Pete Chiarelli: Screenwriter

Introduction

Chiarelli currently works as a screenwriter in Hollywood, building the foundations for feature films and TV shows one script at a time. He has written scripts for movies like The Proposal and Crazy Rich Asians.

As we started our discussion, Chiarelli described a feature film as a narrative with a running time long enough to be considered the main focus of an entertainment program. As the conversation continued, Chiarelli highlighted the different avenues through which a simple idea for a movie or TV show blossoms into a script. Initially, the process can be very straightforward: he has an idea for a movie and pitches his storyline to studios in the hopes that they will sponsor his work. Alternatively, jobs find him. Chiarelli mentioned that sometimes people call his agent or manager and say, “Hey we got this idea, can you take a look at it and write it?” No matter the genesis of the idea, it is clear Chiarelli is always observing the world around him – eager to soak up daily experiences to create works of art we can all relate to.

“Staying curious is my job. Curious about things, people, jobs, stories.”

Past

Chiarelli originally dreamed of going to USC film school. However, University of Washington, where he ultimately attended, offered him a more competitive scholarship. Even though they didn’t have a film program and his double major at UW did not align with film on paper, Chiarelli made the most out of his immediate resources to support his future film goals.

In college, Chiarelli worked on the TV news circuit learning skills that later proved to be invaluable. During his time there, he wrote copy for anchors and received many critiques on his work, which he said “ended up being one of the best things for a screenwriter… because I [was] writing dialogue all day for 8 hours a day.” He pointed to this experience as transformative in teaching him how to write dialogue, as opposed to academic reports. Immediately after graduating, he applied for and was rejected by USC’s Stark Program, a graduate program that focuses on taking the script to the screen. Disappointed, he decided to work another year in TV news and watch an outrageous amount of movies and TV shows. The following year, he reapplied to the Stark Program and was admitted. Despite all his preparation, Chiarelli said he did not truly venture into the world of screenplay until his first day of graduate school. He subtly mentioned a conversation he once had with his daughter in which he shared that he had never taken a creative writing class until graduate school. Even though he had a late start, his past experiences prepared him well for a career he loves, even if he didn’t know it at the time. Once he found that love, Chiarelli hit the ground running.

The Highs and Lows

While on set in Massachusetts for The Proposal, Chiarelli experienced a near life-changing moment. He was talking to one of the truck drivers, who asked why Chiarelli was there. Chiarelli told him, “I wrote the movie. I wrote this.” The truck driver responded with, “Thank you. Because of you, I have a job.” At that moment, while talking to the truck driver and looking around the set, Charelli felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. It was a full circle moment where he realized his work was tangibly and positively impacting these people’s lives. Through his writing, he was able to gather a group of people to bring his idea to life.

“It was this bizarre feeling of ‘I made this up and now here I am on this set. People are saying these words I wrote.’ That was very exciting.”

Similarly, Chiarelli experienced another unforgettable moment years later that, yet again, helped put things into perspective for him. Two weeks before Crazy Rich Asians hit theaters, Chiarelli was sent to Austin for an event hosted by a local Asian American Group. Seeing their excitement and enthusiasm for the film was a pivotal moment where Chiarelli understood that “this matters to people beyond being a movie.” Chiarelli always took what he wrote seriously, but seeing the film’s positive impact on so many highlighted that his work was more than just entertainment.

For every star-studded moment Chiarelli has experienced, he has had to hop over just as many, if not more, hurdles. Being a writer can be punishing; a screenwriter even worse. Every word you write is critiqued and raked through with a fine tooth comb. Chiarelli had to constantly remind himself that these notes are coming from a good place of wanting the story to be better. Still, having your work constantly critiqued is not easy to handle.

During a notes meeting early in his writing career, a producer gave him a critique and Chiarelli looked straight at him and said, “I hate that note very much.” It wasn’t until later in his career that he understood the value of these notes and “taking constructive and constant criticism.” He is able to laugh about it now, but he said it was hard to hear the note at that time. But it helped him see that filmmaking is a team effort and everyone has a hand in “changing it to make it better, not just different.” Having to incorporate everyone's notes has now become Chiarelli’s favorite part of his job.

His patience was tested during a particular moment while writing The Proposal. He was asked to include more conflict in the film by making the ex-girlfriend evil. Despite not agreeing with it, Chiarelli made this change to the script. When he presented the edits, the producers thought it was terrible. You would think the natural response would have been, “‘Well, you told me I had to do it.’ But when you’re a screenwriter, you have to go ‘okay, well that didn’t work. Let’s try something else.’” So they did. He wrote another version with the dad disapproving of the couple because he wanted his son to run the family company, whereas originally, he was the supportive one.

“The bigger picture stuff you’re often not going to find at first, but the idea [is] to go down blind allies and accept that it will take some course correcting and reworking until everybody thinks, ‘Oh wow, that’s interesting.’”

Life Advice

According to Chiarelli, what you bring into the entertainment world is your taste, which “is developed not by school but by watching films and creating your own criticism for it.” He strongly believes that having a broad based education is far more valuable than any screenwriting class. For example, when writing Crazy Rich Asians, Chiarelli was able to lean into the economics plot of the character, Rachel Chu, because he had studied economics in college. He was able to incorporate the idea of fear of loss into the script from his own economics background. Chairelli believes the best thing to do is to soak everything up like a sponge because you never know what you may be able to use in the future. The world is connected, so having a variety of knowledge in many subjects may prove useful at some point!

Chiarelli ends with, “the idea that you are going to know what you want to do with the rest of your life when you are 17/18 is preposterous… As a high school student, the idea is that you don’t know so try and experiment, know that you are going to constantly be changing and evolving and finding different strengths, keep an open mind and keep your eyes wide open. Take the time to find the thing that you enjoy and that you are good at. Continue to love, to learn and stay curious.”