On The Director-Writer Relationship

It's noteworthy that you often hear of filmmakers being described as an "actor's director" but you never hear the term "writer's director."

There are some directors that don't want the writer on set. Each director may have their own reasoning as to why, but for some of them, it is just plain insecurity. Primarily, this is because the writer has a level of authority over the text that the director can never have.

If an actor asks the director and the writer, "why does my character say this?" and they give two different answers, which one is the actor more apt to trust? Probably, the one who wrote the line in the first place.

Now, the normal chain of command precludes something like this from happening. Actors would only direct such a question to the director (unless, as has been my experience on one film, the actors feel that the director doesn't know what he's doing).

But, the point that should be drawn from this is that a director that's working from someone else's script should set the bar extremely high for himself. He should strive to know the characters and the world of the screenplay as good as, if not better, than the writer himself.

Then, he either won't need the writer there or will be able to use him effectively without fear of having his authority come into question.

On Humor

Always give the audience at least one thing to laugh at (even if you're writing a tragic drama). Because if you don't, they'll pick something to laugh at. And it might not be a moment where you want them laughing.