Save the Cat!®

Michael Kurinsky

Our Guest Blogger, Michael Kurinsky, worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation for 9 years as a background painter until 2004, when he joined Sony Pictures Animation and later served as a Visual Development Artist on the 2006 release, Open Season. Michael art directed Sony’s 2009 release, Cloudy with a Chance Of Meatballs, and attended a Beat Sheet Workshop led by Jose Silerio in May of last year.

Blake has maintained in his books that all stories could be broken down by The BS2 no matter what the context. Movies, novels, even TV commercials (remember that in Save the Cat Strikes Back? Genius!), it was all the same in his eyes. All good stories need these 15 beats to give them a solid spine. So, when asked to do this blog, I decided in the true spirit of Save the Cat! to beat out my own tale of how I managed to get one of my ideas optioned at Sony Pictures Animation (SPA), and keep it alive using Blake’s method for the past four years. Here goes:

Title (above): kind of like a 4 Weddings and a Funeral/10 Things I Hate About You type of title.

Genre: “The Fool Triumphant” And since this is my story, that would make me… wait…

1. Opening Image: It is the spring of 2006. A man pulls his car into the garage of his San Fernando Valley home after a long day of work. His beautiful wife and daughter greet him warmly as he walks through the front door. This is Michael. Michael works as an Art Director for Sony Pictures Animation. He really enjoys his job, but has always wanted to go further in his calling of working in the movie industry. Perhaps, dare he dream, to sell one of his ideas to a studio someday.

2. Theme Stated: That evening Michael has one of many conversations with his wife about his career. Up to this point he has always been known as “Mike, the painting guy.” Not at all a bad thing to be known as, but what about “Mike, the writing guy” or even “Mike, the directing guy”? How could he set those dreams into motion? His wife tells him, “You have to truly believe in your ideas. No one will care about them more than you, so you have to be their champion. Fight for them so that they may live.” (Wow, she’s good! Like something out of Braveheart.)

3. Set-Up: OK, normally this would be the part where it’s shown that Michael’s workplace is a miserable environment. His boss would have to be some kind of arrogant jerk, or one of his colleagues would be constantly gunning for his job, and generally, nobody there would “get him” and all his “crazy ideas”… but this isn’t the case. Work is great, and so are the people there. His input is asked for and used on a daily basis. The only thing missing for him is a way to make his writing dream a reality. And with that said… on to the catalyst!

4. Catalyst: The division Michael works for has announced that in a few weeks they will be having an open pitch contest for anyone who has story ideas. This was it! An opportunity to get one of his story ideas out to people that could actually do something with it. Let’s face it, it’s great entertaining your buddies with funny stories over a couple of drinks, but at the end of the day, they aren’t going to print up posters for you and hang them on bus stops just because you made them laugh. It was time to take it to the next level.

Harvey the Rabbit, by THE Jimmy Stewart!

5. Debate: Michael sits at a desk with a computer in front of him. Staring. Not writing, just staring. He knows opportunity is knocking, but what story should he tell when he answers the door? More staring. His fixed eyes begin to wander around the room looking for inspiration. They finally land on a framed original drawing that was done by Jimmy Stewart (yes, THAT Jimmy Stewart). It was a present given to him by his wife on his 30th birthday. The drawing is how Jimmy pictured Harvey the rabbit, from the movie of the same name. Staring at the drawing evokes a question in Michael. The question turns into a notion. The notion becomes an idea. A big idea. No longer just staring, Michael types furiously late into the night.

6. Break into Two: A few weeks later, the day of the big pitch contest has arrived. Michael is armed with some note cards, a couple of pieces of artwork, and a few extra swipes of deodorant. When it comes time for his pitch, he takes a big breath in and then starts speaking. The words fly furiously out of his mouth, fueled by caffeine and endless nights of rehearsal. When it is all over, the pitch is met with applause and even a handshake or two from some of the creative executives. He hands out a nine-page treatment of the idea, just in case they want to think about the story further. Now the hard part, he has to wait for a verdict. Days go by, then weeks, until he finally gets a call from one of the presidents of SPA. She would like to see him in her office. His mind races as he makes the trek across campus, feeling dizzy when he finally reaches her door. He is told to go right in. The smile on her face immediately tells him he has nothing to dread. “Michael, we would like to option your idea.” Cue the “Hallelujah” chorus.

7. B Story: Now up to this point you have probably been saying to yourself, “Hey! When does Save the Cat! come in? And you would be right to. I hadn’t even discovered Blake’s book at this point. That first nine-page treatment was written blind. Looking back on it now, it’s a bit of an unorganized mess. The core idea is there, just not terribly well communicated. It lacked good structure. Period. In my first story development meeting, the creative executives told me that we would begin by breaking down my idea then building it back up with more structure. Sounds great. So… how do you do that exactly? Well I realized I needed to get educated in the art of storytelling, pronto, so I went to the Screenwriters Expo to listen to some lectures and hopefully come away with some newfound knowledge. While walking around the various booths and tables set up there, I came across something that would change my life. Save the Cat! Blake says that a lot of the time the B Story in a screenplay is where the love story begins, so let’s rejoin our movie there.

While on a break at the Expo, Michael passes by a table full of books on writing. After looking at them for just five minutes, he feels like he could lose his mind. Titles like LEARN STORY! in all giant caps, or Dude Your Screenplay Totally Sucks! in big red letters, leapt out and taunted him. Other ones read like old textbooks he had in high school, causing instant drowsiness. Which book to choose? Too much pressure! Then, out of the corner of his eye, Michael sees a small book at the end of the table. No bold fonts or mocking titles, just a picture of the “hang in there baby” cat under the title Save the Cat! Michael was instantly amused and intrigued at the same time. After thumbing through just the first few pages, he knew he had his book. Over the following weeks Michael and the book were inseparable. (Begin montage) They went everywhere together — home, work, coffee shops, dinner and a movie, a weekend in wine country, anywhere where he could spend time reading, highlighting passages, and making notes in the margins. The more time he spent with the book, the more things became clearer to him. He and the book had made a connection. They were one. (End montage. Let’s see Julia Roberts top that love scene in her next movie!)

Over the next few months, the story really begins to take shape. New cards go up, others come down, and some just get rearranged. It feels good. Everyone agrees that it is time to hire some professional writers on the project. The new writers, a husband and wife team, are truly on board with the idea and want their take on it to be as true to the original concept as possible. Their contribution yields a 20-something page treatment that is made up of 40 well-polished paragraphs — one for each card on the board. The senior executives at SPA all receive a copy and say they will give Michael and the group their notes in a few weeks. Michael thinks that if he only had a few weeks to live, this would be the perfect time because every day spent waiting seems to last a fricking eternity.

9. Midpoint: The executive-notes meeting eventually comes, and as you may have guessed, they want changes. Big changes. To put it simply for all you Save the Cat! followers, they want to turn a “Buddy Love” story into a “Golden Fleece.” Like I said… big changes. Now, again you might be saying to yourself, “Oh I see, his midpoint is a ‘down’ midpoint. He’s going to have to compromise his story if he ever wants to see it get made.” I wish it were that easy. Let’s return to the movie and see what happens next.

Michael and the writers do their best to make enough changes to placate the executives while still holding on to the stuff that got them excited about the story in the first place. New treatments are written and handed in. It’s not Michael’s favorite version of the story, but still his story nonetheless. Then the unforeseen takes place. It is announced that there will be some “restructuring” at SPA. All three senior executives responsible for optioning Michael’s project are moving on to greener pastures and new exec’s will fill their place. Michael feels like Kevin Bacon in The Big Picture. (If you haven’t seen this movie, run, don’t walk to your nearest Hollywood Video… if you can still find one.) In that movie, Kevin’s character has the exact same thing happen to him, and is told by his agent, played to perfection by Martin Short, that the new presidents may want to “distance themselves from the stench” of any old projects on the table. Ouch. Now that’s a “down” midpoint.

10. Bad Guys Close In: In all fairness, this beat should be renamed “New Guys Close In,” because the new bosses are anything but “bad” — plus, I really need to keep my day job. But I digress.

With the arrival of the new department heads, Michael’s project goes into the equivalent of a movie coma. Not dead, but not moving either. It stays like this for quite a while. Michael gets busier at work as the release date for the movie he is art directing grows nearer. He is happy and challenged in this role, but finds himself thinking of his project like some friend in his past that he should call sometime. He picks up Save the Cat!, blows the dust off its cover,and flips through its pages for old times’ sake.

11. All Is Lost: More time passes and the subject of Michael’s project is hardly brought up anymore, except by friends asking, “Hey, what’s going on with your project?” He knows they mean well, but it hurts every time he has to answer, “I don’t know.”

12. Dark Night of the Soul: Michael finally gets some time to discuss his project with the new president of SPA. She has a lot of questions and concerns about it, referring often to the last treatment that was submitted over a year ago. It is starting to sound like a do-or-die situation for his project. Do something quick, or this idea is going to die. (whiff of death)

13. Break into Three: That’s when it hits him. She has been reading the last treatment, the “golden fleece” version, not Michael’s favorite. Thinking quickly he says, “Wait. I have my own reservations about that version. Can I pitch you the story as I originally wrote it”? After a quick pitch of the “Buddy Love” version, she agrees that it works better that way. They should regroup and start reworking the story from there. Michael now has a few months to rewrite the story and organize a new pitch. It’s alive! Again, cue the “Hallelujah” chorus.

14. Finale: Michael rushes home and reunites with Save the Cat! (Note to self: secure the rights to Peaches & Herb’s “Reunited” for the soundtrack) For the next two months they are inseparable, working on a new treatment and pitch, and this time Michael will do all the writing himself. Two months later, Michael gives what he believes to be his best pitch to date and the response from the executives seems to confirm this, but still, nothing is set in stone. A few weeks go by. Michael is thrilled when an invite comes up in his inbox for a meeting to discuss his latest pitch. During the walk over to the President’s office, he’s reminded of that first walk across campus and the nervousness he felt. The feeling starts to creep in again. What if they didn’t like it? What if this time they wanted to make it a “Monster in the House” or “Dude with a Problem”? The dizzy feeling is there again when he opens the door. Luckily, again, he is greeted with a smile. He knows when he hears her say, “So, you know Kevin Lima, the director of Enchanted, right?” that everything is going to be ok. During the weeks he spent waiting, his treatment was sent to Kevin, who signed on to be the director of the project, and brought with him a great screenplay writer. The script is being worked on as we speak. Cue the final playing of the “Hallelujah” chorus.

Now I know that true finale would have been to tell you that the movie gets made and goes on to be wildly successful. This hasn’t happened as of yet, but I am hopeful.

15. Final Image: Michael still works as an art director at SPA, and since this has all gone down, there has been yet another change in management and another new president is on board. (Hence the “3 presidents” in the title.) When he comes home at night, he is still greeted warmly by his wife and daughter, but now after the evening with his family comes to an end, he goes to his computer and writes. Since this has all happened, Michael decided to really invest in his ideas and actively work at becoming a professional screenplay writer. He attended a Save the Cat! workshop last year, which resulted in him completing his first screenplay. Not wanting to loose momentum, he jumped right into a second idea, this time advancing from note cards to a laptop with the Save the Cat! software. He is just a few weeks away from completing this second spec script, with the intention of using them both to secure representation. (So, if you are an agent out there reading this, I’d love to talk… no, seriously.) For both of these projects there were some new additions to the family with the arrival of Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies and Save the Cat! Strikes Back. And though it was difficult, Michael’s wife has grown to accept his relationship with his books. Fade out.

I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn in this new chapter in my life, but I couldn’t have made it this far without Blake and his amazing books. I’m sure you other fledgling writers out there that have used Save the Cat! feel the same way. Good luck to us all, and thanks for reading. — Michael

Next week: Guest blog from novelist Hope Tarr