WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.060 Okay, let's dive in. We're talking today about 00:00:02.060 --> 00:00:07.120 a world filled with that super fast dialogue, 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:10.259 you know, high stakes idealism, characters who 00:00:10.259 --> 00:00:12.619 are just incredibly smart, almost buzzing with 00:00:12.619 --> 00:00:14.759 confidence. Yeah, absolutely. We're talking Aaron 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:18.539 Sorkin. Exactly. Aaron Sorkin. His style is so, 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:21.879 well, it even created its own visual trademark, 00:00:22.219 --> 00:00:25.170 the walk and talk. That's right. Sorkin, you 00:00:25.170 --> 00:00:27.350 think of him, you think blistering pace, right? 00:00:27.429 --> 00:00:30.309 That constant search for the perfect line. And 00:00:30.309 --> 00:00:33.189 his work, I mean, it covers film, television, 00:00:33.469 --> 00:00:36.109 the stage, some of the biggest hits in each. 00:00:36.329 --> 00:00:38.630 And our sources today, they really trace this 00:00:38.630 --> 00:00:41.329 amazing journey. It's complex, sometimes a bit 00:00:41.329 --> 00:00:43.810 contradictory, showing how this guy, a struggling 00:00:43.810 --> 00:00:46.630 actor in New York, becomes this huge award -winning 00:00:46.630 --> 00:00:49.729 filmmaker. Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Emmys. Right, 00:00:49.770 --> 00:00:51.369 and often capturing something about the national 00:00:51.369 --> 00:00:54.450 mood or, you know, trying to shape it. here is 00:00:54.450 --> 00:00:56.869 to go deeper than just listing his credits. We 00:00:56.869 --> 00:00:58.509 really want to map out this career, look for 00:00:58.509 --> 00:01:00.350 those patterns in his work where that really 00:01:00.350 --> 00:01:02.509 intense style came from. The collaborations he 00:01:02.509 --> 00:01:04.650 had, those dynamics. Yeah, and crucially, the 00:01:04.650 --> 00:01:06.909 personal stuff too. The battles that kind of 00:01:06.909 --> 00:01:09.810 shaped everything over decades was really driving 00:01:09.810 --> 00:01:11.549 him. And that's what the source material really 00:01:11.549 --> 00:01:13.530 gets into, that internal engine. We've got some 00:01:13.530 --> 00:01:15.390 really interesting points coming up. They show 00:01:15.390 --> 00:01:19.250 how things like fate and maybe even deep self 00:01:19.250 --> 00:01:21.930 -doubt played a part in his success. We're going 00:01:21.930 --> 00:01:24.540 to unpack that exact moment he realized writing 00:01:24.540 --> 00:01:27.599 gave him this phenomenal confidence, he called 00:01:27.599 --> 00:01:29.579 it, a feeling he apparently didn't have anywhere 00:01:29.579 --> 00:01:32.159 else in his life. Wow. And how just one phone 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:34.760 call, seemingly ordinary, about a hazing incident 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:38.200 sparked a few good men, his huge Broadway breakthrough. 00:01:38.459 --> 00:01:40.459 Right. And we'll also look at what it was really 00:01:40.459 --> 00:01:42.519 like, you know, being in that long partnership 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.780 where one guy just writes and the other handles 00:01:45.780 --> 00:01:47.760 the whole visual side of things. Fascinating. 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.420 OK, so let's start at the beginning. Aaron Sorkin's 00:01:50.420 --> 00:01:53.400 Roots. Born Aaron Benjamin Sorkin, Manhattan 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:57.439 1961. but raised mostly in Scarsdale, New York. 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:00.400 Pretty affluent place, right? Yeah, Scarsdale. 00:02:00.439 --> 00:02:02.459 And the family background is really key, I think, 00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:03.799 especially when you look at his later stuff, 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:06.260 like the West Wing. He grew up in a Jewish family, 00:02:06.439 --> 00:02:09.520 big emphasis on law, civic duty, that sort of 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:11.479 thing. His mom was a teacher. Right, a school 00:02:11.479 --> 00:02:14.599 teacher. But his dad was a copyright lawyer and 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:17.780 a WWII vet who went to college on the GI Bill. 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:21.360 Plus, both his older siblings also became lawyers. 00:02:21.800 --> 00:02:24.740 So there was this, you know, expectation. of 00:02:24.740 --> 00:02:27.780 intellectual achievement contributing. And there's 00:02:27.780 --> 00:02:29.819 this great little nugget about his grandfather. 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:32.400 Oh, yeah. His paternal grandfather was one of 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:35.500 the founders of the ILGWU, the International 00:02:35.500 --> 00:02:38.560 Ladies Garment Workers Union. Wow. OK, so it's 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:40.780 not just law. It's institution building, labor 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:43.819 rights, social justice. Exactly. That kind of 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:46.930 striving idealism seems baked in. You can almost 00:02:46.930 --> 00:02:49.250 draw a line from that to characters like President 00:02:49.250 --> 00:02:51.969 Bartlett or Will McAvoy later on. Totally. It's 00:02:51.969 --> 00:02:54.449 this appreciation for the system, legal, political 00:02:54.449 --> 00:02:57.370 unions, whatever, and this belief that ideally 00:02:57.370 --> 00:02:59.909 they should work perfectly. But Sorkin himself, 00:03:00.229 --> 00:03:03.250 he wasn't aiming for law at first. Or even writing. 00:03:03.550 --> 00:03:06.050 Acting was his thing initially. Right. He was 00:03:06.050 --> 00:03:07.909 really into the drama club in high school, graduated 00:03:07.909 --> 00:03:11.030 at 79, then went off to Syracuse University aiming 00:03:11.030 --> 00:03:14.969 for a BFA in musical theater. Got it in 83. But 00:03:14.969 --> 00:03:16.830 it wasn't all smooth sailing there, was it? There 00:03:16.830 --> 00:03:19.550 was that setback early on. Yeah. His freshman 00:03:19.550 --> 00:03:22.050 year, he failed some core requirement class, 00:03:22.289 --> 00:03:24.490 which sounds minor, but it apparently blocked 00:03:24.490 --> 00:03:26.229 him from getting on stage right away, which was 00:03:26.229 --> 00:03:28.590 like his whole world then. That must have been 00:03:28.590 --> 00:03:31.330 tough. Yeah, a real knock. But it led to some 00:03:31.330 --> 00:03:33.389 important advice. He talked about his theater 00:03:33.389 --> 00:03:36.759 teacher, Arthur Storch, telling him, dare to 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:39.620 fail dare to fail which wasn't just about accepting 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:42.460 failure but more like encouraging big swings 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:45.439 you know taking risks for something important 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:47.919 sorkin said he's kind of followed that ever since 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:51.240 tackling these huge ambitious topics so after 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:53.979 syracuse he moves to new york city And it hits 00:03:53.979 --> 00:03:57.300 that classic struggling actor phase in the 80s. 00:03:57.379 --> 00:03:59.500 And it sounds like it was genuinely a struggle. 00:03:59.659 --> 00:04:01.479 Oh, yeah. The sources paint a picture of real 00:04:01.479 --> 00:04:04.280 desperation. He was doing all sorts of odd jobs 00:04:04.280 --> 00:04:07.139 just to get by, driving a limo. Singing telegrams. 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:10.060 Really? Singing telegrams, handing out flyers 00:04:10.060 --> 00:04:13.039 for, like, a hunting and fishing show. And, maybe 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:15.319 the most important one, bartending at the Palace 00:04:15.319 --> 00:04:18.060 Theater on Broadway. And it's there, amidst all 00:04:18.060 --> 00:04:20.379 that, that he starts writing. Almost by accident. 00:04:20.730 --> 00:04:22.649 Pretty much. He was house -sitting for a friend, 00:04:22.709 --> 00:04:24.509 found this computer with the typewriter function, 00:04:24.709 --> 00:04:27.230 and he just started writing. And he described 00:04:27.230 --> 00:04:30.430 it as the first time he ever felt this phenomenal 00:04:30.430 --> 00:04:33.189 confidence, this kind of joy he'd never known. 00:04:33.410 --> 00:04:35.649 That's such a key insight, isn't it, that feeling? 00:04:36.029 --> 00:04:38.569 He connects it directly to feeling like a screw 00:04:38.569 --> 00:04:40.709 -up in actual conversation, his social anxiety. 00:04:41.110 --> 00:04:43.990 Exactly. Writing wasn't just a job for him. It 00:04:43.990 --> 00:04:47.329 was like a psychological tool. He said he writes 00:04:47.329 --> 00:04:50.800 to enter the world. On the page, he could control 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:53.819 it all. Make the dialogue perfect, witty, fast, 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:56.180 smart. It's like he's compensating for how he 00:04:56.180 --> 00:04:58.519 felt in real -time interactions, creating these 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:00.800 hyper -articulate characters. That drive for 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.339 verbal perfection defines everything. And it 00:05:03.339 --> 00:05:05.120 started translating into actual plays pretty 00:05:05.120 --> 00:05:07.339 quickly. His first one, Removing All Doubt, was 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:10.620 put on Back of Syracuse in 84. Then Hidden in 00:05:10.620 --> 00:05:14.220 This Picture, off -Broadway in 88. That got him 00:05:14.220 --> 00:05:17.310 an agent. A crucial step. But then came the really 00:05:17.310 --> 00:05:20.370 big one, a few good men. And the origin story 00:05:20.370 --> 00:05:23.170 is wild. It wasn't some long research project. 00:05:23.370 --> 00:05:26.069 Nope. Just a quick phone call, maybe 10 minutes, 00:05:26.250 --> 00:05:28.329 with his sister Deborah. She was a lawyer in 00:05:28.329 --> 00:05:31.110 the Navy JAG Corps. Oh, okay. And she just mentioned 00:05:31.110 --> 00:05:33.290 she was off to Guantanamo Bay to defend some 00:05:33.290 --> 00:05:36.290 Marines in a hazing case. An order came down 00:05:36.290 --> 00:05:38.550 from a superior, apparently. And that becomes 00:05:38.550 --> 00:05:41.529 a few good men. That's the spark. And the legend 00:05:41.529 --> 00:05:44.649 part is he supposedly wrote a lot of the initial 00:05:44.649 --> 00:05:47.490 ideas, the dialogue, on cocktail napkins while 00:05:47.490 --> 00:05:50.189 he was bartending at the palace. Seriously, cocktail 00:05:50.189 --> 00:05:52.689 napkins. That fits the Sorkin image perfectly, 00:05:52.889 --> 00:05:55.310 doesn't it? That intense, high -pressure creation. 00:05:55.649 --> 00:05:57.829 He'd transcribe them later. But what's amazing 00:05:57.829 --> 00:06:00.750 is his confidence. He sold the film rights for 00:06:00.750 --> 00:06:03.129 A Few Good Men to producer David Brown. Before 00:06:03.129 --> 00:06:05.189 the play even opened. Before it even hit Broadway. 00:06:05.370 --> 00:06:09.019 For apparently well into six figures. That's 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:11.399 incredible belief in your own stuff before anyone 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:13.720 else has really validated it. And the play was 00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:16.819 a hit when it opened in 89. Ran for almost 500 00:06:16.819 --> 00:06:20.259 performances. Yep. And that film rights sale. 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:23.259 Total game changer. Especially when the movie 00:06:23.259 --> 00:06:26.540 came out in 92. Directed by Rob Reiner, mentored 00:06:26.540 --> 00:06:28.360 by the great William Goldman. Tom Cruise, Jack 00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:31.920 Nicholson. Huge. Massive. Made almost $250 million 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:35.519 worldwide. Suddenly, Sorkin wasn't the struggling 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:37.459 playwright anymore. He was a major Hollywood 00:06:37.459 --> 00:06:39.660 screenwriter. Wow. So that movie really kicked 00:06:39.660 --> 00:06:41.660 off the next phase, the Castle Rock Entertainment 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:44.959 years, early to mid -90s, working under contract. 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:47.939 Right. And this was like his professional film 00:06:47.939 --> 00:06:49.990 school, really. Totally. He got tighter with 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:52.810 Rob Reiner, got mentored by William Goldman. 00:06:53.149 --> 00:06:56.329 I mean, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The 00:06:56.329 --> 00:06:58.610 sources say when he was adapting A Few Good Men, 00:06:58.850 --> 00:07:01.569 he was literally learning screenplay format from 00:07:01.569 --> 00:07:03.589 a book in his apartment. Learning on the job. 00:07:03.769 --> 00:07:05.870 He also co -wrote the thriller Malice Around 00:07:05.870 --> 00:07:08.790 Men with Scott Frank, showing some range. But 00:07:08.790 --> 00:07:10.889 the really big one from that period was The American 00:07:10.889 --> 00:07:13.610 President in 95, another Reiner Goldman connection. 00:07:13.990 --> 00:07:15.870 And the story behind that script says a lot, 00:07:15.949 --> 00:07:18.290 doesn't it? about his writing process, maybe 00:07:18.290 --> 00:07:20.529 his struggle with editing. It started as this 00:07:20.529 --> 00:07:24.769 enormous 385 -page draft. Yeah, way too long 00:07:24.769 --> 00:07:27.430 for a movie. He had to cut it down massively 00:07:27.430 --> 00:07:30.850 to a standard shooting script. That tendency 00:07:30.850 --> 00:07:33.129 towards, you know, lots and lots of dialogue, 00:07:33.230 --> 00:07:36.310 complex plots, that would definitely show up 00:07:36.310 --> 00:07:39.189 later in his TV work. Absolutely. But the success 00:07:39.189 --> 00:07:43.449 was undeniable. A few good men, malice. the american 00:07:43.449 --> 00:07:46.430 president together they made something like 400 00:07:46.430 --> 00:07:48.889 million dollars globally that's a phenomenal 00:07:48.889 --> 00:07:51.209 run especially for someone who started the decade 00:07:51.209 --> 00:07:53.649 writing on napkins behind a bar he also did some 00:07:53.649 --> 00:07:56.589 script doctoring in the late 90s right uncredited 00:07:56.589 --> 00:07:59.250 work yeah that's important script doctors often 00:07:59.250 --> 00:08:01.810 get called in specifically for dialogue pacing 00:08:01.810 --> 00:08:05.170 character stuff perfect for sorkin exactly he 00:08:05.170 --> 00:08:07.829 apparently punched up dialogue for sean connery 00:08:07.829 --> 00:08:10.519 and nick cage in the rock rewrote some of Will 00:08:10.519 --> 00:08:12.500 Smith's scenes in Enemy of the State. So all 00:08:12.500 --> 00:08:15.279 this film work, plus the deep dive into White 00:08:15.279 --> 00:08:17.420 House stuff for The American President, that 00:08:17.420 --> 00:08:19.399 really paved the way for TV, didn't it? Absolutely. 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:22.699 Which brings us to Sports Night. Ah, Sports Night. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:25.579 Love that show. And the origin is classic Sorkin 00:08:25.579 --> 00:08:28.459 writing. Watching ESPN SportsCenter on repeat 00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:31.120 while writing The American President. Yep, at 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:33.460 the Four Seasons. Couldn't crack it as a movie, 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:37.500 so he pitched it as a TV comedy to ABC. Debuted 00:08:37.500 --> 00:08:40.450 in 98. But right away, there was that clash, 00:08:40.610 --> 00:08:42.769 wasn't there? Him versus the network over the 00:08:42.769 --> 00:08:45.429 laugh track. Oh, yeah. He fought them hard on 00:08:45.429 --> 00:08:47.370 the laugh track and the live studio audience. 00:08:47.610 --> 00:08:49.549 He said something like, you know, sometimes you 00:08:49.549 --> 00:08:52.230 need that cymbal crash, but other times it just 00:08:52.230 --> 00:08:54.710 pulls you out, ruins the drama he was mixing 00:08:54.710 --> 00:08:57.750 in. And the critics kind of agreed. ABC did eventually 00:08:57.750 --> 00:09:00.490 phase it out, mostly. It did. But even though 00:09:00.490 --> 00:09:03.190 critics loved it, industry people loved it, the 00:09:03.190 --> 00:09:05.009 ratings just weren't there. Cancel after two 00:09:05.009 --> 00:09:07.799 seasons. A tough lesson, maybe. That his style 00:09:07.799 --> 00:09:09.919 didn't automatically click in a half -hour format 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:12.580 for a mass audience. Perhaps. But just as Sports 00:09:12.580 --> 00:09:15.399 Night was wrapping up, his biggest hit ever was 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:18.159 getting started. The West Wing. Which came out 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:20.460 of leftover ideas from the American president 00:09:20.460 --> 00:09:23.159 research. Basically, yeah. He pitched producer 00:09:23.159 --> 00:09:26.059 John Wells back in 97 a whole show about the 00:09:26.059 --> 00:09:28.100 White House senior staff. And the timing with 00:09:28.100 --> 00:09:30.200 the Clinton -Lilinski scandal actually delayed 00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:33.529 it? NBC was nervous. Yeah, NBC held off. They 00:09:33.529 --> 00:09:34.870 were worried, you know, that people wouldn't 00:09:34.870 --> 00:09:37.970 buy into this idealistic White House show while 00:09:37.970 --> 00:09:40.070 the real one was in turmoil. But maybe that delay 00:09:40.070 --> 00:09:42.970 helped. Let it build some buzz. Could be. It 00:09:42.970 --> 00:09:44.889 definitely gave them time to refine it. When 00:09:44.889 --> 00:09:48.250 it finally debuted in Fall 99, it was huge. Instantly. 00:09:48.870 --> 00:09:52.529 Won a record nine Emmys its first season. Changed 00:09:52.529 --> 00:09:55.629 political TV drama completely. Speaking of Emmys. 00:09:55.769 --> 00:09:59.460 Yeah. That period also had... that big controversy, 00:09:59.639 --> 00:10:02.019 right? The writing credit dispute for the episode 00:10:02.019 --> 00:10:05.039 in Excelsis Dio, Sorkin versus Rick Cleveland. 00:10:05.179 --> 00:10:07.860 Right. That blew up very publicly on some web 00:10:07.860 --> 00:10:10.440 forum, caused a real stir. Cleveland's story 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:12.620 was based on his own father, a homeless Korean 00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:15.460 war vet. And Sorkin's take was? Sorkin basically 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:18.139 said he gave writers story by credits, sometimes 00:10:18.139 --> 00:10:21.259 as like a favor, a gratuity to help their careers. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:23.860 And then he claimed he'd thrown out Cleveland's 00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:26.100 script entirely and wrote it himself from page 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:29.019 one. Total control. That's a bold claim. Yeah. 00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:31.019 But then he later apologized. He did apologize 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:33.159 later, which, you know, maybe suggests the pressure 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:35.779 he was under. Well, think about it. He was writing 00:10:35.779 --> 00:10:38.639 basically every single episode of The West Wing 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:41.600 for the first four seasons. That's 87 scripts. 00:10:41.980 --> 00:10:45.639 That's insane output. Totally insane. He admitted 00:10:45.639 --> 00:10:48.080 they were never on time or on budget during that 00:10:48.080 --> 00:10:50.600 period. The pressure to maintain that singular 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:53.820 vision, that speed, it must have been immense 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:56.580 and probably led to tensions with the writing 00:10:56.580 --> 00:10:59.220 staff who felt, you know, overlooked. And eventually 00:10:59.220 --> 00:11:02.039 that pressure cooker situation led to him and 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:05.509 Thomas Schlamm leaving the show in 2003. Internal 00:11:05.509 --> 00:11:07.950 conflicts was the official line. Right. And Sorkin 00:11:07.950 --> 00:11:09.950 never watched it again after he left. He had 00:11:09.950 --> 00:11:11.909 that famous quote, didn't he? Comparing it to... 00:11:11.909 --> 00:11:13.230 Watching somebody make out with my girlfriend? 00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:16.350 Yeah. Perfectly sums up how he felt he didn't 00:11:16.350 --> 00:11:19.149 just write those characters, he owned them. Let's 00:11:19.149 --> 00:11:21.730 pause on Shlam for a second. Because their collaboration 00:11:21.730 --> 00:11:24.230 was key to the show's look, right? The invention 00:11:24.230 --> 00:11:26.690 of the walk and talk. Absolutely essential. It 00:11:26.690 --> 00:11:29.370 was Schlam's creation. He directed, was exec 00:11:29.370 --> 00:11:31.850 producer on Sports Night West Wing Studio 60. 00:11:32.350 --> 00:11:34.669 The walk and talk isn't just people walking while 00:11:34.669 --> 00:11:37.889 talking. It's these long, single tracking shots. 00:11:38.149 --> 00:11:40.169 Characters moving constantly through the set, 00:11:40.269 --> 00:11:44.110 talking fast, entering, exiting. No cuts. So 00:11:44.110 --> 00:11:46.590 Schlam basically did that to handle Sorkin's 00:11:46.590 --> 00:11:49.490 dialogue. To stop it feeling static. Pretty much. 00:11:49.750 --> 00:11:51.870 Sorkin's scripts were so dense they could easily 00:11:51.870 --> 00:11:54.340 feel like stage plays on screen. Shalem said 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:56.120 the walk and talk made sure the audience witnessed 00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:58.899 every journey, turning policy debates into something 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:02.559 visually dynamic, urgent, like ballet with briefcases. 00:12:02.860 --> 00:12:05.399 Huh. Yeah. OK, so after West Wing, their next 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:08.139 big thing was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, 00:12:08.139 --> 00:12:11.759 back to TV, 2006 -07, about a sketch comedy show 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:14.720 like SNL. And Sorkin admitted it had autobiographical 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:16.879 elements, which maybe isn't surprising given 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:19.419 the focus on writers, pressure, network politics. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:22.059 The pilot did really well. Ratings wise, didn't 00:12:22.059 --> 00:12:25.100 it? But then it dropped off fast. Yeah. Big initial 00:12:25.100 --> 00:12:28.419 numbers, then a steep decline. And Sorkin got 00:12:28.419 --> 00:12:31.120 really defensive about the media coverage, attacking 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:33.379 the press for focusing on the ratings, using 00:12:33.379 --> 00:12:36.240 blogs and unemployed comedy writers as sources, 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:38.440 he called them. Shows that sensitivity again, 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:40.679 but competence and criticism. It only lasted 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:43.720 one season. Just one. After that, he actually 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:45.940 pivoted back to the stage for a bit with the 00:12:45.940 --> 00:12:49.740 Farnsworth invention, 2007 -08. Which started 00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:52.500 as a movie script. Yeah, a spec script about 00:12:52.500 --> 00:12:55.100 Philo Farnsworth, the guy who invented TV and 00:12:55.100 --> 00:12:57.899 his big patent fight with David Sarnoff at RCA. 00:12:58.139 --> 00:13:00.399 And he workshopped it as a play. He did. It was 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.279 initially commissioned by the Abbey Theatre in 00:13:02.279 --> 00:13:04.600 Dublin. That fell through. But then it went through 00:13:04.600 --> 00:13:07.100 this page -to -stage program at La Jolla Playhouse. 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:09.960 Let him test it, tweak it based on audience reactions. 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:12.799 Smart way to tighten up complex historical stuff. 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:15.240 Okay, so that brings us into the next big phase, 00:13:15.379 --> 00:13:18.149 really. Mastering the biopic, cementing that 00:13:18.149 --> 00:13:22.090 film legacy, roughly 2007 to 2015. Right. He 00:13:22.090 --> 00:13:24.350 jumped back into features with Charlie Wilson's 00:13:24.350 --> 00:13:27.330 war in 2007, adapting that nonfiction book about 00:13:27.330 --> 00:13:29.470 the congressman funding the secret war in Afghanistan. 00:13:29.929 --> 00:13:32.250 Got a Golden Globe nomination for that. Seems 00:13:32.250 --> 00:13:35.009 like a bridge maybe between the idealism of West 00:13:35.009 --> 00:13:38.230 Wing and the trickier morality you need in biopics. 00:13:38.429 --> 00:13:40.529 Good point. And then came the one that really 00:13:40.529 --> 00:13:42.649 brought home the gold, The Social Network in 00:13:42.649 --> 00:13:45.970 2010. Based on The Accidental Billionaires. The 00:13:45.970 --> 00:13:47.710 Facebook story. Yeah, let's not just list it. 00:13:47.750 --> 00:13:51.450 This film was huge for him. Academy Award, BAFTA, 00:13:51.590 --> 00:13:54.750 Golden Globe for Best Adapted Screenplay. Why 00:13:54.750 --> 00:13:58.110 that script? Why was Sorkin, Mr. Fast Talker, 00:13:58.149 --> 00:14:00.549 the guy to write about Mark Zuckerberg, someone 00:14:00.549 --> 00:14:03.840 known for being awkward, not super verbal? That's 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:05.960 the genius of it, I think. Sorkin took all the 00:14:05.960 --> 00:14:07.960 intellectual property fights, the emotional betrayal, 00:14:08.259 --> 00:14:10.679 the tech jargon, and framed it within these two 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:12.639 depositions, so he turned it into verbal combat. 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:15.720 The courtroom, or deposition room, is his natural 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:18.840 habitat. Ah. The whole movie runs on the energy 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:20.799 of those arguments, the speed, the wit. It's 00:14:20.799 --> 00:14:23.279 not about physical action. It's about dialogue 00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:26.000 as a weapon, showing power, intellect, resentment. 00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:28.000 Makes sense. And then right after that, another 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.620 big adaptation, Moneyball in 2011, co -written. 00:14:32.059 --> 00:14:34.019 Totally different challenge. How do you make 00:14:34.019 --> 00:14:36.320 baseball stats exciting? Moneyball was about 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:39.720 Billy Bean using data analysis in baseball. Sorkin 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:43.120 got Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe Noms for it again. 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:46.360 Rolling Stone called the script Dynamite. He 00:14:46.360 --> 00:14:48.659 managed to turn sabermetrics into this, like, 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.080 emotional struggle against the old guard. The 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:53.120 dialogue makes the math feel rebellious, you 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.299 know? Yeah, yeah. Then he went back to TV again 00:14:55.299 --> 00:14:59.159 with The Newsroom on HBO, 2012 to 2014, his fourth 00:14:59.159 --> 00:15:02.500 big series, this time... cable news. And his 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:05.639 research was deep. He reportedly spent time shadowing 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:08.860 crews at MSNBC, talking to people at CNN, Fox 00:15:08.860 --> 00:15:11.039 News. He really wanted to nail the competence, 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:13.700 the mechanics of the newsroom. And his goal was 00:15:13.700 --> 00:15:16.000 kind of explicitly anti -cynical, wasn't it? 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:18.179 Using real news events from the recent past. 00:15:18.419 --> 00:15:20.620 Exactly. He wanted to show these highly competent 00:15:20.620 --> 00:15:22.799 people trying to do good journalism despite all 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:24.799 the pressures, commercial, political, corporate. 00:15:25.059 --> 00:15:27.440 Which ties back to that core philosophy you mentioned. 00:15:27.600 --> 00:15:29.679 Somebody wants something and something's in the 00:15:29.679 --> 00:15:32.879 way. Here, it's good journalism versus, well, 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:35.120 everything else. Right. That drive for competence 00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:38.200 against obstacles defines it all. Lawsuits, policy, 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:41.399 elections, news. The last big film in this period 00:15:41.399 --> 00:15:44.519 was Steve Jobs in 2015, based on the Isaacson 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:47.960 biography. Huge figure, huge challenge. Massive. 00:15:48.279 --> 00:15:50.559 Sorkin even hesitated, saying it was like writing 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:52.039 about the Beatles because everyone felt they 00:15:52.039 --> 00:15:55.259 knew Jobs. His solution was really structural. 00:15:55.419 --> 00:15:58.639 How so? He structured it around just three specific 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.659 moments backstage right before three major product 00:16:01.659 --> 00:16:05.299 launches. High pressure, real -time feel. Again, 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:07.960 channeling all the complexity and emotion purely 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:10.279 through intense dialogue in confined spaces. 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:13.220 And he won another Golden Globe for that screenplay. 00:16:13.379 --> 00:16:16.080 Yeah. but got snubbed for the Oscar nom, which 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.019 people thought was weird. Yeah, that was seen 00:16:18.019 --> 00:16:20.019 as a pretty big oversight at the time. So the 00:16:20.019 --> 00:16:22.740 next logical step, maybe, for someone so focused 00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:26.340 on vision directing. Exactly. The next phase 00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:28.559 is Sorkin taking the reins himself, stepping 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:30.960 behind the camera, really wanting that complete 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:33.360 control, writing and directing. It started with 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:36.779 Molly's Game in 2017, adapting Molly Bloom's 00:16:36.779 --> 00:16:39.779 memoir about her poker empire. Jessica Chastain, 00:16:39.860 --> 00:16:42.960 Idris Elba. His official debut as director, and 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:45.240 even with the new job, he still got his third 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:48.139 Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:51.159 showed he could handle both sides. Then he tackled 00:16:51.159 --> 00:16:53.360 something even bigger, the trial of the Chicago 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.059 7 in 2020, which had been kicking around for 00:16:56.059 --> 00:16:58.759 ages, right? Spielberg offered it to him way 00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:01.480 back. Yeah, back in 2006. So it had over a decade 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:03.220 to kind of percolate. He ended up writing and 00:17:03.220 --> 00:17:06.660 directing it. Perfect Sorkin territory, courtroom 00:17:06.660 --> 00:17:10.279 drama, major political moment. Lots of clashing 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:12.819 ideologies expressed through rapid fire. Got 00:17:12.819 --> 00:17:16.160 it. High stakes arguments. And it worked. Won 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.519 the Golden Globe for screenplay. Got nominated 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:21.200 for Best Director, too. He used that same writer 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.700 director approach for being the Ricardos next 00:17:23.700 --> 00:17:27.000 in 2021. Focusing on Lucille Ball and Desi on 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:29.200 Us, that intense marriage and creative partnership, 00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:32.579 especially during one crazy week of I Love Lucy. 00:17:32.740 --> 00:17:34.519 But the reception for that one was more mixed, 00:17:34.539 --> 00:17:37.160 wasn't it? Yeah, the sources indicate that. People 00:17:37.160 --> 00:17:39.940 praised the dialogue, naturally, but some critics 00:17:39.940 --> 00:17:44.579 felt it lacked spark or insight. Maybe suggesting 00:17:44.579 --> 00:17:46.960 his very specific style doesn't always capture 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:49.799 the nuances of real, beloved historical figures 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:54.140 perfectly. Can feel a bit... Sorkinized. Interesting. 00:17:54.359 --> 00:17:56.900 He also went back to the stage around this time. 00:17:57.180 --> 00:17:59.160 Adapted to Kill a Mockingbird for Broadway in 00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:02.400 2018. Huge success. Got nine Tony nominations. 00:18:02.819 --> 00:18:06.819 Right. And then more recently, 2023, he rewrote 00:18:06.819 --> 00:18:09.519 the book for the revival of Camelot. Taking on 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:11.299 a classic musical like that shows he's still 00:18:11.299 --> 00:18:13.779 interested in structure, in fixing narratives, 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:15.700 not just creating new ones. And he's not slowing 00:18:15.700 --> 00:18:18.210 down. Working on a film about Al Schwimmer, who 00:18:18.210 --> 00:18:20.589 founded the Israeli Air Force. And the big news 00:18:20.589 --> 00:18:23.289 for film fans. The Social Network sequel? Yes. 00:18:23.509 --> 00:18:26.390 The Social Reckoning. Based on the Facebook Files 00:18:26.390 --> 00:18:29.309 documents. Set for 2026. He'd hinted at it, blamed 00:18:29.309 --> 00:18:31.569 Facebook for January 6th. Sounds like he's ready 00:18:31.569 --> 00:18:33.569 to tackle tech's impact again. Yeah, seems like 00:18:33.569 --> 00:18:35.750 he's still focused on competence versus failure 00:18:35.750 --> 00:18:38.410 within these massive systems, political and technological. 00:18:38.789 --> 00:18:41.349 Okay, so let's dig into the style itself. The 00:18:41.349 --> 00:18:45.700 Sorkin signature. What are the absolute key elements? 00:18:46.430 --> 00:18:49.009 Well, obviously, the trademark fast dialogue, 00:18:49.349 --> 00:18:52.049 those long, smart monologues, the back and forth 00:18:52.049 --> 00:18:54.769 banter, often full of obscure pop culture references, 00:18:54.930 --> 00:18:57.390 delivered super quick. It creates this feeling 00:18:57.390 --> 00:19:00.349 of like thrilling intelligence. And William Goldman, 00:19:00.450 --> 00:19:03.170 his mentor, had that great observation, right? 00:19:03.309 --> 00:19:06.109 That usually you avoid long speeches in movies, 00:19:06.250 --> 00:19:08.869 but Sorkin can do it because the speeches are 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:11.769 the action. They're not just talk. Exactly. But 00:19:11.769 --> 00:19:14.450 that style definitely has its critics. Some say 00:19:14.450 --> 00:19:16.549 the scripts are overwrought. Too complicated, 00:19:16.829 --> 00:19:19.289 trying too hard. And that old issue of writing 00:19:19.289 --> 00:19:21.809 credit keeps popping up. Even compared to Hollywood 00:19:21.809 --> 00:19:24.470 standards, some ex -writers called him exceptionally 00:19:24.470 --> 00:19:27.329 ungenerous. Yeah, he maintains his scripts aren't 00:19:27.329 --> 00:19:29.630 written by committee, but it points to that real 00:19:29.630 --> 00:19:31.690 sense of ownership he has over the words. It 00:19:31.690 --> 00:19:33.990 even became a meme, didn't it? The Sorkinisms 00:19:33.990 --> 00:19:37.000 videos. Huh, yeah. Fans compiling all the times 00:19:37.000 --> 00:19:39.640 he reused certain lines or phrases or arguments 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:41.960 across different projects. He acknowledged them, 00:19:42.019 --> 00:19:44.039 which is something. But it does highlight, you 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:46.180 know, certain patterns in his writing. But maybe 00:19:46.180 --> 00:19:48.380 the most persistent criticism is about his female 00:19:48.380 --> 00:19:51.740 characters, which feels odd for someone who champions 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:55.180 idealism and competence. What did the sources 00:19:55.180 --> 00:19:57.900 say about that? Is it a blind spot? It's a frequent 00:19:57.900 --> 00:20:00.559 critique. Commentators point out his female characters 00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:02.640 are often secondary, there to support the men, 00:20:02.740 --> 00:20:05.819 or sometimes depicted as, well, maybe less competent, 00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:08.660 meeting rescuing. There are exceptions, of course, 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:11.819 but the overall pattern suggests his world of 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:13.799 high -stakes rational argument doesn't always 00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:16.880 make space for equally complex female leads. 00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:20.059 They often end up as the moral compass or the 00:20:20.059 --> 00:20:22.869 love interest, not the main driver. Interesting. 00:20:22.910 --> 00:20:24.269 Now we have to talk about the personal side, 00:20:24.349 --> 00:20:26.690 too. The stuff that maybe fueled the work or 00:20:26.690 --> 00:20:29.289 existed alongside it, specifically his struggles 00:20:29.289 --> 00:20:31.450 with addiction. It's that core tension again. 00:20:32.069 --> 00:20:34.549 Idealistic writer, chaotic personal life. Yeah, 00:20:34.589 --> 00:20:36.990 he started using marijuana and cocaine back in 00:20:36.990 --> 00:20:39.430 87. Said cocaine helped with nervous tension. 00:20:39.710 --> 00:20:42.210 He went to rehab in 95. Yes, Hazelden in Minnesota. 00:20:42.690 --> 00:20:45.089 Apparently his future wife, Julia Bingham, encouraged 00:20:45.089 --> 00:20:47.509 him to go. But even after getting some recognition 00:20:47.509 --> 00:20:50.779 for being clean, he had that. Major, very public 00:20:50.779 --> 00:20:53.819 relapse in 2001. And this was while writing The 00:20:53.819 --> 00:20:57.420 West Wing, the show about moral competence. Exactly. 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:01.319 April 2001, arrested at Burbank Airport, possession 00:21:01.319 --> 00:21:03.880 of mushrooms, marijuana, crack cocaine, a crack 00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:07.319 pipe. The contrast is just stark, isn't it? Writing 00:21:07.319 --> 00:21:09.599 peak idealism while dealing with that level of 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:12.220 addiction, it kind of defines that incredibly 00:21:12.220 --> 00:21:15.099 productive yet turbulent period. He got court 00:21:15.099 --> 00:21:17.839 ordered into a drug program, but he did get clean 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:21.529 later. yeah in a 2012 speech at syracuse he announced 00:21:21.529 --> 00:21:24.299 he'd been clean for 11 years at that point But 00:21:24.299 --> 00:21:26.319 his marriage to Julia Bingham ended in 2005, 00:21:26.460 --> 00:21:29.519 and reports cited his workaholism and drug use 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:32.279 as factors. There was clearly a personal cost 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:34.599 to that relentless output. Politically, he's 00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:36.240 always been pretty clear, right? A consistent 00:21:36.240 --> 00:21:39.259 supporter, yeah. Makes significant campaign donations. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:42.079 But he makes a distinction himself. He doesn't 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:43.960 call himself an activist, says that takes more 00:21:43.960 --> 00:21:47.160 than writing a check. He sees his job as asking 00:21:47.160 --> 00:21:50.440 questions, exploring ideas, not necessarily leading 00:21:50.440 --> 00:21:52.680 a movement. And more recently, he had that health 00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:54.759 scare. Yeah. Yeah. A stroke in November 2022. 00:21:55.900 --> 00:21:58.400 Hypertension. He called it a loud wake up call. 00:21:58.519 --> 00:22:01.319 Did it change things for him? Big time. Forced 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:03.240 him to quit chain smoking, which you imagine 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:05.339 fueled some of those crazy writing jags, changes 00:22:05.339 --> 00:22:07.880 diet, start exercising. Another sign of the physical 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:11.509 toll that intensity took. And finally. Just recently, 00:22:11.630 --> 00:22:14.369 his politics and professional life collided very 00:22:14.369 --> 00:22:18.049 publicly. Right. In 2023, during the Gaza conflict, 00:22:18.390 --> 00:22:21.529 he very publicly dropped his agent at CAA because 00:22:21.529 --> 00:22:24.009 someone high up there made a post critical of 00:22:24.009 --> 00:22:27.130 Israel. At the same time, Sorkin was signing 00:22:27.130 --> 00:22:29.809 letters calling for Israeli hostages to be released. 00:22:30.319 --> 00:22:32.660 It shows those strong convictions he writes about. 00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:35.200 They directly influence his real world actions, 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:37.980 too. OK, so wrapping this all up, we followed 00:22:37.980 --> 00:22:41.140 Aaron Sorkin from, you know, bartending and discovering 00:22:41.140 --> 00:22:43.599 writing on a borrowed typewriter to being this 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:46.470 absolute giant of modern drama. Yeah, winning 00:22:46.470 --> 00:22:49.349 the biggest awards, Oscar, Emmys, Tonys, potentially 00:22:49.349 --> 00:22:51.789 implied by nominations, defining the whole genre 00:22:51.789 --> 00:22:54.390 of modern political drama, demanding that complete 00:22:54.390 --> 00:22:57.470 creative control. His legacy really is that massive 00:22:57.470 --> 00:22:59.950 output, that control, whether it's the walk and 00:22:59.950 --> 00:23:02.509 talk with Schlamm or directing his own complex 00:23:02.509 --> 00:23:06.349 biopics like Steve Jobs or Chicago 7. He takes 00:23:06.349 --> 00:23:09.849 really dense, smart material policy, tech, ethics, 00:23:10.029 --> 00:23:12.970 and makes it feel urgent and emotional. through 00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:15.549 that signature dialogue. Absolutely. The sources 00:23:15.549 --> 00:23:17.910 really paint his career as this constant search 00:23:17.910 --> 00:23:20.950 for competence, for idealism, often happening 00:23:20.950 --> 00:23:23.049 while he's navigating personal chaos or professional 00:23:23.049 --> 00:23:25.950 friction. His scripts work best when his hyper 00:23:25.950 --> 00:23:28.250 -smart characters want something badly, face 00:23:28.250 --> 00:23:31.349 huge obstacles, but believe the system can work 00:23:31.349 --> 00:23:33.630 if the right competent people are in charge. 00:23:33.869 --> 00:23:35.890 Which leads us to our final thought for you, 00:23:35.950 --> 00:23:38.349 the listener. We know Sorkin's view of drama. 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:40.700 Somebody wants something, and something or someone 00:23:40.700 --> 00:23:42.920 is standing in the way. So if his characters 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:44.880 are always the smartest, most articulate people 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:47.099 in the room, what really stands in their way 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:49.779 most often across all his work? Is it maybe self 00:23:49.779 --> 00:23:52.500 -doubt, echoing his own early feelings? Is it 00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:54.640 the moral compromises they have to make? Or is 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:56.500 it just the messy reality of the institutions, 00:23:56.779 --> 00:23:59.019 the politics, the media, the courts, that they're 00:23:59.019 --> 00:24:01.640 trying so hard to perfect? Something to think 00:24:01.640 --> 00:24:01.839 about.