet little is known about what was spoken. This tabula rasa served as fertile ground for the playwrights’ imaginations, bringing to life an important American friendship.
Attachments – (written with Joe Bologna) Control, Alt, cute meet.
One millennial I.T. nerd plus one computer illiterate senior citizen, equals one unlikely attachment. Eileen Roth, a widow who needs to learn how to use a computer in order to communicate with her beloved grand-daughter = hires Stanley, a frustrated video game designer and as they fall in love, they change each other’s lives.
Break Room -- This play is meant to unsettle and challenge stereotypes—and the very moments and ways we get unsettled by words ideas and preconceptions—it is timely. It is the story of a transgender employee at a national big box bulk discount store and the use of the bathrooms at that store… And it’s a love story, too.
Mind the Gap (A Play about The So-Called “United” States of America) – This comedy with music takes place in a playwriting classroom and features 8 students who all have written a short play that comes to life onstage during the course of the class. Their assignment is simply to write a play with 8 of the greatest characters from US history and bring them to life onstage. It’s a funny, crazy, eye-opening look at America today.
The Gospel According To Jerry -- (written with Rabbi Irwin Kula)
Jerry Silver is a divorced rabbi in a Yankees baseball cap searching to fill a personal void. Nia Thompson is a reserved African American woman desperate to lose weight. Their lives intersect when Nia signs up for an Overeaters' Anonymous group that Jerry is leading to get more hours for his master's degree in social work. With just Nia in the group, Jerry must work hard to keep things flowing. A heartwarming relationship unfolds in this funny new play that takes a contemporary look at family, Jewish - African American connections, stereotypes, and spirituality. This play features only two actors, powerful gospel music and wonderful new version of classic Jewish songs.
Adult Ed-JEW-cation: A Comedy that Takes You Behind the Matzoh Curtain & Gives You Nachas --
An interactive comedy in the vein of Late Night Catechism, but Jewish. In this 90 minute comedy, Evelyn Schwartz, a Hebrew School Teacher and Eddie Shulman, a Reform Synagogue Cantor team-teach an Adult Education Class on the principles of Judaism. The play is structured so that the audience is treated as if there are members of the class and so, when they give a right answer, they are given GELT (Chocolate money) and when they give a wrong answer, they are banished to the “Cocakamamie Corner." And during the class, of course, Evelyn and Cantor Eddie argue constantly, sing Jewish melodies and fall in love. The play needs only two actors, a digital projector, a screen, and a laptop computer – and since the play itself takes place in a "classroom," it can be done anywhere quite easily...
The Wings of Love -- The magic and romance of Like Water for Chocolate with the intrigue of a political assassination. This is a beautiful love story filled with heartache and betrayal set in the time of Leon Trotsky's exile in Mexico. The plot -- Leon Trotsky's adopted daughter, Sylvia falls in love with a man who might have been sent by Stalin to kill Trotsky. Can she stop him in time?
Lawrence of Suburbia – A poignant love story about fathers and sons, ping-pong, politics and pickled herring. It was a hit one person Off-Broadway play and at that time, it was called -- Boychik.
King Levine -- A modern day Comedic King Lear. A frozen food millionaire has to divide up his kingdom among his three daughters: one a cold MBA, the other a ditzy artist and the third, a radical, lesbian feminist… It is written for one actor to play the king and one actor to play all three daughters... And was a huge hit in LA.
12 Daze of Xmas-- A raunchy series of 12 comedic monologues by the twelve characters portrayed in the classic Xmas song. So, for example, we meet one of the 7 swans a swimming, but she turns out to be a post-operative transsexual who was once an ugly duckling…
How to Succeed in Art without Really Dying – A satirical look at how most of the great art movements of the Twentieth Century originated in Fouke, Arkansas.
Lamentation (A Play about Our Town) -- A comedy about what happens in a small town in New Hampshire when a sexually confused seventeen year old boy falls in love with his drama teacher while they are rehearsing a production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town.
Albino Black Jewish Lesbians on Zoloft -- A former TV star who now fashions herself as a drugged-out punk rocker is forced to take care of her wheelchair-bound grandmother.
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One Person Shows:
BOYCHIK: A Play about Fathers, Sons, Ping-Pong and Pickled Herring – A touching tale of a secular son’s reconciliation with his orthodox Jewish father.
Seltzer Man – The comedic and poetic tale of the last angry man left on the lower east side.
The Lemony Fresh Scent of Diva Monsoon – A big-time NY fashion designer, Diva Monsoon, visits her mother’s Miami Beach apartment to clean up after her mother’s funeral.
The Little Man & The Law: The Meyer Lansky Story – (written with Joseph Bologna). The true story of the gangster Meyer Lansky’s life and his attempts to emigrate to Israel. This play is a powerful drama with comedy. It was a Streisand Award Winner and ran off-Broadway for 12 weeks starring Mike Burstyn who was nominated for an outer critics award for his portrayal of the infamous gangster. (Based on Prof. Robert Rockaway's book, But He Was Good to his Mother.)
Love Mountain – A man gives up on society and dedicates his life to painting a mountain.
Industry Focus: Richard KevolinFrom Coffee Shop to Big Screen:
Hollywood for WritersBy Layton Green
This month I have a special guest on International Thrills. I’d wager that all writers have at least one mentor who has impacted their careers along the way, from high school English teachers to professional editors to older writers. I have several, and one of them is Rich Krevolin, an extraordinary storyteller who has spent most of his life creating stories in various forms and imparting his wealth of knowledge to students the world over. Rich is an award-winning screenwriter, author and playwright who taught for many years in the USC film school, considered by most to be the No. 1 film school in the world. Rich has tutored more than 20,000 screenwriters and novelists, and his students have gone on to sell film scripts and TV shows to Universal, Fox, Paramount, Dreamworks SKG and numerous other big studios and production companies.
Many years ago, I signed up for one of Rich’s private seminars and was blown away by the breadth of his knowledge. When I heard he was coming to ThrillerFest to teach the Masterclass on Screenwriting for Novelists, I jumped at the chance to chat with him in person and discuss his fascinating career, the art of storytelling, and the long hard road a novel has to travel to make it to the Big Screen.
Thanks for taking the time to chat, Rich. Before we get to the good stuff, the super-easy, five-step process for adapting a novel into a million-dollar screenplay, why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself? How did you come to be the Buddha of Storytelling?“
As a grad student at USC, I was awarded a teaching fellowship and then I created a series of lectures that I started delivering around the country. At one of these lectures, an acquisitions editor, Paula Munier, heard me speak and told me I should write a book on writing, so I compiled my lectures and wrote my first non-fiction writing book, Screenwriting From the Soul. (Years later, Paula actually became my agent.) Once that came out, I was swamped with scripts and manuscripts that people were emailing me. So, in a way, I sort of stumbled into it, or you might say it was thrust upon me as a result of my love of teaching. And I kept doing it, because I enjoyed helping people and it’s one of the few jobs you can do in bed in your underwear.
You’re a published author, playwright and screenwriter. Do you find one path easier or harder than another?
Well, they’re all pretty freaking competitive. Think about it. If you study hard and work hard and finish med school or law school, there are thousands of jobs out there for qualified people. But the arts aren’t like that. Even if you get an MFA in writing, that doesn’t mean you can even make a living as a writer. So, they all are difficult, but today, there are also opportunities that didn’t exist before. You can self-publish, you can produce your own plays, you can make your own low-budget film based on your script. So for the person who loves it and refuses to take no for an answer, there are more options than ever. And recently, I have come to see that I have many more clients who are novelists rather than screenwriters. I think this has come about because of several factor: the spec script marketplace has dried up and there are a hell of a lot more novels published every year than TV and film projects that are produced.
What traits do you think make for a successful novelist? Do you think that same skill set transfers to screenwriting? What else might be needed?
I always tell my clients that nobody writes a perfect first draft. The main thing that separates a published author or a produced screenwriter or playwright is that a real pro is a person who knows what to edit out and what to add to that imperfect draft to make it into something better that people want to publish or produce. And the professional writer understands that there could be many, many drafts involved and that it’s his or her job to take notes and to constantly revise the work.
Which aspect of screenwriting do you think novelists have the hardest time grasping?
In the most reductive sense, novelists deal with the inner lives of their characters while screenwriters must deal with their outer lives. In other words, novels are psychological, while scripts are visual. (And stage plays are dialogical.) So, the act of trying to write a script is a wonderful exercise in learning to tell a story visually and embody the golden rule of “Show me, don’t tell me.” As a result, I urge all my clients to try to write a script or adapt their novel into a script, because the act of doing so will make them into a better writer even if they never get their script produced.
Let’s assume one is thinking ahead, at the story conception phase. What does a novelist need to keep in mind if he or she would like to see a work adapted one day?
Those novels that tend to be adapted share certain similarities. First, they are successful brands that have a following and second, they have great, fresh, unique protagonists with stories that can be produced into a TV or film series franchises.
Do certain themes, stories or genres sell better than others?
I do think we see certain themes emerge as a result of the emotional and psychological needs of today’s culture. Hence, if there seems to be a lack of justice in society, I think you will see that some of the most popular stories emerging will be those that confront the theme of justice. Beyond that, I do also believe that aspiring writers need to think deeply about genres, in general. In other words, if they are considering writing a legal thriller, for example, they need to read all the best novels in that genre and have a deep understanding of what readers of that genre expect in terms of storytelling. Genres have fairly rigid rules and it’s impossible to achieve success in that genre without an understanding of those rules. In addition, with a deep understanding of the rules of each genre, you come to see that you must stay within the guard rails of that genre but also push the limits of these boundaries so that your work stands out and is differentiated from all the other work in that genre.
In your opinion, what are the best ways to generate film and TV interest in one’s novel? I assume mega-bestselling sales numbers is the general rule, but have you seen any other routes to success?
Yes, because producing a TV or film series is so expensive, in Hollywood today, the primary issue in terms of which novels to adapt is one that is based upon the pre-existing success of the brand. This makes sense, since successful novel series already have a large fan base that will be interested in watching the TV show or film adaptation. With that said, the best way to have a successful novel series is to have a film or TV series based upon the novel, so it becomes a sort of vicious circle. The fastest way to hurdle over the fact that maybe your novel is not a successful brand is to write a script adaptation yourself to prove to the world that it would make a good film or TV series.
Do you advise working with a film agent, entertainment attorney, or both?
Yes, like the New York publishing world, the world of Hollywood is driven by agents and lawyers so it does help to work with them. With that said, if one doesn’t have either, there are still ways to make contacts and move forward without them, and then if one makes inroads, the agents and lawyers will happily appear to help seal the deal.
Let’s assume one’s work has been optioned. Do you think it’s a good idea to try to adapt one’s own work? What considerations should be made?
Yes, I recommend adapting one’s own work, if you feel like you have the openness to change. What I mean by this is that yes, nobody knows more about your story than you, but due to the nature of scriptwriting, the screenwriter must be willing to combine characters, edit scenes and make massive changes to the story. Either way, as I mentioned, there is much to be learned about both novels and scripts by engaging in the process, since it will force you to understand both mediums at a much deeper level and since scriptwriting is such a highly structured form, you will be forced to become a better storyteller.
If the choice were made to adapt one’s own work, where would you begin? What resources do you suggest?
Well, without this sounding a bit too much like a shameless self-serving plug, I would recommend that anybody who is interested in writing scripts and/or engaging in the process of adaptation, read my book, HOW TO ADAPT ANYTHING INTO A SCREENPLAY, which presents a five-step adaptation process.
I once heard you say that the screenwriter owes nothing to the adapted work, i.e., to the original novel?
What this means is that the adaptor must not be slavishly faithful to the original work. It is the adaptor’s job to do whatever is necessary to write a good movie and if that means changing or adding or editing out elements of the original story, it must be done.
Any final advice you want to pass on to novelists with dreams of navigating the tricky waters of Hollywood?
Be bold, be daring, tell your story and as long as you keep becoming a better writer, keep writing and revising. And don’t send your work out too early!
Who are your favorite screenwriters?
When I was a film student, I read some of the early scripts of Shane Black and loved them, but there are many wonderful screenwriters out there, alive and dead–Billy Wilder, Preston Sturges, Woody Allen, Aaron Sorkin, Larry David, etc.
What should we wear to our Red Carpet premiere?
I suggest wearing black since it’s slimming.