Screenwriter and Syracuse University alumnus Michael Weber is anxiously awaiting the United States release of his latest adaptation, “Paper Towns.” Based on John Green’s best-selling novel of the same name, Weber and his screenwriting partner Scott Neustadter aren’t strangers to Green’s work. The duo wrote the script for Green’s last film “The Fault In Our Stars” and the in-the-works “Looking For Alaska.” Weber, who graduated in 2000 with a degree in Television, Radio and Film, took a break from his daily writing routine to talk to The Daily Orange about the upcoming “Paper Towns” movie, making books translate to the big screen and what it’s like working with one of the world’s most recognized authors.

The D.O.: When did you realize you wanted to pursue screenwriting as your career?

M.W.: When I was in high school I was always messing around with some short stories, things that were fiction related. It wasn’t until college that I immersed myself in movies, and from there started to try my hand at screenwriting, probably largely to do with the weather. I have the constant cold and snow of Syracuse to thank for turning me into the hardcore movie fan  that I became, and then attempting screenwriting.

The D.O.: What sort of things were you exposed to while at SU that influenced your career?

M.W.: The biggest influence of my career is professor Evan Smith. He had not only had recent experience in the business, but he is so great at communicating, and also connecting with his students. And I think not only when I was a student, but especially in the, say the first five years after I graduate, there were times I needed a pat on the back, and times when I need a kick on the ass, and he always seemed to know which one I needed. He was a tremendous influence in my career.

The D.O.: You have written quite a lot of movies based on books now, what is that process like?

M.W.: Books were my first love, so I always try to stay true to the book, but most importantly you want the experience of the movie to resemble what you felt when you were reading the book. But at the same time, the movie has to stand on its own legs. It can’t require you to know the book; it has to be its own thing. So it’s a little bit of a balancing act, but it’s fun. The process is a little different from an adaptation to an original. There are constraints in place when it’s an adaptation, if it’s set in Cleveland you can’t set it on the moon. There are things you can’t change that are part of the bedrock experience of reading the book. But what doesn’t change was the importance of having an outline, so I will read the book, and then read it again while taking a bunch of notes on the book. Then try to take all my ideas about the book and put them is some kind of order and Scott and I will do that together and gradually craft an outline.

The D.O.: How much do you communicate with the author when writing an adaptation, in this case John Green?

M.W.: It was crazy, we never met John before we started “The Fault In Our Stars,” the studio hired us to adapt “The Fault In Our Stars,” and we never heard from John or had any communication with him until we finished the first draft and he emailed us praising the script. We obviously met him after that, spent a lot of time with him. He was on set for a little but, we were on set for a little bit so we certainly developed a relationship with him.

The D.O.: What was the biggest difference between adapting “The Fault In Our Stars and “Paper Towns?”

M.W.: “Paper Towns” is a much trickier adaptation; it is a bit of a genre mashup. You have some fun teenage high-jinx in the beginning of the book, then the middle of the book becomes a little bit of a mystery and from there it is a road trip. In some ways “The Fault In Our Stars” was the easiest adaptation of us to work on, and “Paper Towns” was the hardest adaptation we ever worked on. I am not sure we could have adapted “Paper Towns” first. We needed the relationship we had with John in order to adapt “Paper Towns,” because we had to reach out to John several times while writing “Paper Towns” to ask him, “how important is it if blank happens?” or “What if we changed X to Y, which also means changing Z, but the spirit stays the same?” It was very helpful that we had a repertoire with John, so he could be a resource to us when we were adapting “Paper Towns” and we just finished a couple few weeks ago adapting “Looking For Alaska.” So at this point we have a great relationship with John and it’s been so much fun working with him.

The D.O.: How would you describe working with John Green?

M.W.: John’s persona behind the scenes is very similar to who he is that his fans see. And I think that is part of the reason he connects so well with his fans. His authenticity is there. He is incredibly smart, very thoughtful, he communicates very well. He is funny and warm, and we like working with him. It’s been an honor and a pleasure.

The D.O.: How was it working with the actors and actresses on “Paper Towns?”

M.W.: Nat Wolff in particular is the reason why we said yes to adapting “Paper Towns” we were not sure at first, simply because it was going to be such a complicated adaptation. When Fox decided they were going to build the movie around Nat, we said ‘yes, we are, because we had such a great relationship working with him on “The Fault In our Stars.’” He is so talented, and he is just scratching the surface of his gifts.

The D.O.: Movie reviews are starting to trickle in, how has the feedback been?

M.W.: Because the movie was released in foreign countries before it opened here, reviews have started coming in and they have been great. Variety said “Paper Towns” was better than “The Fault In Our Stars” and I agree, actually. I am proud of “The Fault In Our Stars” I am proud of “Paper Towns,” it will be interesting to see what the response from the fans are, but I think on its own it is a special movie.

Published on July 16, 2015 at 9:35 pm

Contact Jacob: jagedets@syr.edu