Meet Paul Chitlik

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Paul Chitlik. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Paul, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?

Giving away money is not the only form of generosity. Yes, I do contribute money to charity and political causes, especially this year. But the most valuable currency isn’t the US dollar or even bitcoin. It’s time. It’s what I don’t have as much left as I’ve already spent, so I have to be careful with how I give it out. Because a few generous writers mentored me early in my adult life, I try to mentor as many burgeoning writers as I can. I also work with my trusted advisors on their work so that I can pay back what they do for me. Writing can be a very isolating job, so I have formed a community of writers at all stages of their careers to whom I give and take time. Of course there are other communities I share time with – family and friends being the most important ones. It’s easy to be generous when so many people are willing to share their time with me.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

After twenty years as a college professor, I returned to writing as my main professional focus. I had previously written for television and film for about the same amount of time, but now I want to focus on novels. I had written a few during my television years, but only one focused on something I considered important. This year my novel, “Lies, All Lies”, was published, dealing with a man who suddenly has to discover who he was and decide who he wants to be. I hope readers find in it the permission to re-evaluate their own lives and decide, if necessary, to make a decision to change the trajectory of their future. We all have that possibility. I hope to keep my focus on providing work that helps people to make their lives better in the ways they truly want. My latest book is another screenwriting book (My first one, “Rewrite”, was designed to help screenwriters perfect their scripts.) which takes a novice screenwriter through a step-by-step process to write their first screenplay. It’s a compendium of online lectures I gave at UCLA Extension when I was first teaching. It’s designed to help people who don’t have access to film school a way to write their first film script. There are a lot of great ideas out there which haven’t found the form. I hope this book will bring new stories to light that otherwise might not have emerged. Some of my students used to call me “sensei,” a Japanese word for a master of a particular art or science. So, my book is entitled “The Screenwriting Sensei,” and will be published in the fall of 2025.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I was a very curious reader from an early age, spending hours in the library reading a wide range of books. I still read an undisciplined variety of material from Spanish novels to The Smithsonian Magazine. This, of course, impacts my writing. One of the most important skills I learned as an adult was to read and write Spanish. It started in college when I had to study a language for my degree, but accelerated when I spent a year studying at the University of Madrid. Knowing Spanish fluently then provided many opportunities to meet people, enjoy another culture, and provide employment.
Persistence is something I learned that is key to a successful life as a writer. Talent and luck are important, but if you don’t persist in the face of failure, and there will be failure, then you won’t succeed on any level, artistic or financial.
I only give advice when asked for it, so I’m going to consider this question as asking for it. So my advice is be curious and observant, learn another language if only to develop skill in your native tongue, and be persistent in your endeavor of choice.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

From a very early age, my parents trusted me to do things on my own. They gave me the freedom to explore in the backyard, in the library, in the city. They also gave me responsibilities. So, in my mind, the two are joined. If have one, you have the other. So, I started working very early on, first delivering newspapers, then working in the school cafeteria, then cutting lawns (with a power mower at age 12), then selling magazines door to door, and so on. All of which enabled me to buy comic books, move about the city (go to libraries especially), and buy things I wanted. It also gave me the confidence that I could survive just about anywhere doing whatever was necessary to earn a living and do whatever I wanted to do with my life. And so I have felt free to live abroad for extended periods of time, to choose a difficult career, to be with unusual and creative people. To follow my own drumbeat.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://paulchitlik.com
• Facebook: Paul Chitlik, The Wedding Dress, Michael Wiese Productions
• Linkedin: Paul Chitlik
• Twitter: Paul Chitlik

Image Credits

Photo of me in gray by John Salcedo, LA City Films.