From Chariots of Fire to The King's Speech ─ Writing Biopics and Docudramas

Over the past decade, movie audiences have become hungry for films based on real people and historical events. Never was this more evident than during the best-picture showdown between The King’s Speech and The Social Network during the 2011 Academy Awards, a scene then repeated, with Argo, Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty in the 2013 awards.. While Hollywood moguls have come to recognize the box-office revenue and critical acclaim that accompany such films and are now fast-tracking many docudramas into theaters, there remains a need for more reality-based film scripts.

In From “Chariots of Fire” to “The King’s Speech,” writer, director, and producer Alan Rosenthal presents a manual for screenwriters to develop their bio-pic or docudrama from concept to completion. This comprehensive guide begins with an overview of the genre before providing screenwriters with all the techniques and insights needed to navigate the often intimidating landscape of screenwriting for reality-based scripts. Included within the volume are tips for such challenges as inception and research, developing dialogue and narration, and capably addressing any legal and rights issues that may arise. Also included are appendixes containing useful marketing tips and broadcast guidelines.

Alan Rosenthal, a professor of communications at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is a documentary filmmaker with fifty films to his credit as writer, director, or producer. His most recent film is the history docudrama The First Fagin, made in Australia. He is a visiting professor and workshop provider at most world major film schools, including those in the U.K., Australia, Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. Rosenthal is the author of nine books, including Writing, Directing, and Producing Documentary Films and Videos (now in its fourth edition) for SIU Press.