Barry Morrow Headlines Two Events in Jacksonville

On Wednesday, October 20 Barry Morrow, an Academy Award and Emmy-winning Screenwriter, headlined a film luncheon and a Corporate Disabilities Employment Awards Banquet called Dinner with Bill. The luncheon was held at the Florida Coastal School of Law and Dinner with Bill was held at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront.

At the luncheon Morrow spoke on the importance of story in writing. For screenplays you must have a beginning, middle, and end; these are called the first, second, and third acts. Morrow stated, “Anyone can write the first act, it’s the second act that’s hard.” He was explaining why people shouldn’t call themselves screenwriters after writing one script. To finish one script is a feat in itself, but to finish several is where the title of screenwriter comes.

Morrow talked about how he enjoys watching people and how to get a story by just riding a bus. His inspiration for his Emmy winning screenplay “Bill” came from watching and knowing a person who he holds a special place in his heart, Bill Sackter. Bill was a man with developmental disabilities that Morrow saw while picking up his wife from work and eventually met at a Christmas party. The inspiration for “Rain Man” was Kim Peek, a “mega savant” he met in Texas. Morrow found Kim in a library flipping through a book upside down, it turned out that Kim was actually memorizing the book. This amazed Morrow and he decided to write a story about it.

Morrow is a great writer and spoke inspiring words at these events. Anyone who wants to be a screenwriter can use his method and find a great story. For more information about Barry and to see more of his work go to http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607454/ .