This interview is published in the July/August 2002 issue of SCREENTALK magazine.

K + J = MIB 2
The Combustible Chemistry Of
Our Favorite Rogues In Ray-Bans

By Christina Hamlett

Somewhere in the dark universe, a plot is being hatched by intergalactic forces to topple earthlings from their dominant rank in the food chain. Fortunately, this pervasive evil has met its match in the form of an unassuming hero with a fertile imagination and a track record for snappy paced comedy. Alone at the keyboard, his fingers strike terror in the alien psyche with those first fateful words: FADE IN…With a new film, a new toddler, and a host of hot new projects already simmering on the front burners, Men In Black 2 screenwriter Barry Fanaro graciously took time from his busy schedule to candidly chat about a long-awaited sequel that will set summer audiences buzzing.

Born in New Jersey and raised in Florida, Fanaro started his career in television. He has written and produced well over 200 episodes of half-hour comedy for popular shows such as "Archie Bunker’s Place," "Benson," and "The Golden Girls," where he served as Executive Producer for four years, winning Emmys for writing and producing (Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series). He has also won a Writers Guild Award and two Golden Globes®. His screen credits include Kingpin, What’s The Worst That Could Happen, The Crew, Big Trouble, and now Men In Black 2.

As someone who has successfully transitioned from writing sitcom scripts for the small screen to writing comedies for the silver one, do you think that it’s more of a challenge to keep coming up with weekly scenarios for a recurring television ensemble like "The Golden Girls" or to craft one central conflict for a feature-length film?

Stories are hard. Period. Robert McKee has made a very good living teaching a course all over the world called, STORY. When I was first writing and producing television shows, the biggest challenge was trying to come up with twenty-two funny and compelling stories every season. We couldn’t, so we came up with ten.

The rest were either funny, or compelling, and several were just bad. After doing well over two hundred episodes of television, I felt like I just couldn’t do it any longer. Features! One great idea. That’s the answer!

So this is where you’d like to stay?

Actually, now that I’ve written or rewritten six or seven movies, I’m thinking about going back to television.

How come full circle?

Because one great idea is really hard. In all seriousness, I love writing, but stories, good ones, whether they’re for television or features, are a bitch.

At what point, and how often, did you go back and watch the original MIB while penning the sequel that had been started by Bob Gordon (Galaxy Quest)?

I loved the first MIB! When (director) Barry Sonnenfeld brought me on board to write MIB 2, I watched the original several times.

Were there any epiphanies that influenced where you carried the story from there?

Well, I probably learned more from his commentary on the DVD than I did from the actual movie. He kept talking about the tone.

In terms of the science fiction genre?

That’s just it: he never saw it as a pure Sci-Fi movie, but more of a detective story with his ironic sense of humor.

The quintessential "buddy film" but set against an alien backdrop?Once I got that, I knew I could write it!

Was the sequel’s plot already pretty much locked-in when you came on board for the rewrites or did you have creative license to take it in a different direction?

The basic story line of the world in danger, Kay being the only one who might know what is going on and Jay having to convince him to come back, stayed the same. How that all happens, changed.

An intriguing reversal here, of course, is that Tommy was the seasoned agent and steely-glint mentor in the original who recruited the wide-eyed novice Will to the ranks of the organization. In MIB 2, it’s now Will who has to re-teach his former pal how to deal with alien scum.T

he studio, the producers, Barry, and I had long discussions about what was so good about the original draft and what needed to be changed. Barry and I then went off and talked for several days about the specifics. The things that we weren’t able to solve, I was given creative license on. We repeated that process many times, before, during and after the shoot.

Finish the following sentence: In the original storyline, I really wish that they had ___________.

I really wish ... that they had hired me to write it!

Oh, but to possess the 20/20 accuracy of hindsight when we need it most! Looking back on your early dreams and the subsequent development of your writing talent at Mercer University (Macon, Georgia) and graduate film school at New York University, what would you say was the best career advice that anyone ever gave you?

My first day of film school at NYU the Dean of the program stood before us and explained in reverential terms what it meant to be a filmmaker and an artist. Other teachers then stepped to the podium, each with different variations on the same theme. Artistic integrity. Personal expression. The power of film to illuminate, even change the way we see the world. The last person to speak was a burly guy with a thick Brooklyn accent.

And his name was…?

Ed Pryor. He had a small office in the basement and was in charge of maintaining the equipment. After explaining how we checked out cameras and sound recorders, he concluded by saying this: "I doubt if any of ya will ever get a chance to make a movie in your lives. If you can think of anything else you’d be happy doing, leave now and save yourself the aggravation."

Brutal. So what was your reaction to his dismal two cents of wisdom?

I couldn’t think of anything, so I stayed. So did Barry Sonnenfeld, Jim Jarmush, Susan Siedelman, Tom Dicillo, and many others who went on to have careers as writers, editors and directors of photography.

How about the flip side of that question: what was the worst advice anyone ever shared about how you should spend your life?

When I announced to my family that I wanted to go to Hollywood to be a comedy writer, my mother said, "We’ll support anything you want to do, but you should know this ... you’re not funny. Bob Hope is funny. You were accepted to law school. Go to law school."

Will Smith was quoted as saying, "K makes J." When the chemistry between the actors themselves is as synergetic as exists between Smith and Jones, what advantages and disadvantages does that pose for the screenwriter in establishing a credible rapport between their fictitious Smith and Jones counterparts?

Kay and Jay’s relationship and interaction is really what MIB is all about. Sonnenfeld’s single biggest problem with the original draft was that Kay came into the movie too late. He and I were always trying to find creative ways to get Tommy into the story sooner. Like Will said, Kay makes Jay. From a writer’s point of view, a strong relationship like the one between the two of them is pure gold. In some ways it was similar to writing a television show with established, well-loved characters.I

f one or both actors had not been available for the sequel, would the script still have worked?

Will and Tommy are MIB.

Sixty percent of a sequel’s guaranteed audience are those who fell hook, line and sinker for the charms of the first one. How do you address the balance of allowing moviegoers to revisit familiar turf and yet give them a fresh story?

You really hit on what we all felt was the balancing act we needed to deliver. Give the audience what they expect and still be original. Godfather 2 not Godfather 3.

Technological advances and CGI has put today’s movies light years ahead of what they were 30 years ago. With all of this emphasis on, and audience expectations of, glitzy special effects, has this diminished the quality or strength of the stories themselves? I

really don’t think that CGI had anything to do with it. Good stories with great characters are always going to be more important than how many spaceships blow up on screen.

Without giving away too much, does the ending of MIB 2 leave the door open for further continuation?

In my opinion, they could do many more sequels as long as Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones wanted to keep doing them.

If you could write the sequel to any film that has ever been made, what would it be and who would you cast among the current crop of Hollywood stars?

Valley Of The Dolls starring Reese Witherspoon. She can do it all. Drama. Comedy. And I think she’d look really cool in go-go boots.

Last but not least, it seems that everyone these days has an idea rattling around in their heads for The Next Great Oscar® Blockbuster. Certainly the Internet has fueled that vision by making Hollywood more accessible in terms of exposure. What’s your advice to the up and coming screenwriters of today who want to break into this business?

Simple: Thousands of people have thirty pages of a screenplay stuck in a drawer. It doesn’t count unless you finish.

* * * * * * *

WHEN LAST WE LEFT THEM…

Agent Jay had reluctantly acquiesced to his pal Kay’s wish to be zapped into blissful ignorance of Earth’s quirky coexistence with extraterrestrials. Fast forward to the future where Jay, having run through a succession of partners, is sent out to investigate mysterious happenings involving the crash of an alien spaceship. It soon becomes apparent to him–and to the rest of us–that this is a two-person job and that the second person can be none other than the unwitting Kay, now a doltish suburbanite shell of his former self. Fun things to watch for in this one: the return of Frank the Pug, a new cast of cosmic creepies (who are regularly featured on the MIB 2 official website at <www.mib2.com>), a sweet romance for Jay, and the chance to see the stony-faced Kay be the clueless bumbler.

Former actress and director Christina Hamlett is the author of 17 books, 98 plays and musicals, and over 250 magazine and newspaper articles on the performing arts, humor, health, travel, and how-to’s for new writers. For information on current projects or to engage her services as a stage and screen script consultant, please visit her website at <www.absolutewrite.com/site/christina.htm>.