How to work with a writer the Carl Gottlieb way
by Michael Dare Carl Gottlieb put it best, though the tape wasn't rolling, we were just hanging out, having bagels on Fountain, so all I've got to give you is my lame memory of what he said. You've got to believe me that Carl put it better because he's one of the greatest writers in Hollywood ( Jaws , The Jerk , WGA hotshot) so he should know. He tried to explain to me what the relationship was between a producer and a writer, or a book editor and a writer, or a newspaper editor and a writer, ANY relationship in which someone is paying someone else to write. The writer knows what he's supposed to be doing, writing, and if he's a writer, he knows how to do it, rain or shine, writing will happen. But his boss? Whoever's PAYING him to write? What do they have to do to encourage the emergence of the best possible writing from their employee? To discover the answer, all you have to do is create an analogous situation, another job where someone is hired to b...