From the Silver Screen to the Whiteboard

by Myles Kuss ’16

In the fall of 1969, The Temptations and Elvis Presley were singing hits on the radio, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was drawing crowds on the big screen.

Entertainment consumed the American landscape, and a ten-year-old boy walked into an old-fashioned bookstore and wanted a piece of it.

One script caught his attention, and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.

“I had such a strong love for movies as a kid,” Michael Begg said. “That was my thing. No one talked about screen writers, but then I saw the script for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I instantly took to it.”

Begg has always had a taste for movies, and the fascination began at a younger age than one might expect. William Goldman won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Begg’s first favorite script, paving the way for script writers to get the recognition that they deserved. Ever since then, he has wanted to see his work hit the big screen. In addition to that goal, he now has his sights set on educating the younger generation through a new elective: script writing.

The course will be offered during the upcoming school year. Begg has written scripts for more than 20 years and has been teaching English at Jesuit for the past decade.

He possesses plenty of memories and accolades to show for his time at Carrollton & Banks. During his tenure, he earned the Teacher Profile Award alongside numerous awards for his scripts Milk Route, Audubon, and, most recently, The Advantages of Whiskey over Dogs.

“Milk Route actually won the 2019 Stockholm International Film Festival,” said Begg with a laugh. “I was about to go, but then I thought to myself, ‘I’m not going to win,’ so I stayed, and of course, it ended up winning. It truly was a shock and an honor.”

Milk Route, a drama about New Orleans life after Katrina, was not his only success story. Audubon, a script about the life of John James Audubon, was considered by a production company. The Advantages of Whiskey over Dogs, a comedy describing old Hollywood featuring true life figures, is showing early promise after placing in multiple festivals, even being named second runner-up in the 2021 Beverly Hills Film Festival and earning awards in six other contests in 2020.

Begg has written seven scripts with Barry Lemoine and two solo scripts, both of which have won international and domestic awards. He credits his mentor, UCLA professor Richard Walter, but he has also found inspiration through every facet of his professional life at Jesuit.

“The English department here has definitely helped in my script writing,” Begg said. “I could start seeing an improvement in my own writing simply by teaching the curriculum here. A big thing I hammer on is the overuse of the passive voice, and the students start to see a major improvement simply because of that one fix.”

Begg’s teaching—and his own learning—have extended beyond the walls of the classroom. He has fully immersed himself in the Jesuit life, and the commitment has borne many fruits.

“At the end of the day, I am a Jesuit man,” Begg said. “Even more than teaching, Jesuit has helped my career through the people I am surrounded with—especially in the spiritual sense. I have gone on 17 or 18 Kairos retreats here, and they have made all the difference for the students and for me. You have to give yourself that reflective time if you want to be creative.”

Begg understands that creativity is a tough beast to tame and can lead to more questions than answers. To help his script writing students along their path, he will be inviting the advice of his UCLA mentor Walter into the classroom by using his book, Essentials of Screenwriting.

“Writing is painful,” Begg said. “It brings me pleasure, but if you have no idea how to approach this different type of writing, the odds of it being successful are nearly impossible. It’s a long and burdensome process, but I have gone through it multiple times and can lend any insights that I may have. “The best part is that I am starting right there with them,” Begg said with a grin. “If some of them are interested in going into film schools, this will be a tremendous first step."

No one is more excited to help students along this writing journey than Begg himself.

“I am looking forward to the class because people are genuinely interested in the writing,” Begg said. “Back in my day, people wanted to write novels; now they are all into movies, TV, and song writing.

“This class can potentially represent the first steps toward something much bigger than jotting ideas down and hoping they stick. The class will help put students in the frame of mind that will allow them to become effective writers and communicators.”

While the topic of the course is screen writing, Begg believes students will carry these business and writing skills beyond Jesuit.

“Script writing was not heard of when I was growing up,” Begg said. “It is a good form of writing that can affect all aspects study. It’ll make people better writers period.”

Begg also emphasizes that technical knowledge is not everything in this industry. As in all fields, success comes from hard work, spiritual formation, and just a little bit of luck.

“I will teach them the tools,” Begg said. “I also want them to understand that luck plays a part in it. Reflecting on yourself helps, and the ability to take criticism is crucial.”

Contrary to novel writing, script writing generates a product that is read by relatively few people, yet the ambitious goal of any script writer is to have a script hit the big screen. Quite a daunting task—but Begg knows there are a lot of steps between a ten-year-old discovering a script for the first time and submitting his first piece into a contest.

“Ultimately, I want to introduce a craft that fulfills me to students who are interested,” Begg said. “Maybe even more than that, I wish that I had somebody there for me. Now I can be there for my students.”