Screenwriter shares tips in UNLV class

marlene Karas/ViewScreenwriter John Hill, who teaches a class at UNLV, stands next to a stack of his screenplays, with his Emmy Award atop the pile. Advertisement

John Hill has spent nearly 25 years as a writer for TV and the silver screen, and now he's offering his talents to UNLV students.

Hill, who has been featured in both Time and The New York Times magazines, is an Emmy Award winner, and teaches writing classes at UNLV through the Educational Outreach program (adult night school).

The six-week course is titled Screenwriting -- the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Students can expect to learn about plot, dialogue, pace and protagonists. The class also covers marketing.

"A lot of people don't understand how to write for a market," Hill said. "They get all distracted by the Oscars and reading reviews, which don't mean anything. They don't bother to read the Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety to spot trends, to see what's selling."

Even well-written screenplays that are bought are often handed off to other writers and molded to the director's and producer's wishes.

"By the time your work gets made into a movie, you won't even recognize it when it's finished," Hill said.

Between 1989 and 1996, Hill sold three different speculative scripts for six figures, in three different genres, he said.

Jill Delaney, 31, a realtor, has taken Hill's class before. She said he keeps the sessions lively with his self-deprecating humor.

"He doesn't romanticize the screenwriting life," she said. "He tells you just what needs to be done to get it done."

Sheffield Obella, 38, an art teacher, said Hill "doesn't pull any punches. And he gives you examples of what he's talking about. When I learned he had an Emmy, I realized he knew what he was doing."

That 1991 Emmy came from his work as a writer-type producer on the TV series "L.A. Law." He held a similar position for "Quantum Leap."

His movie credits include the ABC made-for-TV movie "Griffin and Phoenix" (1976), based on his speculative script and starring Peter Falk and Jill Clayburgh. Other credits include "Heartbeeps" (1981), based on his pitch, starring Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters; and co-writer of "Little Nikita" (1988), starring River Phoenix and Sidney Poitier.

Perhaps Hill's best-known work is "Quigley Down Under" (1990), based on his speculative script and starring Tom Selleck, Laura San Giacomo, and Alan Rickman.

Hill graduated from the University of Kansas in 1969 as a journalism major. He was a copywriter at several advertising agencies. Then, his first screenplay in hand, he jumped into his Camaro to move to Los Angeles on April Fools Day, 1971 -- the definitive day of the year to try to become a screenwriter, he noted.

Hill wrote two screenplays annually for the next 25 years.

Since moving to Las Vegas six years ago with his wife, Nancy, a public relations specialist, Hill continues to be a columnist for SCR(I)PT magazine, and has set his sights on a "new path of self destruction," writing fiction novels.

Hill can be reached by e-mail at Hillwithit@aol.com.