Gordy Hoffman’s  first produced feature screenplay, Love Liza, won the prestigious Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award when it premiered at Sundance. The film also featured a memorable performance from his brother, Philip Seymour Hoffman, his first starring role in a film. 

Dog Bowl, a short film that Gordy wrote and directed, also premiered at Sundance, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. Gordy has also taught writing at prominent film institutions around the country including USC and UCLA. His background as an accomplished working writer gives his BlueCat Screenplay Competition some credibility, as does BlueCat’s 20 year history of discovering and developing writers who gone on to find success in Hollywood.

Some of the things we discuss include

• Why good feedback is important but difficult to give and receive
• How the BlueCat Screenplay Competition can help writers develop
• What it was like working with Philip Seymour Hoffman to bring Love Liza, a script about a man addicted to sniffing gasoline, to life
• Gordy’s rant about one of Alamo Drafthouse’s policies
• Where Gordy looks for inspiration

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I had a number of takeaways from the conversation and things I wanted to expand upon, so I recorded my commentary as a separate track, which you can hear below or next in the podcast feed.

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If you’d like to hear another thoughtful conservation about screenwriting and story development, you might appreciate this interview with Golden Globe-winning producer Lindsay Doran, who helped develop icon films This Is Spinal Tap, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Ghost.

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