Robert McGee: It is my lifelong mission to teach stories

Stories are a metaphor for life, the fulcrum of my life, and the core belief of my life. I am eager to see great movies that can shock people in both power and beauty.

Many China friends know that I have written a book "Stories: Materials, Structure, Style, and Principles of Screen Drama," but they don't know why I wrote this book, nor do they understand why I travel around the world, teaching various writers and filmmakers, and teaching the art of stories. At the invitation of the China team, let me tell my story today.

When I was 6 years old, my father gave me a copy of "Aesop's Fables", so I often lay in the warm quilt and pestered my mother,"Can you tell me a bedtime story?" "Is this reasonable in the story?" My father was often surprised by how keen I was to analyze the meaning of the story and make it clear.

I made my debut on stage at the age of 9, performing "Shoemaker Martin" at the Community Theater in my hometown of Detroit, and since then, I have been playing major roles in plays. But when I graduated from high school, I still wanted to become a dentist, because people would always need a dentist. Until my mother woke me up: "No, what people need is entertainment."

With the support of the Ivan Scholarship, I completed a bachelor's degree in English literature at the University of Michigan, and I was guided by Professor Kenneth Wilton, who is known for his teaching of Shakespeare and modern drama. Luo, my fellow brothers and sisters, and "American Theater Conscience" Arthur? Miller, and Lawrence, who created "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark"? Kasdan.

During my undergraduate period, I successively participated in and directed more than 30 works. After graduation, I performed on Broadway and met with Helen? Hayes, Rosemary? Harris, Will? Jill worked together. After receiving a professional drama scholarship, I returned to school to continue my Master of Arts in Drama, and then participated in the American Theater Festival and became the artistic director of the Aaron Dereau Theater. Later, I also spent some good times in the UK, studying Shakespeare at the Old Vic Theatre in London and serving as a resident artist at the British National Theatre. It wasn't until I returned to New York, after seven years in the theater industry, that I decided to devote myself to the grand fusion of all art forms of the 20th century-film.

I completed my doctorate in the Department of Film Arts at the University of Michigan. My short film "A Day of Vacation" and my adapted one-act play "Talking to Me Like Rain" won the Golden Eagle Award for Film and received awards from Brussels, Grenoble, and many film festivals such as Delta, Rochester, Chicago and Baltimore.

But at this point, I was still a few years away from discovering my true talent.

When I moved to Los Angeles, like many people who had to write for a living, I worked for United American and NBC, reviewing scripts for a living. But I didn't give up writing. The first script I wrote,"Death Files," was sold to Avico Pictures, and I joined the Writers Guild of America. The next completed script,"Suffering", won the National Screenplay Competition."Trophy" was sold to Warner Bros., and seven other screenplays were also purchased one after another. I participated in the creation of popular TV series such as "Forensic Quincy","Detective Columbo" and "Detective Spencer". However, unfortunately, the movie scripts I successfully sold were never filmed.

In 1983, as a Fulbright Scholarship Scholar set up by the U.S. government, I was invited to become a faculty member of the School of Film Arts at the University of Southern California, giving classes to young screenwriters who were not yet successful every Saturday morning. At the end of the course, the dean came to me with a smile and said that the course had to be held again because the number of applicants had tripled. At this time, I finally realized that maybe I belonged to the podium, just as story creation requires both literary genius and story genius, the art of teaching others 'stories is me. McGee, the true source of inspiration and talent.

A year later, the course called "Story Workshop" was officially opened to the public. Over the next 30 years, I traveled from Los Angeles, New York, to London, Paris, Toronto, Boston, San Francisco, Helsinki, Munich, Sydney, Oslo, Singapore, Barcelona and other film capitals to give lectures, and met with more than 100,000 outstanding students face to face. Many of them have won the Academy Award, the American Television Emmy Award, the Writers Guild of America Award, the Directors Guild of America Award, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award and other awards. Looking at their excellent works, I am increasingly convinced that stories can tell us the truth of life and what it feels like to be human beings in a way that no other media can achieve. If a society wants to reach the highest level of its civilization, then storytellers in society must learn to use the art of storytelling and turn it into a bright and pure light that illuminates the dark corners of human nature and human society.

Stories are a metaphor for life, the fulcrum of my life, and the core belief of my life. I am eager to see great movies that can shock people in both power and beauty.

Robert? McGee

was in the United States in February 2016

Editor: queenie