Screenwriting : Based on True Story by Christopher Joseph

Embellish everything. Worry about limiting yourself in following drafts.

In “The theory of everything” Prof Hawkin has a friend. In fact that was a combination of five people.

You may need to add a character that knows nothing so the audience can learn through them.

Don’t limit your thinking, let it pour out. Edit later. Good luck.

Braveheart had some bold embellishments and is more watchable and enjoyable than most biopics. So don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story.

I'm writing a screenplay based on the true story of my Great Grandparents. I can explain the real story in two paragraphs, but I have written a full length feature based around that story. The best advice I received from another screenwriter was... 'Put the story before the fact'. Don't worry about guidelines for embellishment, there aren't any, just write the story you want to write, use the truth as a base and build everything else around that.

Hi Christopher,

I'm pretty sure that most, if not all "true stories/stories based on true events" take some liberties with the facts. From the films mentioned above, to Good Morning, Vietnam, to The Revenant, to American Sniper, to Bohemian Rhapsody, etc. etc....they all take some "liberties" with some scenes that were made up; or with some characters or characterizations that were made up; or with actual outcomes that were made up.

So you can do the same, too, in those regards.

One thing I wouldn't do is to portray real-life people in negative/defamatory ways that may not be accurate. That might lead to a defamation lawsuit, which rarely happens, but does happen from time to time - and even at the studio film-level.

Also remember that all films have a disclaimer in the credits. There is the standard disclaimer, and then there is one that is more geared towards true-life/true-event stories, and goes something like this:

"This story is based on actual events. In certain cases incidents, characters and timelines have been changed for dramatic purposes. Certain characters may be composites, or entirely fictitious."

For your own information/education/research, there is a really cool website that does a scene-by-scene breakdown of many films, and rates the "false-true" scale of each scene. You can click into each scene, as represented in the bar graphs for each scene in the film, and you'll see the rating and explanation of that scene. I think it's correct and factual., at least :) Here is the link to that website.

https://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/based-on-a-true-tr...

Stage32's Joey Madia also did a great blog today about this very topic. I think Joey Madia may be a composite person, too. Word on the street is that "Joey" is the composite and representation of four different real-life people. No person can be as prolific and as busy as that dude! (Just kidding, Christopher - Joey is real!) You can find his blog here:

https://www.stage32.com/blog/Seven-Essentials-for-Projects-Based-on-a-Tr...

Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Christopher!

i'd say if it's true - then change the names of people, change genders if you have to - then it's based on true events, but not open to people freaking out if they recognize themselves and become offended

Entertain.

I just completed a script based on true events. My guideline going into the first draft was to try to stick to the historical record as much as possible.

That gave me a good foundation, then I saw where the history wasn't necessarily the best way to tell the story I wanted to tell, and I embellished from there.

Ultimately your primary obligation is to tell a great story. Secondarily, I'd say, capture the SPIRIT of the true history. If the history tells you that, say, War is Hell, do your best to tell the story of how war is hell, even if you have to hellify the actual events, turn the hero's lost toe into a lost leg, compress the hero's kind of boring 18 months on leave into a gorgeous romantic weekend... You know what I'm saying.

You can invent quite a lot, if you really wish to, even if it's based on a true story. The Imitation Game is more than half fiction, for example. Most of the characters in The Great Escape were composites.

Thanks, guys for the awesome feedback! It's been such a struggle worried about stretching and padding the event I was nervous about how to proceed. It's based on true events that happened in about a 20-year period from the late 40s to the early 60s. Some people are still alive and there are their descendants. As I do more research the person who I thought was the main protagonist is actually just the main catalyst to the event. The real protagonist has revealed himself and oh is he good and evil! I will take caution if he has any living descendants to worry about but so far only those that remember him is that he was a bad man in a high ranking position. I would prefer to drop his real name! Will let you guys know how it goes, I already have some backing interest! The working title is 'Open Wounds'. Wish me luck!

This is a question for lawyers.