Molly Ringwald Has A Great Idea For Your Script, Short or Vertical Series

Sandy recently came across an article in Variety that she thinks could spark your creativity for your next screenplay, short film, or vertical series. We also take a moment to revisit the March 2024 episode of 'Don’t You Forget About John Hughes,' where Terry and Sandy dive into four inspiring quotes by the legendary screenwriter, producer, and director John Hughes. As one of Hollywood's most successful and influential talents, John Hughes has played a key role in launching the careers of stars like Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald, Anthony Michael Hall, Macaulay Culkin, Judd Nelson, and John Candy.

Executive Producer Kristin Overn
Creator/Executive Producer Sandy Adomaitis
Producer Terry Sampson
Music by Ethan Stoller

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Transcript

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Hello, my name is Sandy Adamis, the social media director for the page, international Screenwriting Awards, and your host for the Writer's Hangout. A podcast that celebrates the many stages of writing, from inspiration to the first draft, revising, getting a project made and everything in between. We'll talk to the best and the brightest in the entertainment industry and create a space where you can hang out, learn from the pros, and have fun. Hey writers, it's Sandy. I'm coming to you from Studio City, the Paris of the San Fernando Valley, and where Ventura Boulevard turns into Kaga Boulevard. From there, it winds through Kuga Pass all the way to Hollywood, where if you're new to town and enter the 1 0 1 going north to get to Warner Brothers, you're not gonna make that exit. recently I came across this, short article where basically Molly Ringwald was saying that she didn't think that John Hughes's movie should be remade, so I'm gonna read you that short article and then I wanna talk to you. Something that Molly says that I think will be of some interest to you. Now, after that, I'm going to play an episode back from March, 2024. It was titled, don't You Forget About John Hughes. That's where Terry and I delved into four impactful quotes by the screenwriter, producer and director John Hughes. it's a fun episode. I hope you stay and listen to that. Now, this article was in Variety and it was written by Peyton Turkle Todd, and it was titled Molly Ringwald says John Hughes, didn't want his films remade. I am not gonna read you the whole article. Don't worry. Molly Ringwald might have become a household name thanks to leading roles in John Hughes. Films like 16 Candles and pretty in pink. but the actor isn't lobbying for a remix of the coming of age classics anytime soon. And she doesn't think Hughes would be either. Well, they can't be remade because they can't be made without the permission of the late John Hughes. And he didn't want the films to be remade. Ringwald told people at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, any of you guys go to the 2026 Sundance Film Festival? I did not, and I've never been to a Sundance Film Festival. back to the article. and I don't think that they should be really. But that doesn't mean ring walled isn't open to new Interpretations of the stories at the Center of the Iconic Films. the actor noted that of all Hughes's films, the most relevant likely remains the 1985 Classic Cult, the Breakfast Club. Hmm. Could have a knockdown, drag out fight between people with, which is the best Hughes film of course for me is it is she's having a baby. But I think that might even be the least known of all of Hughes's films. Now back to the article. I feel like if somebody does something, I would prefer that they do something that takes from the Breakfast Club and then builds on it and represents this generation's issues rather than try to recreate what was of a different time She said Ringwald also mentions she still sees her former. Okay. No, we don't need to read the rest of it. I think Molly had a great idea when she said, I feel like if somebody does something, I would prefer if they do something that takes and adds onto the breakfast club. endless story ideas there. why not one of you out there taking this idea and running with it? I think this is a great idea for a screenplay Or as I've been pitching to you guys for the last couple weeks, I don't know if you've noticed or not. How about a vertical series based on a school detention, like the Breakfast Club, You could do that easily. I think it would make a good vertical limited sets, and it's an ensemble. Perfect. And if you don't know, the plot of Breakfast Club is five high school students meet in Saturday detention and discover how they have a great deal more in common than they thought If you don't wanna do high school, you can do any situation where adults are demanded that they have to be there? It could be a company retreat, inmates working outside for the first time against their sentence. Why does that come to mind? Uh, quickly because I once swept a drained duck pond. At a wildlife reserve with an inmate for hours. It was next to the emus, and I got as close as I could to the emus, but ooh, I didn't get too close because I wanted to keep my eyes. they're scary up close. Anyways, I digress. We've all been in a group, right? Maybe a group we didn't want to be in, or a group We're happy to be in. Take something from your life. And make it bigger and more colorful. Try it. Just go for it. Um, I'll go first. Okay. I'm gonna just talk out loud a process. What kind of group was I in last thinking? I'm thinking, you know, Gosh, since the pandemic. I don't think I go in groups anywhere anymore. Um, oh, I got it. A wedding. There you go. That is the last place I was at. That was a group setting. And I like the idea of a wedding because my parents met at a wedding, so I'm already emotionally attached. To that setting. So my vertical will be about the odd table at a wedding. I've been at those tables. It's a mixture of singles, vendors of the family. And what I mean by that is like the hairdresser or um, a teacher, you know, the story just writes itself. So there you go guys. Run with it. Have fun with it. Now I hope you stay and listen to the following episode about John Hughes as Terry and I delve into four quotes by the screenwriter, producer and director. We are. Rolling. Hi, I'm Sandy Adamis. I'm Terry Sampson. Terry? Yep. How was your week? Pretty good. How about you? It was very good. I have things to talk to you about. Okay. First, I know my attitude. This is your peer review, but it's just a funny way you said that. It's not the first time I've heard that kind, that sound and thought, am I gonna get. No, not at all. You get a's across the board on your peer review me now. I know this isn't a visual medium, but I will put a picture up. Terry, what are these All over the studio driveway. It's these very, it's brown and prickly. Yeah, it's a burr. It's a burr all over. The studio driveway, every tree on this street, which is kind of an adorable street. Don't you agree? It's very adorable. For this particular part of San Fernando Valley, which is really not really cute, it's very charming. Your street, it's kinda, yeah. And. My neighbor straight across planted those when she was a teeny kid and they've grown to the size you see, and they give a shade and burrs. Is that the Latin? I'm calling it a bur a burr. Okay. It probably has another name. Okay. But its trick is it's just big enough. So if those of you who aren't Burr related, this is a little bit smaller than a ping pong ball, correct? Just slightly. Yes. It has these thorns. It has these thorns and the really interesting thing about it is it's so easy to not see it. Step on it and fall on your butt. Yeah. Listen. Yeah. It's hard. It's a hard little burr. Okay, Terry, today. We are going to talk about John Hughes, the great writer director John Hughes was born on February 18th, 1950 in Lansing, Michigan. Yeah, not far from me. When he was a teenager, Hughes moved with his family to Chicago, a city that would be settings for his most iconic. Films. He began his career in 1970 as an author of humorous essays and stories for National Lampoon Magazine. He then went to Hollywood two, write, produce, and sometimes direct some of the most successful comedy films of the 1980. Terry, can you just tell us a handful of all the amazing films that John Hughes wrote? Yes. Let's start with Mr. Mom, Michael Keaton and Terry Garr, who were great in that. Then there's the vacation, which I was involved with a little bit. Absolutely. With Gerald Ramis and Chevy Chase. Beverly DeAngelo. 16 candles. Oh yeah. Let's go back to high school. Molly Ringwald, Anthony, Michael Hall. Molly Ringwald begins, I think this cool connection. He was John Hughes's Muse. Yes. She also turns up in the breakfast Club. John, of course, directed that. Emilio Estevez was in it. Judd Nelson, Ollie Ringwald, of course. And Ally Sheie pretty in pink. From 1986 directed by Howard Deutsch, and he's married to Leah Thompson. Of course, yes. Caroline in the city. She wasn't in this movie, but Molly Ringwald and John Crier were. This one actually is a huge favorite of mine. Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Gee, I love that movie. Such a good movie. Yeah. Such a Beautiful Car too. Twist and Shatter. Yeah. Planes, trains and Automobile. One of the funniest movies ever. So funny. She's having a baby from 1988, by the way, one of my favorite films. Oh, it's a guilty pleasure of mine. I love that film so much. You're gonna mention Kevin Bacon Elizabeth and Elizabeth McGovern and Alec Baldwin In it, in that film is the song by Kate Bush, A Woman's Work. I cannot listen to that song without bawling my eyes out kids. Watch this movie this weekend. It's a good, and so is Home Alone from 1990. Huge, huge movie. Huge. They don't make them bigger. And that's just to name a few. John Hughes got married when he was 20 years old. He married Nancy Ludwig, whom he met in high school together. They had two children, John and James, both born in 1979. So. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that they're twins. On August 5th, 2009, Hughes and his wife traveled to, New York City to visit their son, James, and their new grandson. James said his father was in good health and in good spirits that night, and the family had made plans the next day. But on August 6th in the morning, Hughes was taking a walk close to his hotel on West 55th Street in Manhattan, and he suffered a heart attack. Wow. He was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital. I said Roosevelt could be r is it Roosevelt's? I think back east I learned Roosevelt's. by the time you get to Michigan, it's Roosevelt. Okay. I don't know what happens in say Pennsylvania something. I'm laughing at this sad moment. He was rushed to a Roosevelt hospital where he was pronounced dead at age 59. So I'm gonna take a pause here'cause I'm gonna make a, a. I think an important statement, and that is if you watch streaming and who doesn't? Mm-hmm. Everybody has watched some, you'll see a. Description after the title, as you're looking through, what am I going to watch? And they throw, they throw the term comedy out as if it's a bastard dog. I am telling you, they are not funny. Half of them don't have, they have like one joke in it and it looks like a mistake. And that's it. I'm very upset about it. And I say this because this guy made funny movies. Yes. They're funny. He made funny movies in the eighties. They're great. 100%. Yeah, and, and it's hard to write comedy, honestly. People underestimate it, especially that guy. He was a wonderful, very talented guy, and my heart goes out to his family. One of the many things that Hughes left behind besides his films are quotes, so I wanna go through a couple of John Hughes quotes, four of them here and discuss. May I read them? Yes. Okay. Okay. Here's the first one. I don't think of kids as a lower form of the human species. John Hughes wrote some of the best kid characters. He let his teens and kids have all the elements of childhood wonder, but he treated them with respect. He created a point of view from the kids that nobody really matches. And especially like when I think about home alone, we got to. Inside the brain of that little kid as he was going through what should have been, an enormous moment of being left behind. Right. But it was funny and warm and kind of emancipating in a way. It was so wonderful. You were never. Uh, you know, as an audience, he so brilliantly laid it out that you weren't like, oh no, that little boy's at home alone, I can't watch this movie. Right. I, I, that's child abuse. If you have never seen it, watch it. You'll, you'll love it. That's one of the things about that, that is really, that made a, a big effect on me in that there are. Presentational things you can do to make something which is, you know, really scary mm-hmm. Into something that's just part of the story. Yes. In the way it's layered and the way that it's approached. And Kevin, I could be wrong. I think he was eight in the movie and that 8-year-old, you got to see his medal. Yeah. And you don't get to see a lot of metal No. From an 8-year-old, no. An 8-year-old in a suburban Chicago. And along with that, in fact, shoes, just what you were just saying, revolutionize the teen angst genre and his understanding that even though they might be young people, they are not unintelligent. Right? So writers out there, if you want an unintelligible child in your screenplay, have at it. But this is a great way to look at young people in your script. It's a bigger story. Exactly. Two things don't always go right for me, says John, and you get kind of used to it and you can either get incredibly depressed about it or you can laugh at it. Find humor in it. Terry, would you agree? Comedy is best when it's rooted in truth and honesty about life. That's what makes it funny, really. That's the comedy I love. Yeah, there's Pret Falls and there's scatological humor, and there's outrageous. I love comedy that comes from the character. absolutely. This quote emphasizes the importance of handling rejection and failure During one's screen, CRI screenwriting journey, no one gets out alive or escape set. When things repeatedly go wrong, you can either despair or laugh and move on. Number three, the quote number three. I happen to go for the simplest, most ordinary things. The extraordinary doesn't interest me. I'm not interested in psychotics. I'm interested in the person. You don't expect to have a story. I like every man. Very interesting, don't you think? Mm-hmm. Yeah. I, I think the word that, that I try to stay away from is wacky. I just don't ever go in a wacky direction. And if you are that type of writer, if that is the type of writer you are, you can be a Charlie Kaufman. Right. And right being John Malkovich. Or you can be John Hughes and Right. She's having a baby. Right? And you and I happen to be in the John Hughes. Based in reality, comedy comes from the truth of the character. Right? What's number four, Terry? Number four. Life is not always funny. Life is not always tragic. And to portray it realistically, it's gotta have a mix of both. When a screenplay blends drama and humor, it reflects real life. And when writing a screenplay, imitating life will create a more relatable story for the audience, causing them to empathize with the character. Right. I learned at a very young age. I used to be able to make my mom laugh pretty regularly. That is so sweet. And it always was based on the idea that before she could get rid of a laugh, I would have to put something in there to start another one. And I'd keep at that for a certain point. But I did know that it had to end. I couldn't keep going. I'm gonna fail for one thing. Right. Mm-hmm. Because she's at, you know, a minute 13, and she hasn't had a break yet. I gotta give her a break. Yes. Because I, at some point she's gonna go. I can't keep going on with this. We gotta give the kid for adoption. I gotta get some, some work done. There's, there must be a place for him somewhere. I think that that's really well said. It's a mixture of things. Frazier did this beautifully. He, there was a scene where he was in a coffee shop and I think he made a dramatic speech and he had to storm out, but then he left his keys on the counter diner. So you had to see him kind of like crawl back in. He tried not to be seen exactly like, you're never gonna see me in this horrible place again. I do. And then he had to sneak back in. Yeah. Okay. Good example. I haven't had enough of John Hughes yet, have you? No, this is John Hughes quotes on writing and inspiration. My heroes were Dylan, John Lennon, and Picasso, because they each moved their particular medium forward, and when they got to the point where they felt comfortable, they always moved on. Great. Love it. That's a great one. Another one, if I'm on a roll and I finish a script at three, I'll start another one at 3 0 2. That can't be true. I have never done that. That's just, I know the thing I like right now is there's probably a writer, maybe new to the thing who's going, I've never even finished one yet. I know, because that's, we're with you. That kinda happens. Yep. Five starts. Art goes a long way towards getting you through loneliness because you've always got your art to fall back on, and it builds a certain amount of self-reliance. And I didn't really much care what other people thought of me because I could go look at my work and say. I like that, and I did that. I really like that quote. Yeah. This is on directing and filmmaking. Yeah. I borrow liberally from the past and the present. All this stuff. I've been witness to it firsthand, or I've either gone through it or I've seen someone else go through it. What do they say? Borrow from the best. Just make it your own right. This is the last quote, and it's on storytelling. I think any good comedy has to have a variety of styles. You don't want to just keep hitting the same notes with jokes. I like you to smile, to laugh. I'd like you to chuckle. I'd like you to go grab the seat in front of you and shake it and scream with laughter. I want all of it. Beautifully put, and that's a wrap for the Writer's Hangout. Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. Your positive feedback will help us keep the show going so we can continue bringing you more future episodes. Remember, keep writing. The world needs your stories. The Writers Hangout is sponsored by the Page International Screenwriting Awards, with executive producer Kristen Overn, Sandy Adamides, And our music is composed by Ethan Stoller. Alexa, you are gaslighting me,