John Fahy has worked on countless films, but his name doesn’t appear in the credits. He’s a script doctor, ironing out the kinks of movies without any of the glory. But that’s not always a bad thing. “A guy I work with a lot calls me his secret weapon,” Fahy says.
What is a script doctor?It’s a high-skilled screenwriter who works with writers, directors, and producers to develop their ideas. We’re writers, we’re coaches, we’re diplomats. It’s not just rewriting scripts, but re-editing movies that have already been shot, writing new scenes, and occasionally directing those new scenes. Seven times out of 10, there are problems with a movie when it’s first edited, so they’ll bring me in to fix the problems.
How did you become a script doctor?I started working for Miramax when they were a small company. If they wanted to buy a movie or a script, they would send it around to execs. I learned how to talk about movies in a constructive way. I got to go to various sets and take pictures for movie posters. I would sit there all day and watch all these great directors. It helped me gain confidence and insight into the storytelling process. Once I left [Miramax], I
Leave a Reply