CATEGORY: BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
INTERVIEW WITH: DIABLO CODY
FILM: "JUNO"
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Q. Hi, I work for CBC TV, and congratulations
A. Thank you.
Q. on the win. Tell me about what you did either working with or how you felt Ellen Page inhabited your words for this screenplay.
A. I don't think a person could be more fortunate than to have Ellen Page play the lead in the film they wrote. She's phenomenal. She became the character in a lot of ways. And she's so good that I think people assume that she must be just like Juno in a lot of ways. In reality she's not, and she's just an incredible actor and she developed some mannerisms and things for this role, and she just blew me away.
Q. Hey, Diablo congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. So excited for you. Two part. First off, if you could rename Oscar, what would you name him?
A. It's funny that you should say that because I generally like to name things, and I decided that out of respect for this institution, it's just Oscar. Sorry.
Q. That's okay.
A. It's not creative.
Q. That's okay. We'll take that. And second of all, you've had such an interesting life story and I think everyone has been fascinated with your own life. If your life were to have been made into a movie, who would you want to write the screenplay for it?
A. Here's the thing with that. I always thought it would be a silly movie because nobody would believe it. I have an unbelievable life story, and I think that I would have to write it. I don't know anybody else that could.
Q. Thanks so much. Congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. Congratulations, Diablo.
A. Thank you.
Q. Susan Jack to your left, middle of the room.
A. Hi, what's up? How are you?
Q. So I understand that you blogged on your site about these very special shoes that were made for you and then you didn't realize that it was this huge deal.
A. No. I woke up in the morning and everyone said, "I hear you're wearing million dollars shoes." And I looked at them, and it was the silliest thing. Nobody asked me, nobody talked to me, it was just this crate in the room with my name on it. I was like, what the hell? So, no, these are regular shoes.
Q. Just for the record, how much do your shoes cost? Not in millions...
A. I'm actually not sure, but I'm sure it is nowhere near a million dollars. If I had a million dollars I would help people.
Q. Hi, Diablo. I'm a USC film student, so I was wondering what advice you would give to aspiring screenwriters.
A. You know, the best advice I can give is so important is to get your work out to as many places as you possibly can. And I know that sounds like it's a given, but even if it means self publishing, it could mean blogging, it could mean Xeroxing your own (unintelligible) and handing it out on the street. You need to have as many eyes pass over what you write as possible because otherwise, you won't meet the right people.
Q. Hi, Diablo.
A. Hi.
Q. So since your film came out, a lot of parents, teachers, they are telling high school kids, "Go to the theater," you know, it's kind of like its all on birth control. Is that any intention of yours and what do you think of, like, the amazing success of your film?
A. The answer to the first question is that I really was just writing a personal story about one girl, I wasn't intending to write a statement about pregnancy or anything like that. It was not political. I just wrote Juno, that's it. It's Juno's story (unintelligible), hence the title. But I'm shocked by the popularity of the film. I mean, when you write basically an independent movie about, you know, a pregnant teenager, making it for $7 million, you never, ever think it's going to become a phenomena. So we're all still processing that because it's crazy.
Q. Diablo?
A. Yes.
Q. Way back here.
A. Hey, how are you?
Q. Congratulations.
A. Thank you.
Q. I'm just wondering if you had a quarter for every time that your past profession was mentioned (unintelligible), what would you do with all that money and what would you say to other aspiring writers that happen to be doing some odd jobs right now?
A. If I had the money I would probably pay off everybody in the journalism world to not mention again. No. It's all right, I mean, you know, I've always been very open about my past. And what was the second question? I'm sorry.
Q. What would you say to people that are aspiring?
A. Oh. People doing odd jobs? You know what? To me those are the greatest artists in the world because those are people who are doing art for art's sake. And no matter what they do, they find to the time to create what they love and that's wonderful.
Q. Hi. There's been a lot of discussion about, you know, your life before and being a dancer. Did you always want to be
A. I was not a dancer; I can't dance.
Q. All right. Did you always were you always a writer or was there some event that took place that you said, "I'm going to write"?
A. I've always been a writer and I've always been a storyteller. Anybody I grew up with can attest to that. But I never thought about screenwriting. It's not something people do. You grow up in the suburbs in the Midwest, you don't know any screenwriters, so it just doesn't seem like a realistic career possibility. And it wasn't until somebody who was in this world found me and said, "Hey, you should come out here and do this. You could do this," that I realized it was something that I could try.
Q. Hi. I love you. There's this funny thing that happens, though. You've sold over, you know, a hundred million dollars' worth of tickets, the movie is a commercial success, and some people are like, "Well, wait a minute. That means it's not an independent film."
A. Yeah.
Q. Have you been part of that, are you aware of that controversy and how do you answer that?
A. I actually wasn't aware of that. However, it doesn't surprise me. I think, you know I often think how different the reaction to the film might have been if it hadn't made any money. I think the immense sort of popularity of it has colored people's view of it. It's really just a sweet film that we made, and when something becomes a sort of a juggernaut, I think the cynics come out. But it is an independent movie. I it's a little movie, it was a family atmosphere on set, and I know that we beat the odds.
Q. Back of the room to the right. Hi.
A. Hi.
Q. Congratulations. You're now an Academy award winning screenwriter.
A. Funny.
Q. What is next for you?
A. Actually, I love horror movies, Argento and Lewis, and if you saw Juno, you know that, so I'm sure I channeled that into the character. So I wrote a horror movie and we're going to go shoot it in two weeks, so we'll be back on set. I'm excited, yeah.
Q. Hello, over here.
A. Hey, how are you?
Q. Hi. I wanted to see you said your Oscar was for the writers?
A. Yeah.
Q. I wanted to see if you had a comment about the end of the writers' strike, and also how it maybe affected the quality of this year's show.
A. You know, this year's show, I'm not sure if I saw it. I was kind of in my own world of anxiety and stomach pain. But obviously, I mean, I'm in support of the writers' strike. I'm a member of the WGA. I'm really glad it's over because writing is my passion and I want to get back to work. But I have to say, it was sort of it was kind of triumphant how it coincided with all this happening and how we were able to all come celebrate tonight and I'm glad.
Q. Hey. Congratulations.
A. Ted.
Q. Hey. Listen, there's such a swell of support for your film which is wonderful, but what's your comment on the slight shock and horror at a gal like Jamie Lynn Spears being pregnant?
A. I don't even know. Like, that's another girl. I only can speak about Juno. That's the truth. It's just that's how personal my view of this film is.
Q. What would you call the life story of Britney Spears?
A. Oh, come on.
Q. Congratulations. First of all, how long did it take to write the film and what was your motivation?
A. You know, it only took me a couple months to write because I was working alone outside the industry. I didn't really know how long it should take to write a movie, and that's how long it took me. I think now that I realized that people take longer, I've abused that privilege. But what was I'm sorry. One question at a time. It's, like, all I can hold in my head.
Q. What motivated you to tell a story about a teenager?
A. That's a tougher question. I think it was just the dynamic between Juno and the adoptive parents was something I had never seen in a film before. And I thought it was very awkward and unusual and wrenching. It just felt like a movie to me.
Q. Thank you and congratulations.
A. Thank you very much.
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