If it sounds like Robert McKee is leading a one-man crusade to raise the quality of filmmaking around the globe, it's because he is. Whether he'll admit it or not. He doesn't like being hailed as a messiah of screenwriting, but there's no question McKee is the most respected and referred-to living teacher of the craft of writing for the page, stage and screen. And he will tell you in no uncertain terms that writing is indeed a craft - not a process that can be broken down into mechanical steps, but a focused channelling of that elusive quality called talent.
Creativity is a component of talent.
The roster of former students, from Julia Roberts and Kirk Douglas to a who's who of Hollywood directors, would seem to suggest so. Although he's been teaching screenwriting for 15 years, has sold numerous TV scripts and had several film screenplays optioned, this summer will mark the first time a McKee-written movie will actually see production. In writing a film version of Noel Coward's Hay Fever, McKee crafted a story that encompasses the play's plot. But then you discover you can't, and you realize it's an incredibly complex art form. McKee said the current Hollywood trend of producing gigantic blockbusters with dizzyingly enormous budgets shows a shift away from storytelling.