The Dialogue: Learning From The Masters - Bruce Joel Rubin

"Don't do it if you don't love it, and be enthusiastic about your work. Really invest it in everything in your being. Do what has to be done. Get up at 2 in the morning if an idea strikes you, and don't wait to get up at 6 or 7, do it when it's there." - Bruce Joel Rubin

With over 23 years in the business, Bruce Joel Rubin has done it all. From his Oscar-winning screenplay for the romantic-comedy-drama Ghost, to the psychological thriller Jacob's Ladder, the family-friendly adventure Stuart Little 2, and the tearjerker My Life, which he also directed. Other writing credits include Deep Impact, Brainstorm and Deceived.

In this in-depth interview, Rubin delivers some insightful stuff: his carpet-laying theory about writing, the story behind the Jacob's Ladder gut-wrenching opening scene, and which of his screenplays came about thanks to a burrito that didn't digest well.

About The Dialogue Series: 

THE DIALOGUE: Learning From the Masters is a groundbreaking interview series that goes behind the scenes of the fascinating craft of screenwriting. In these extensive in-depth discussions with savvy industry interviewers, more than two-dozen of today's most successful screenwriters share their work habits, methods and inspirations, secrets of the trade, business advice, and eye-opening stories from life in the trenches of the film industry. Each screenwriter discusses his or her filmography in great detail and breaks down the mechanics of one favorite scene from their produced work.

The subjects include Oscar® winners and nominees like Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby), Callie Khouri (Thelma and Louise), Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost), and Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show, Donnie Brasco); comedy masters like Peter & Bobby Farrelly (There's Something About Mary, Stuck on You) and Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel (Parenthood, City Slickers, Fever Pitch); big-budget writers like Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (The Legend of Zorro, M:i:III), Scott Rosenberg (Con Air, Beautiful Girls), and Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich, In Her Shoes); and industry mavericks like Jim Uhls (Fight Club) and David S. Goyer (Dark City, Blade, Batman Begins).

These incisive discussions are essential viewing for anyone wanting to learn the screenwriting trade, film lovers of all types, and industry professionals in other fields. The writers' insights about the screenwriting life are rare and indispensable tools for how to make your screenplays better and crack the Hollywood code: the hard-earned practical and tactical wisdom of those already thriving in the industry.

It's powerful knowledge - straight from the source.