At the end of every O magazine there is a list called “5 Things I know for Sure.”  Usually Oprah provides the “things” for this list based on the focus of that particular issue.  This month O has asked Melissa Rosenberg what her five things are.  Here is what she said:  

Special effects and stars do not necessarily a good movie make.

The film industry sees the writer as fungible: The thinking goes, As long as we have Brad Pitt and all this money, we have a great film! No, you need a writer with voice and an engaging story, or what you have is a bomb. 

Kindness counts.

It doesn’t matter if you’re the smartest person in the room: If you’re not someone who people want to be around, you won’t get far. Likewise for helping those in line behind you. I take seriously my role as a mentor to young female filmmakers—I make sure my time is tithed.

We all have a calling.

Everyone is given one gift, a reason for being, and it’s our obligation to do something with it. Obviously, it’s a challenge—but if you’re not taking the bull by the horns, I have no patience for you. You’re just taking up space.

Hell, yes, there’s a double standard in Hollywood.

You could produce a ridiculous action flick for 13-year-old boys, and critics will say, “Oh, it’s just an action flick.” But the vitriol directed toward Twilight is astounding. It may not be Doctor Zhivago, but I think some critics call it stupid and frivolous not because it’s inherently bad but because it’s made for girls. 

Frustration is my motivation. When I’m stuck in my writing, the world is amiss. If I’m eating a sandwich, it’s an unsettled sandwich. If I’m in the shower, it’s an incorrect shower. It’s profoundly uncomfortable. But it’s what keeps me pushing.

Source: O Magazine

Melissa Rosenberg talks about the battle scene specifics as part of EW’s Behind the Scenes series

I always write out battle scenes, not because I think that they’re going to shoot the action sequences as I write them, but because we need to know who dies when, why they die, how they die, who kills them, what is the emotion of the moment. Ultimately it lands with the director and the stunt coordinator; I took it as far as I could on the page.

The way I approached it was, who would be the most shocking to kill? Because the first death initiates the battle, it has to be someone who everybody cares about. And because they’re all there for Carlisle, it made sense that he was the one. Well, actually, the first one who is killed in reality is Irina. But the whole company doesn’t actually know her — Carlisle, they’ll go to battle for. And you also want, like, who’s going to be the most satisfying to kill? Who have been the various nemeses? So everyone kind of gets a moment. Of course, Bella and Edward had to be the ones to kill Aro. That was the ultimate, and that they do it together felt really right. I really wanted to see Bella just rip his frickin’ head off. [Laughs]

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