Tim McCanlies
Edited by Robert J. Elisberg
Tim McCanlies wrote the animated film, "Iron Giant," as well as the feature "North Shore." He also was the writer and director of the film, "Dancer, Texas Pop. 81".
WGA: Were there any movies, TV shows or books that first got you interested in writing?TMc: Growing up, I was a voracious reader, but I especially loved Dickens, Tolkien, Heinlein, Chandler, even Cheever. As I grew older, I realized certain filmmakers somehow "spoke" to me: Buster Keaton, John Ford, Preston Sturges, Ernst Lubitsch, Billy Wilder... their characters all possessed a dignity, a real sense of humanity. Because the humor in these films all comes out of character, when we all laugh, I think it's because it touches something true and familiar in all of us.
WGA: When you write, how do you generally work?
TMc: I find I'm a morning writer: I get up in the morning, go into my home office, and beat my head against the computer screen for four to six hours... after that, I seem to hit a point of diminishing returns.
I don't play music during writing: it's too distracting... And I am a world-class procrastinator: the Internet is now an enormous time sink-hole for me.
WGA: What sort of characters interest you?
TMc: I really enjoy "ordinary" people, because they're always far more complicated and interesting than you'd think at first glance. In my everyday life, I don't encounter many gunfights and car chases; in "real life", it's the small problems that loom large, and so I find human-scale problems far more identifiable and interesting than, say, asteroids hitting the earth. I find people far more interesting than explosions. This is not a popular or common view.
WGA: How do you work through parts of a script where you hit a roadblock in the story?
TMc: I have no secret answer or insight here: I just tough it out, or sometimes try to go off and do something else. But I don't panic: usually, I can think of several not-so-good ways to "skin that cat", but rather than calling it a "roadblock", I like to think that I'm just holding out for something better...! Delusional? Perhaps. But it works for me.
WGA: What is your best experience as a writer?
TMc: No one "best" experience as a writer stands out. There are times when the words just flow, when a script writes itself before you realize it... that's wonderful (and never happens with studio assignments, only specs... I wonder why?). I remember several times, while working on films in production, when I'd write a scene and watch it filmed the very next day.... and it worked. I think my experiences as a writer are like writing itself: a series of small victories.
WGA: Was there any particular writer who acted as a sort of mentor to you?
TMc: I longed for a mentor in my youth, but I was left to my own devices. I've muddled through so far, on my own... but I'd love a mentor: any volunteers? I do have a number of screenwriters friends, and it is wonderful being able to "compare scars".
WGA: Why do you write?
TMc: Far too many reasons to list here... besides all the "touchy-feely" ones, several stand out. First, I always wrote and loved it, and so it was never a question that I'd do anything else. And: I've worked at many different jobs and trades in my youth, and found them all finite, easily mastered... but writing is the one occupation/obsession that no one can ever completely master.
Copyright 1999, Robert J. Elisberg. All rights reserved. Robert J. Elisberg has written about computers for such publications as C|NET, PC Games, CD-ROM Today, Yahoo! Internet Life, E! Online and the Writers Guild journal Written By. A screenwriter, he is a member of the WGA Website editorial board.
To read other E-mail Interviews return to: Craft of Writing.