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turning to page one
turning to page one
Kaufman lies face down on his mattress on the floor.
DONALD (O.S.)
It's only five hundred bucks!
KAUFMAN
(muffled by pillow)
Screenwriting seminars are bullshit.
Kaufman pulls a copy of Variety, open to a photo of Margaret, from under his pillow. He gets lost in the picture.
DONALD (O.S.)
In theory I agree with you. But this one
is highly regarded within the industry.
KAUFMAN
Donald, don't say "industry."
Donald, now in the sweater, appears on all fours in the doorway. Kaufman puts the paper back under his pillow.
DONALD
I'm sorry, I forgot. Charles, this guy
knows screenwriting. People from all
over come to study his method. I'll pay
you back, man. As soon as I sell --
KAUFMAN
Let me explain something to you.
DONALD
Yeah, okay.
KAUFMAN
Anybody who says he's got "the answer" is
going to attract desperate people. Be it
in the world of religion --
DONALD
(indicating his back)
I just need to lie down while you explain
this to me. Sorry. I apologize.
(lies down, stares at ceiling)
Okay, go ahead. Sorry. Okay. Go.
KAUFMAN
There are no rules to follow, Donald, and
anybody who says there are, is just --
DONALD
Not rules, principles. McKee writes:
"A rule says, you must do it this way. A
principle says, this works... and has
through all remembered time."
KAUFMAN
The script I'm starting, it's about
flowers. No one's ever done a movie
guidelines, and that's good because --
DONALD
What about Flowers for Algernon?
KAUFMAN
That's not about flowers. And it's not a
movie.
DONALD
Oh, okay, I never saw it. Go ahead.
KAUFMAN
My point is, those teachers are dangerous
if your goal is to do something new. And
a writer should always have that goal.
Writing is a journey into the unknown.
It's not building a model airplane.
Donald stares at the ceiling, fuming. Kaufman waits. Getting no no response, he pulls out his Hegel book and reads:
KAUFMAN (V.O.)
Each being is, because posited, an op-
posited, a conditional and conditioning,
the Understanding completes these its
limitations by positing the opposite...
Kaufman's head is spinning. He puts the book down. Both brothers stare at the ceiling. Donald finally speaks
DONALD
McKee is a former Fulbright scholar. Are
you a former Fulbright scholar, Charles?