My Big Fat Greek Wedding - Truby on Technique

By John Truby

Truby's Breakdown -- 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'

Breakdown: an analysis of story techniques and structure as viewed through the eyes of the Seven Steps and 22 Building Blocks contained in Truby's Blockbuster story development software.

~~ My Big Fat Greek Wedding

The script for this film, written by the lead actress, is very funny, even though it covers familiar ground.

It confirmed for me a valuable lesson for the writer: find the gold in your idea and stick with it.

This is a love story. Yet, unlike the normal Hollywood love story, there is almost no time spent on the courtship.

Why? Because the writer understood that the comic gold in this idea is the contrast of the crazy Greek family and her WASP boyfriend and parents.

The lead character is quite normal relative to her family. So the moments between her and her almost perfect boyfriend, while sweet, produce little comedy.

Best to get that stuff out of the way as quickly as possible so the real comic machine can produce as many laughs as possible. The result is a very funny indie hit.

Meet the Author: John Truby

John Truby is Hollywood’s premiere story consultant and founder of Truby’s Writers Studio. He has worked as a story consultant and script doctor for Disney Studios, Sony Pictures, FOX, and HBO, among others, and has taught his 22-Step Great Screenwriting and Genre classes to over 20,000 students worldwide.