Write On: 'Here' Screenwriter Eric Roth

“I think [Here] has some of the imagination of Forrest Gump, but
it's not Forrest Gump. It's a different animal. I mean, it has
the same kind of humanity to it, which is what I'm pretty good
at,” says Eric Roth about his latest film Here, co-written and
directed by Robert Zemeckis and reuniting actors Tom Hanks and
Robin Wright. 


On today’s podcast, we speak with Oscar winning screenwriter Eric
Roth about the challenges of writing the screenplay for Here that
mostly takes place in one room, with a fixed camera that never
moves. The movie explores the ordinary lives of multiple
generations of families in a way that many will find relatable,
heartbreaking and, at times, claustrophobic. 


“I'm not sure [the characters in Here] are extraordinary or not,
but they show the length and breadth of what people can and can't
do and when they're trapped. I think when it works that way
dramatically, it's quite lovely and quite beautiful. I don't want
to use the word profound, but I think the [movie] is profound to
a certain extent because it is just about the regularity of life.
And that, from dinosaurs to the future, it's going to keep going.
Hopefully people will find great joy in how they're living and
I'm sure great pain too, but I think that's just sort of the
circle of life,” he says. 


We also discuss some of his other films like Forrest Gump, for
which he won an Oscar, and Killers of the Flower Moon. 


He shared this advice about using subtext in screenplays. “I
think that I'm always trying to find a way to enhance the scene
with not only subtext, but with some kind of metaphor and make it
possibly more interesting as to getting to the root of people's
feelings without them having to vomit out what they're saying you
know. It's not easy, but I think as I've gotten more successful
and more accomplished at it,” he says. 


To hear more of Eric Roth’s advice for screenwriters, listen to
the podcast.