Via @twilightus

This is the 3rd post today about Melissa Rosenberg…..

Screenwriter of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, Melissa Rosenberg will be appearing at the Writers Guild Foundation for an exclusive interview with Gina Piccalo of the LA Times on July 6^th.

This is your chance to hear how Rosenberg’s career (Dexter, Ally McBeal, The O.C., etc.) led to the opportunity to adapt the series, and what it’s meant for her.

Tickets are now available for the Live Online Streaming!

http://wgfoundation.payperlive.com/event
MELISSA ROSENBERG – screenwriter of the TWILIGHT SAGA (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse)
Tuesday, July 6 – 7:30pm
At the WGF/WGA headquarters, 7000 W 3rd St, Los Angeles 90048
With Dessert Reception and Free Parking in the underground lot.

For more information please go to http://www.wgfoundation.org/events.aspx

From Melissa Rosenberg’s Facebook, a chance to win signed Twilight Saga scripts:

We’ve crossed over 10,000 fans! You are all so amazing, and to express my gratitude, I want to start a little contest.
If you can all recruit your friends and we get to 20,000 fans by the time the film opens on June 30, I will send three people a signed copy of the script for either TWILIGHT, NEW MOON, or ECLIPSE.
So get all your friends involved – only nine more days to go!

Sign up and let us know if you win!!!!!!

David Slade, Melissa Rosenberg & Wyck Godfrey go into the background of the movies in this press interview. Very Interesting! Wyck came up with Edward’s “Does he own a shirt?” line, which is so great to Team Edward fans. Also they talk about a few scenes they plan to put on the Eclipse DVD!  Right at the end of the interview, Rosenberg make some comments on future Twilight Saga movies. Go read it and see what you think she is saying.
Here are a few portions that I thought were particularly interesting from the interview:
(Click here to read it all.)

Q: David, what were the specific changes you wanted to make, going into the film?

David: With Edward, I really wanted to make sure this character was dangerous. In the last movie, he had played a different character arc, but in this movie, I wanted to bring out the carnivore in him. That had to come throughout the film, and he hadn’t really done that so much. That was the main thing. I tried to look at every scene, with that in mind. Underlying everything is danger. That was the intention.

Q: Do you have any special features or extras planned for the DVD?

Wyck: There’s the nude scene we shot that wasn’t in the book. No. I don’t know. With any film, you go through the process of editing it down to its fighting weight and, ultimately, you’re going to have some scenes that didn’t end up in the movie.

David: There were a number of scenes which just felt excessive, in terms of beating the same story, but some of them were really nice.

David: What happens is that the film has its own momentum from the script. When you start going, by the time you hit the third act, you’re just blasting along, and that scene just came to a stop. But, it’s a beautiful scene that’s beautifully performed, and it’ll be a nice little bonus for fans of the book.

Wyck: I think there’s going to be a lot of classic behind-the-scenes stuff, where you’re going to get to see how we did most of the action and stunts in the movie, and a lot of the CG process. That stuff will flesh out the experience for audiences that do like to go behind the camera and see how it’s all done.

Melissa: It’s interesting, when I did the first Twilight movie, I actually wrote it before it was cast. I was writing in a vacuum, and it actually had a lot of humor in it. And then, we realized, as we got it on actors, that it just wasn’t appropriate. But, now the actors are more comfortable with it and I think the story lends itself to that. Wyck actually came up with the best line in the movie, “Does he own a shirt?” There’s a confidence level in the storytelling now.

And this:

Q: With the wealth of backstory and appetite for more Twilight, would you see doing movies on Alice or any of the other characters, with Stephenie’s approval?

Melissa: I think she’s going to do that. I would look at anything she wrote. If this series is going to expand, it will be by her doing.

Q: Will it always be book first?

Melissa: I would think it would be. I haven’t even thought of it, but I would think it would have to be book first.

Matt Donnelly of the LA Times interviewed Melissa Rosenberg about the script for Breaking Dawn I and II.  Here is a portion of what she had to say in that interview. 
Of note, pre-production begins July 1.  Also, Stephenie Meyer supports her bringing invention into the storyline. 
Remember my question about how you feel about them going “off book”? 
And maybe the birth scene will be “fade to black”?  That portion she is leaving up to Bill Condon though! (Click here for that interview.)

Melissa Rosenberg: It’s going really well — it’s a very big challenge. It’s just thick with mythology and characters and choosing which stories to bring forward. It’s a beast, but I think it’s going well.

MoG: Stephenie Meyer has been consulting on the films from the start. Given this is the final chapter, what are her major priorities for the fans?

MR: She has always only demanded one thing, and that is that we adapt the book. All of her really big boundaries have to do with just adapting the book. That said, she isn’t terribly precious about things. She’s supportive of my bringing invention to it.

MoG: Speaking of which, [spoiler alert!] fans are crazy over Bella losing her virginity, the graphic birth of her and Edward’s child, and her vampire transformation. Any idea how you’ll handle such serious imagery?

MR: On the fan site, on Facebook, all the comments are “It has to be R rated! You have to show the childbirth! Gore and guts and sex!” For me it’s actually more interesting to not see it. You know, you can do childbirth without seeing childbirth … it doesn’t mean it’s any less evocative of an experience.

MoG: Kristen Stewart arguably has the most work to do in the final films. Is she up to the challenge?

MR: Kristen Stewart is really, I think, tremendous. And one of the reasons why we got Bill Condon. And Chris Weitz, for that matter; they all want to work with her.

MoG: A lot of the fans credit you with giving Bella more backbone in the films than she has in the books. Was that something you did actively?

MR: That’s something I did very consciously. What’s interesting is that it’s all there — the strength was there, it was just kind of tearing away some things. You know, she’s human. She doesn’t have the physical strength of Edward and all of them. So how do you make the character strong when she’s physically vulnerable? There really is a goal to give her stamina and other strengths. She really is a role model.

MoG: Your prior credits ["Dexter," "Ally McBeal"] definitely incorporate strong females. Is that a place you’ll return to after “Twilight” is done?

MR: Absolutely. What I really want to do is create great roles for women. And I’m not talking Nicholas Sparks romance. I think women’s roles have gotten ghettoized in these sort of places. … I’m thinking women in action, comic books, or like the Tony Soprano of women. We need some complex roles.

MoG: Back to “Twilight”; this franchise has dozens of characters. Anyone in particular you love writing for?

MR: I love Charlie, Billy Burke’s character [Bella's father]. Writing for him is so spectacular, he’s so funny and wry and every scene he’s in he just takes. There’s a scene in “Eclipse” where Bella tells him she’s a virgin, and it’s the funniest, most awkward scene I’ve ever seen on film.

Rosenberg says pre-production will begin July 1, with both films slated to film back to back at the start of October.

When MTV News caught up with Rosenberg to talk about “Eclipse,” she said she was going to leave a lot of those hard decisions, like how to show Bella giving birth to vampire spawn Renesmee, to director Bill Condon. “From a screenwriter standpoint that’s gonna land more squarely in the director’s hands,” she teased. “That’s one of those things [where] I kind of say [and] make a few sort of general suggestions on the page and say, ‘Go! Go, Bill! Do it!’ ”

Well, are you more worried now or less?

Oh, for what it is worth, here is what Ted Casablanc’s “Deep Twilight” source said:

[Melissa] knows what fans want,” our Twi source assures us, regarding the screenwriter’s idea to make Breaking Dawn much more physical. “The book calls for a lot more heat, so that’s why Melissa is all for making that happen, since it’s really what Stephenie wrote in the first place. Stephenie just wants it to stick to the book. Plus, the actors involved seem pretty enthused about taking it up a notch.”

Good, now that sex is out of the way, here’s what Rosenberg told us at the Eclipse press conferences about the logistics of splitting the movie up:

“Nothing has actually been decided, but the natural split is somewhere between she’s human in movie one, then she’s a vampire. She’s human and pregnant in one; she’s a vampire and a parent in two. Bill Condon has been looking at that from a visual standpoint. That said, there’s a lot of room about where that moment is.”

MakingOf has exclusive interviews with ‘Eclipse’ director David Slade, producer Wyck Godfrey and and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, each discussing their favorite scene from the film.

Per the earlier Wyck Godfrey posts, I am starting to like this guy…
Well, now we know Edward will propose to Bella in his bedroom and the “I am a virgin.” scene will be there also.

Two things  from Melissa Rosenburg on Breaking Dawn.  An interview and an interesting facebook comment.  Also she comments on the 3 directors so far.

Here is what she said on her facebook:

Here is a portion of the interview with Laremy Legel from Film.com

LL: Do you approach each project, as a writer, with the core audience in mind? In other words, do you think, “Well, this is for a teen, and this is for an adult, so I’ve got to handle it this way?”

MR: No, I really don’t. It really isn’t about age. It’s really about writing character and emotion, and the emotional journey. If you start writing to an audience you’re talking down to them. I’ve never written for any age group, I just write character. If you can capture that you’ll get the audiences, and it will be a wide range, as it is for Twilight, it’s a pretty wide range. That stems from Stephenie [Meyer] — I’m adapting her stories, I didn’t invent any of this, but my job is to adapt it and keep the story as universal it was in the novels.

LL: Can you give me one sentence on each director you’ve worked with, what their main strength is, for The Twilight Saga?

MR: Catherine Hardwicke, she brought a very intimate feel. She had a very indie sensibility, she brought those characters to the screen in a very intimate way.

Chris Weitz did sweeping drama. Beautiful visually, and very classic epic storytelling.

David Slade, so far (the process isn’t done yet), brings a level of pacing and intensity.

LL:How much input do you get on the next director? Do they ask you about certain names? Or do they come to you with who you’re working with?

MR: It’s definitely not up to me. I’ve seen lists and weighed in, and they always welcome input, which is lovely, but ultimately it’s their decision and they’ll do what they do and I’ll work with whomever they choose. I had no knowledge of the first three directors and it worked. Generally speaking they [the list] are people I haven’t worked with before.

LL: If an adaptation felt to you like an R rating, but the studio wanted you to bring it in at a PG-13, would that be doable?

MR: Oh yeah. It’s completely doable. You don’t sacrifice story by cutting language. Nor do you sacrifice story by showing less blood or gore, or whatever it is that’s bringing you to an R rating. It doesn’t hurt it. When Dexter was aired on CBS they had to re-cut some of it for network television and all they had to do was cut some language. There’s more blood and gore in an episode of C.S.I., though of course Dexter is more disturbing. Not because of what you see, but because of what’s implied. I don’t think you take away from suspense or character by altering a few things like that.

LL: Having read Breaking Dawn, where things get ratcheted up a notch, do you still go for that PG-13 rating?

MR: Oh yeah, absolutely. That’s your audience. In this series you don’t sacrifice anything. There are some movies that wouldn’t play at PG-13, like The Hangover, but this is just not one of them for me. Again, if you’re capturing character, emotion, and emotional journey, you’re OK.

Yesterday, Summit (Via @Twilight Twitter) announced “Tomorrow make sure check @Twilight often as we make some exciting #NewMoonDVD announcements!”

Today, they declared “The cast and crew of New Moon are going to some #NewMoonDVD midnight release parties this Friday! Check back often as we let you know who is going where for the #NewMoonDVD Midnight release parties!”

It appears they have been announcing them on the hour, but here is what we know so far:

Peter Facinelli is going to New York for New Moon DVD Party.

Edi Gathegi will be in Pittsburgh.

Chaske Spencer and Tyson Houseman will be in Atlanta.

Melissa Rosenberg (Screenwriter) will be in Seattle.

Justin Chon, Christian Serratos, and Michael Welch will be in Salt Lake City.

Charlie Bewley will be in Denver.

Elizabeth Reaser will be in Phoenix.

Kiowa Gordon and Tinsel Korey will be in Cincinnati.

Daniel Cudmore will be in Houston.

Last, but not least. Nikki Reed and Chris Weitz in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, they have not announced which location the cast members will attend, only the city.  So, if you happen to be attending a party in one of these cities, cross your fingers you choose the right one.

We will update this post as Summit continues to announce more cast appearances.

More from makingof.com’s series on “wisdom from the insiders on film making”.

Melissa Rosenberg talks about crafting a script, and specifically  the writing of the Twilight Saga’s scripts. Of importance, I think, are her comments on the Twilight script, which was up against a 5 week deadline because of the writer’s strike. “I think it came out very well, considering. Time is quality.”

makingof.com

ReelzChannel’s Twilight Weekly: Spotlight interviews screenwriter and producer Melissa Rosenberg about working on the New Moon and Eclipse screenplays, the love triangle and the famous tent scene in Eclipse.