Not very long ago, Antwone Fisher was working at the studio...as a guard. Today he is a well respected and well paid working screenwriter with not only a slew of projects in development but a novel on the way as well. We talked to him primarily about the rewriting process.

HLS: HollywoodLitSales.com

FISHER: Antwone Fisher

HLS: You did rewrites on MONEY TALKS and RUSH HOUR, at what stage did you come aboard on each of those films?
FISHER: Chris Tucker (starred in both films) told me he didn't like the voice of either character in some of the scenes, and he asked me if I would be interested in doing it. Then he asked Mike DeLuca, (head of New Line) and then we went to Mike DeLuca.

HLS: What exactly did you do on MONEY TALKS?
FISHER: Changed dialogue, wrote new scenes, did some structural changes.

HLS: When you changed the structure, did it require rewriting the entire script?
FISHER: No, just the third act a little, because I knew the movie was already using colored pages and was just days from shooting. You see, Brett (Ratner) had just come on at the same time as I did, to direct MONEY TALKS. And it was the same deal. Chris asked Brett, then they went to Mike DeLuca and Mike DeLuca said "Yes" and that's how Brett got started on this movie.

HLS: MONEY TALKS was Brett's first directing job?
FISHER: Brett had directed Chris before in a HEAVY D video called "I Got Nothin' But Love For You". That's how their relationship began. Brett was already very popular in the video directing world.

HLS: Did the original writer of MONEY TALKS do any rewriting?
FISHER: I don't know, but I think that there were a couple of other writers in-between me and the original writer. I know that the original writer was in the audience when we screen tested and I had heard he wasn't happy. You know, maybe it was hard for him, because sometimes you write from your heart and get taken off of your own project early. My understanding was that he wasn't happy with that part of the process, or part of the game. In this case, Brett told me that the original writer thanked him and Chris for doing a good job.

HLS: Not a lot of writers are happy about being rewritten and I guess there's not a lot one can do about it. Everybody seems to be rewritten at some point.
FISHER: Right, but I think it's good to keep a stiff upper lip about it, you know because if you prove to be the kind of person who goes on, rolls with the punches, they don't feel so cloak and dagger about getting rid of you. Sometimes they'll bring you back and have you write more, but if you become bitter or you look angry or they feel that you're being negative, they might not want you to come back and write on it again later. Sometimes it's good to have a fresh perspective, and another writer might one. Me, I've done it, and it's been done to me. So it's all a part of the game.

HLS: Right. "Writing is rewriting."
FISHER: Yes, you may not always be the one to rewrite your own stuff. Accept that and just think, "This is a project I want to get made, and I want it to be the best that it can be and the studio, or whoever's making the movie, are only going to make the movies the way they want them made. "If they say "Put green jeans on someone," then you put green jeans on them. Because if you don't put green jeans on them, they'll hire somebody to put green jeans on 'em! [laughs] You know what I mean! And he'll be Mr. Green Jeans whether you wanted the green jeans or not.

HLS: On MONEY TALKS, you were on the set?
FISHER: Yes.

HLS: You were doing rewrites while it was shooting?
FISHER: Well, not so much, but if Brett or Chris or Jay Stern (New Line executive) or someone would ask me to come up with a line or something like that, I'd do it. But, I can only recall one or two times that happened. I didn't go to the set every day, but I was welcome to come to the set anytime I wanted.

HLS: Was there much improvisation going on there, or did they stick to the final draft word for word?
FISHER: Chris improvised a lot and because he was doing that, Charlie Sheen would fire back and would improv as well.

HLS: That's hard.
FISHER: Yes, but it seemed to work for them. Charlie Sheen quickly became familiar with how Chris worked. Chris read the dialogue and then he'd change it to the way he would say it. It was a little dangerous sometimes because you had to take into account the whole story, but, that's how it usually works with improvisation.

HLS: So by improvising, Chris might have been getting off the track of the story?
FISHER: Yes, so the director or the script supervisor kept track and that helped.

HLS: When you were doing the rewriting prior to production, did you work closely with Chris?
FISHER: Yes. He even came up with some of the lines.

HLS: But when the film was shooting, he might have changed it even then.
FISHER: Yes.

HLS: It's a lot different when you're writing the screenplay, than when the actors are on the set saying your lines.
FISHER: Yes, I think that's probably why it's dangerous sometimes to have the original writer there on the set because people really get emotional about the story that they told because it takes a lot out them. Once you get down to the set, they're not saying it the way that you want it, or meant it to be said, and then whole scenes and whole dialogue is been taken out and replaced. You write it, and still love it, but remember, it takes a lot of people to make a movie. So, when it moves on to the production stage, you have to trust and accept it that sometimes people are going to put their hands on it and change it.

HLS: It's part of the process, and if you can't deal with that, then you shouldn't be a screenwriter.
FISHER: Yes, exactly, or, if you can't deal with it, you should think about being a producer. You just have to think about the big picture, making a movie, having a career, and having the reputation of being easy to work with. Because in the end, it's about eating, paying your rent and having a better life.

HLS: Excellent advice. On your other film, RUSH HOUR, was that a similar process to that of MONEY TALKS? Chris Tucker was on that film and recommended you to do the rewrite, right?
FISHER: Yes. Brett and Chris asked me. I think Martin (Lawrence) was supposed to do that movie at Universal, but then the project wound up at New Line, and at New Line, Brett became attached to direct. But then, Martin was unable to do it for some reason and Chris wanted to do it. Then Brett asked DeLuca for Chris to be attached and then Chris and Brett asked me if I would come back. I don't want anybody to get the idea that DeLuca says "yes" all the time because he's told me "no" on several occasions.

HLS: And as with MONEY TALKS you did some rewriting again with Chris and Brett prior to filming?
FISHER: Yes, we were just weeks away from shooting.

HLS: What kind of changes did you make for RUSH HOUR?
FISHER: Scenes and dialogue.

HLS: For example?
FISHER: Well, when I changed some of Chris's dialogue, it made him more of the character that Chris Tucker is naturally. More of a wise-cracker. If you change a main character's dialogue, you're really changing the movie in a lot of ways. It's a lot of power to have.

HLS: Did you rewrite all the characters or it was just Chris's?
FISHER: Chris's. It was hard because Jackie Chan had studied his lines and Jackie doesn't speak English that well, so I tried to avoid changing his lines but I almost had to if I changed Chris's lines.

HLS: Was it hard for Jackie because the film was in English?
FISHER: Well, he's been doing movies a long time. He had a person who stayed with him all the time and worked with him on his English. I think that's the process he goes through every time he does an English speaking movie.

HLS: Did you have to think about writing easy words for him to say?
FISHER: No, because Jackie's a professional. He works hard, and prepares for his role. He just has to know what he's saying to be able to work on it. It could be hard during rewrites because it can be confusing to come back again 3 or 4 times and keep changing his lines, I suppose.

HLS: As you were rewriting, we're you also talking with other members of the production?
FISHER: Yes. I had to consult with everybody, from the producers, production designer, actors, director, line producer, all the way to the studio executive. Everybody had to know what was being changed because at that time, the were close to making the movie.

HLS: So if you changed a scene, you might have needed a different set or something like that.
FISHER: Yes, a simple big screen TV might have been too expensive to have in the scene because they already budgeted the film.

HLS: So as you were writing it, you were getting answers back from different people, like the set designer and director telling you what can and cannot be done?
FISHER: Yes, for example, they wanted to make sure that the movie received a certain rating. I had to be careful what I wrote at this point because they wanted to be careful that they didn't get an R rating. So when I was doing production rewrites at that late stage in the game, I had to have everybody involved. If you're the kind of writer that can't bear to take meetings and be a team player, then you'll never be a part of that process and that is probably the more exciting part.

HLS: When you were rewriting either film were there things that the director said, "No way, we just can't do that, that's just not going to work on film?"
FISHER: No. I think in RUSH HOUR, there was a scene where Chris goes up to a food stand where a Chinese guy is cooking food and Chris says, "You ain't got no fries?" and the guy says, "There's no soul food here." Brett had specific ideas about that scene, and where it would be shot in the city, so I just listened to him. Sometimes, it was just a matter of listening to him.

HLS: Do you prefer to write original screenplays or do rewriting on someone else's script?
FISHER: I like writing my own better, but I also enjoy doing production rewrites when it's close to shooting because it's exciting and I get out of my office. I take the laptop down to the set, or to the production office and it feels like coming out and being born, you know what I mean? So anytime you can get a chance to do that, it's a true blessing to be welcomed, because New Line has welcomed me, twice! And by the way, New Line is a great place to work.

HLS: Are you open to rewriting all different types of genres?
FISHER: Yes, I especially like drama. I like to write things that make people cry and I think I'm successful at that.

HLS: Yes, I know that you've sold a lot of screenplays.
FISHER: Yes, dramas are nice because that's what I like, but it pays more to do action/comedy. So, if you can, you write two action/comedies a year, and half a drama.

HLS: Half a drama?
FISHER: Yea, and then the next year you finish that half a drama, and you have 3 releases your second year. They overlap, it's like machine. You know, before I became a writer, I was in the Navy. The Navy has a lot of rules and times for you to be certain places and have a certain job done. So, after all that time in the Navy, I've been regimented to a kind of work ethic where I have to finish. My whole mind set is, "I have to finish." Then I scrutinize myself and my work for months. It's like a machine.

HLS: Before you let anyone read your own screenplays, you keep rewriting and rewriting?
FISHER: Yes, and it helps to have friends that will read your stuff, even if they aren't filmmakers, everybody's seen movies. Everybody who has seen movies is a filmmaker. You don't have to be a good filmmaker to give good advice. Let them read it and tell you what they're thinking, and even if they don't get it, don't turn them off. Maybe they didn't get it, but you might want to use them again.

HLS: So now you have a lot of friends who work in the industry. Do you give them your work to look at before you submit it to the studio?
FISHER: Well, sometimes. Now that I'm in the movie business, if I write something, they want to sell it, not critique it. Let's say, I'm writing a screenplay and I pass it to someone, they'll say, too eagerly, "Yea, let's do this, we'll take it into the studio!," which doesn't mean it will get made or bought. I might just want to write it, and decide what to do with it later. For getting opinions and notes, it's probably better just to stick with people outside the business, unless you know somebody like Todd Black and Jason Blumenthal.

HLS: Tell us a little about what it was like for you starting out in the business.
FISHER: When I was getting started, I'd have to go on general meetings. And I asked people I didn't know, or know well, for their opinion on a story I was writing. The next thing I knew, they didn't want to give the story back. I just asked for an opinion but they wanted me to come down immediately and pitch it to the studio. "But it's not finished," I said. Then they said, "Oh, but we can buy it like it is, and we'll just finish it together." And I thought to myself, "Who is this person?" Then they said, "Just bring it over, and we'll get you paid and have you writing in a Hollywood minute," which I know to be a very, very long minute. For fifty producers who'll make this claim, only one of them might actually have that kind of power.

HLS: Antwone, anything else you'd like to add?
FISHER: If you want to write, I think you should just write and not write only because you read in the paper that someone's made a million dollars on a script.

HLS: Your first screenplay which launched your career was written simply because you had a story to tell and it was written from your heart.
FISHER: Yes, you have to, at least the first screenplay. You have to write from your heart because the first screenplay has to be honest. You want to write from a purer place, for the love of writing. If you're writing because the rent is nagging you, it's harder to be focused on the pure ingredients, like spices, that make a screenplay good enough to be made into a movie. Then, when you send it through the process of agents and producers, it's has a better chance of going the successful route.