Director and DC Studios Co-CEO James Gunn has made some tweets to clarify how the concept of studio notes works.
After the director spoke about how Warner Bros. wouldn’t be giving any notes on DC Studios projects, a Twitter user asked Gunn who at DC would be giving him notes. This prompted the Co-CEO to explain how these notes work.
Gunn explained that he has received notes from “many different trusted parties” after giving his scripts and stories to them. He then said that “listening to constructive criticism is the lifeblood for any writer.”
He elaborated, describing the process of giving scripts to people he trusts, getting their thoughts, and taking them into account. This description is followed by a quote from Stephen King, which says, “First draft door closed, second draft door open.”
Gunn followed up this quote by saying that he has never been given notes that he was “ordered to take” — not for Slither from Universal, for Guardians of the Galaxy from Marvel Studios, or from anyone else. He then said that he takes any notes that will make one of his movie’s better and argue against any that “won’t work.”
The director stated that this process works for him because he’s gotten to work with good partners that all just want the movie to be better and that he’s able to be open or convincing when need be.
Finally, Gunn capped off the thread by noting that he’s aware that this is not the case for everyone and wasn’t the case for him as a writer, but that he’s “blessed in this way.” He concluded by confirming that he won’t stop taking notes now that he’s “the head of a studio.”
The DC Universe’s first phase, called Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, will feature a multitude of different movies and television shows. A few of the announced projects include Superman: Legacy, a Batman and Robin-focused movie called The Brave and the Bold, a Supergirl movie titled Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, a Swamp Thing film, and multiple TV shows.
