Storyteller Interview Series: Will Csaklos
Former Senior Creative Director at Pixar (Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Cars, The Princess and the Frog)
Screenwriter, Story Consultant
If you've ever watched Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Cars, or The Princess and the Frog, you've seen Will Csaklos' work.
As a Former Senior Creative Director at Pixar, he is a gifted storyteller sought out by the best studio and filmmakers. As Pixar filmmaker Andrew Stanton said, "If there’s such a thing as a story therapist, Will Csaklos is it."
Will can see what is preventing a scene or story from working. I listened in awe to several examples where he found the place the script lagged and immediately knew how to fix it. Will is one of those storytellers you could listen to describe his work and never be bored.
Below, is an excerpt from our interview that did not make it into the book. If you loved Monsters, Inc. or Finding Nemo, this one is for you!
To learn more about Will and his work, visit: https://storyrepair.com/
What is your "story first" philosophy?
This came out of my experience at Pixar. You have access in that setting to hiring the best actors, comedic actors, composers, and storyboard artists. You can do the best special effects. But if the story isn’t solid from start to finish and through its core, none of those things make a difference.
What is the difference between Story Consulting and Story Repair?
Story consulting is story-building or evaluating a script for a studio. Story repair is when someone comes to me because their story isn’t working.
An example of this is when Monsters. Inc was in development at Pixar. Pete Docter came up with this wonderful premise of this world where monsters live. They sneak into the bedrooms of little kids at night and terrify them. It’s their job. The Monsters collect the kids’ screams and put them in canisters for fuel that runs their world: Monstropolis. One of the main rules of this world is that kids are toxic, and by no means should a kid ever get into Monstropolis. It would be like unleashing a plague. The two main characters are Sully and Mike, who are roommates and best friends.
When mid-production, Ed Catmull asked me what I thought. I said “It’s sagging in the middle. There are tons of great visual gags. It’s a great concept. But ultimately, it's not adding up to much or enough.”
At that point, Sully and Mike worked in the basement as scare wranglers. Which means they moved around the canisters in the basement. Sully discovers Boo, a child that has gotten into Monstropolis. He begins to care for her and get her back home. That is the event that sets things in motion. It should create fireworks, but it doesn’t because the relationship he develops with Boo and the attempts to get her back home aren’t having a big effect on the world and the people around him.
I looked at that and said, “He has to be the Michael Jordan of scarers. You have to bring him up and make him the top dog. Then when he develops this relationship with the kid, you have this explosion of story energy.” Now the process of getting Boo home puts him in genuine conflict with all the key relationships in his life. Especially with his roommate Mike. Mike depends on him for his status in the world. He gets perks because Sully is a star. That is all in jeopardy now as the relationship with Boo develops.
There is conflict between Mike and Sully. There is conflict with the company. And ultimately there is conflict Sully has with himself as a scarer of children. By making Sully the top dog, you create this scenario where the character generates conflict and complication. Dramatic tension increases automatically. That is what gives a story its power.
What are common mistakes you observe in scripts?
Most scripts come in and they don’t really have this kind of constellation of characters that can genuinely and organically create conflict. Most of the time, scripts, and stories slog in the middle. They have great openings, but not enough rising action.
Finding Nemo was episodic, with scenes moving from place to place. Nemo gets out to the drop off in the ocean and his father is telling him to come back. I suggested Nemo say, “I hate you” just before he is swept up by scuba divers. You know he doesn’t hate his father. But there is tension and conflict to be resolved. That gives cohesiveness to the episodic adventure after adventure. Because you wait for that moment when they will embrace each other again.
Do you ever see formulaic scripts?
I just saw Top Gun Maverick. That was so much fun. You can say that was formulaic with the cliches of the underdog and the injured romance. They made it all work beautifully. I didn’t care they were cliches. I really respected the subtlety and economy that they handled the love story between Maverick and Penny. They don’t go into the back story, so we don’t know their depth or history. But you feel it when he jumps out of her window and then her daughter catches him and says, “You’d better not break her heart again.” That was a great moment, and you get it.
Part of your role is to help people improve on their ideas to achieve their dreams. How do you help them navigate their vulnerability?
I look for what is good in the story. Even if it is a big mess, I will find something. The elements that are working. The things that are strong, vivid, and true. Things that move me. Even if it is just one thing. A scene, a character, a theme, or a line of dialogue that I love and respond to. I try to shed light on those things and come up with some ideas about how we can build on them and how we can expand them.
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