‘Nixon’ scribes unearth secrets of screenwriting and showbiz success

Tuesday, April 23, 1996

Writing team to teach extension course tonight on ins and outs
of fieldBy Cheryl Klein

Daily Bruin Contributor

When "Nixon" co-screenwriter Steven Rivele first suggested
creating a film about America’s most controversial president, his
writing partner laughed.

"I actually thought he was kidding," says Christopher Wilkinson.
"I grew up despising Nixon."

But what began as a surprising brainstorm soon grew into the
three-and-a-half hour epic.

This evening, Wilkinson and Rivele will elaborate on the
creative process that led to "Nixon" as well as the ins and outs of
their chosen career in "Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Six
Evenings with Top Hollywood Screenwriters," a series offered
through the UCLA Extension program.

Rivele and Wilkinson, who have collaborated on several projects,
agree that teamwork is a key element in their success. The two
obviously work well together, finishing each other’s sentences with
Wilkinson’s humor complementing Rivele’s more thoughtful tone.

Wilkinson, however, is not about to analyze their relationship.
"Whatever it is, it works," he says. "Like voodoo. Without the dead
chickens."

It may have taken magic, combined with skill, to tackle some of
the film’s more imposing challenges. From the start, the two felt
the pressures of time constraints. Both writers found it difficult
to squeeze an entire lifetime into the space of an evening at the
movies.

"When we first met (actor) James Woods on the set," says Rivele,
"his first words were, ‘Great job of condensing two million pages
of work.’"

Screenplays differ from novels in that they demand quick
eye-catching glimpses rather than drawn out narratives. "If you
wrote a 15 page scene in a film," warns Wilkinson, "it better have
lots of shit blowing up in it because that’s the only way it’s
gonna work."

Another problem the screenwriters encountered was balancing the
need for historical information with their desire to create a
character portrait.

"Richard Nixon the character was the foreground while supplying
people with enough historical information in the background that
the character appeared against his landscape," says Rivele.

For insight into Nixon’s personality, which emerged as proud but
brooding in the final production, the screenwriters looked farther
back into history than might be imagined.

"(Director Oliver Stone) kept directing us for models toward
Shakespearean characters," says Rivele, explaining that Stone
wanted to portray Nixon as a tragically flawed man with great
potential. "He wasn’t saying, ‘Look at JFK’ or ‘Look at American
history.’ He was saying, ‘Look at Mac Beth, look at King Lear, look
at Richard III.’"

Both Rivele and Wilkinson credit Stone with allowing them
freedom when constructing the script as well as advising them on
structural elements.

"Nixon" offers audiences a complex blend of the many stages of
the former president’s life, using frequent flashbacks, rather than
a conventional linear progression.

"It gave us the ability … to illuminate certain aspects in the
development of his character that contributed to both his public
and private lives," says Rivele. "And contributed to his success
and his downfall."

Wilkinson adds that it enabled them to "see where he started and
how he became the monster that he became."

Though Wilkinson and Rivele attempted to approach the maligned
politician in an objective manner, they felt that much of the
public was intolerant when viewing ­ or sometimes not viewing
­ "Nixon."

"The (Nixon) family, for example, said the movie was a character
assassination and then admitted that none of them had seen it,"
says Rivele. "Rush Limbaugh said it was a character assassination
but admits that he still hasn’t seen it."

In Wilkinson’s opinion, "Nixon will never get a fairer
shake."

Though screenwriting may pose obstacles such as a
misunderstanding audience, these two don’t let it taint the beauty
they find in their craft.

Wilkinson likens the visual nature of screenwriting to both
music and architecture.

"Screenplays are musical in the sense that it requires a sort of
curious sense of rhythm," he says. He offers another analogy,
adding, "The film is the building and the screenplay is the
blueprint."

It is this attitude that Wilkinson and Rivele hope to bring to
the screenwriting workshop, though they will also focus on the
practical aspects of writing in Hollywood.

"Dealing with agents, dealing with producers, getting jobs,
scheduling your work. Those sorts of things," explains Rivele.

To future screenwriters, Rivele suggests doing what he and
Wilkinson have made a practice of: "Have something to say and keep
saying it until someone pays attention."

UCLA EXTENSION: "Screenwriters on Screenwriting: Six Evenings
with Top Hollywood Screenwriters." April 17 ­ May 22 at Math
Sciences 4000A. $145 for the series, $30 per evening. For more
information, call the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program at (310)
206-1542.

Screenwriters Steven Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson created
the epic film ‘Nixon.’