Syd Field, the ‘Screenwriting Guru’ dies at 77

The highly popular teacher and author of screenwriting, Syd Field, whose 1979 book “Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting”, is considered bible for screenwriters, died on Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif., at age 77. That book which was later translated into 23 languages and is taught in curriculum in more than 250 colleges and universities around the world today has started a lengthy career as a teacher in screenwriting for Syd Field. Ironically he was himself not a successful screenwriter but nonetheless his work was referred to by many industry successes like James Cameroon and Tina Fey.

While critics and conservatives always considered his work a sham and that true writing comes out of artistic inspiration, Syd Field with his dissection of successful works always stressed on plot points, character graphs and progression of acts (the 3-act structure). In true american spirit, he challenged the european perception of art that it has to be inborn and through his books and seminars (some in India too) taught that screenwriting is something can be learnt and mastered with technique.

Some of his books are :-

Screenplay (1979)
The Screenwriter’s Workbook (1984)
Selling a Screenplay: The Screenwriter’s Guide to Hollywood (1989)
Four Screenplays: Studies in the American Screenplay (1994)
The Screenwriter’s Problem Solver: How To Recognize, Identify, and Define Screenwriting Problems (1998)
Going to the Movies: A Personal Journey Through Four Decades of Modern Film (2001)
The Definitive Guide to Screenwriting (2003)