David S. Goyer | BAFTA Screenwriters' Lecture Series 

I really love those lectures. For anyone who think they can just write one thing , send it over and make it big. Think again. This is a passion, you got it or you dont.

4:42 so that was where this coming from Alfred : why do we fall sir? alfred : so that we can learn to pick ourselves up

Extremely helpful for any aspiring writer. Thank you for the upload!

Why the jokes and disparaging comments at Van Damme's expense if this is the person responsible for kick-starting your career?

I love hearing storytellers tell their own stories. This is so inspiring. Serious moxie, that guy.

Love this guy.

Spawn came before Blade, by a year - and that was the first Anti-Hero film that did well with a black actor.

Really good. Looking forward to the other lectures.

Death Warrant is underrated, it is fucking classic ! Goyer is one of the top writers in hollywood. It is actually one of the best Van Damme films.. that and Universal Soldier and Timecop.

Great episode. A lot of great info. Thanks for posting.

At 23-24 min: YES, Goyer literally says it! That level of sincere and real writing and wanting to give a character a real arc, THAT is why Man of Steel is a brilliant reboot. And this gives me so much faith its sequels are going to show how great Man of Steel is as a setup film.

I loved Man of Steel, and have painstakingly defended the decision to have Superman kill Zod. But Goyer's reasoning for doing it is messy and all over the place. This "crutch" that exists "outside of the narrative" that he speaks of is there for a reason. I'm surprised that, with the 10 things that he's narrowed down Superman always is, "always finding a way" (especially, when it comes to not killing his enemies) doesn't seem to be one of them. It exists outside of the narrative because the character is bigger than any single storyline's narrative, and him not killing has been held to be iconically synonymous with the character for at least twenty-plus years now. Story after story have been written focusing on Superman's dilemma of whether or not to kill. He always either doesn't kill (What's so Funny about Truth, Justice, and the American Way?), or kills and stops or damn nearly stops being Superman (Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow; John Byrne's "The Man of Steel"). Several generations of writers have solidified the idea that killing his enemies is an act not worthy of Superman, so it is extremely off-putting that in this new cinematic franchise, Superman "Begins", so to speak, by killing someone. Besides, elsewhere in Man of Steel's story, Goyer seems to abandon the whole "no crutch from outside the narrative" rule anyway. He keeps saying that Superman has to hold himself to a higher standard because people idolize him, but that is an idea of Superman that is coming from outside MoS's narrative. There is nothing in the movie to make us believe without the shadow of a doubt that people will idolize him. If anything, all the destruction that he was part of, have opened up Lex Luthor gaining momentum in instilling fear of the "alien" among the human population. And also, a big part of what makes it okay, for me, that Superman killed Zod is because John Byrne did it in the comics in the 80s, which was something external to MoS' narrative that they obviously drew from anyway.

is there a longer version of this interview?

Anyone know what are Goyer's Ten 'Sticky' Elements of Batman and Superman that he insisted they don't change?!!!

There's a Horror Screenplay Contest on 13Horror com which is open now if anyone here is interested.

i think he's talking from his perspective, naturally, s a hollywood writer. I think that if you aren't aspiring to be a hollywood writer or a BFI writer, th international scene is incredibly inspiring and expansive-with the advent o more accessible technologies people are making films all over the world in the most unexpected places. Hell, it doesn't take much to see this. Just look the fucking incredible films to come out of 2019; the orphanage, portrait of a lady on fire, woman at war, beanpole, the truth, bacurau. I mean, fuck this is a better time than any to make films! it seems the more profit-driven entities are shifting toward television.

I have yet to see a single movie that Goyer was a part of that was good.

Great episode, thank you. :)

david probably reads youtube comments

So true on what his said about TV shows. Nowadays television shows are getting better and better. I think tv shows have a better advantage then movies, which is building characters and stories for those characters. Another thing I've been noticing is that popular tv shows that everyone talks about; are popular because they have great and interesting characters that you grow a strong connection for. And when you look at movies that do great in the box office, lots of them are garbage. Because people don't go to the theater for a good story with good characters, but they go for pointless action, stupid humor, some sex and explosions every second.

I came here for insights and inspiration, but now I just want to hear David S. Goyer talk about Jean Claude van Damme for 2h.

Awesome interview :)

Good advice if your goal is to write shows that never win awards and are canceled early.

A massive thank you to David S. Goyer and BAFTA Guru for this fantastic lecture and interview. Goyer has to be one of the top three most inspiring screenwriters of the 21st century.

and She Hulk replied: SHEHULK v. GOYER

Insightful interview. I have long been a fan of Superman and Batman, and his versions were true to the spirit of both but modernized with a new fresh vision. I loved it. Thanks BAFTA for the interview. I look forward to more.

He ruined BvS :((

I admit, I have issues with Man of Steel's structure and Pa Kent's "lessons". But I thought the film had some redeeming qualities. And Superman did kill Zod in the comics. Honestly, my favorite part of this entire lecture was hearing that Christopher Nolan also procrastinates.

batman vs superman better be good baby

I ran out and bought a copy of the Blade script after seeing the movie. He has a great screenwriting style

Man of Steel is my favorite movie written by Goyer, probably followed by Batman Begins.

He's a great screenwriter and a great person, oh how awesome would it be having him as a mentor

Haha this dude said Anthony Weiner instead of Matther Weiner.

AWESOME! ...... but you didn't honor Superman's Clark Kent identity, did you? :-) He walks into a journalism job with ZERO training at the end of the movie. That alone.

MARTHA

Although I think that Superman killing Zod was a good and necessary choice, the way it was executed in the film was bad. We don't see it have an actual effect on Superman's character, all he does is scream and cry in Lois' arms for a few seconds. In the next scene, he's acting all normal and happy as if he hadn't just killed the last member of his species and that Metropolis wasn't obliterated.

I would like to see Goyer write the scripts for a Power Rangers reboot trilogy, an X-men Reboot trilogy, and a Outsiders movie trilogy!

This guy is not a good writer.

A lot of jelly haters in the comments hahaha

My god this guy writes terrible scripts. I was crushed when I found out he's writing the new Terminator movie. Just look at his Rotten Tomatoes track record, just terrible... why you would hire this guy for anything is beyond me.

He is a good writer but a terrible public speaker. He literally read the whole thing. Awful and so disrespectful to the audience.