West Bloomfield's Dan Shere is the co-screenwriter of a new
animated fantasy-adventure coming to a theater near you.
I
Suzanne Chessler
Contributing Writer
animation studio:' explains Shere, who
teaches screenwriting at the University of
Michigan.
an Shere has solved a big prob-
"In 2007, I started writing a screenplay
lem writers often face — a feel-
for another Fox animated film. Although
ing of loneliness while working
that screenplay never became a movie, the
on creative projects.
director, Chris Wedge, showed me artwork
Shere takes his laptop to nearby cof-
and story ideas for another film, which
fee shops, where friendly environments
later became Epic.
become more enjoyable
"Chris was incredibly pas-
than a house with every-
sionate about this new idea
one else away or an office
and encouraged me to see if
detached from others.
I could take the artwork and
A great deal of the 3D
ideas and turn them into
animated film Epic, to
a coherent, feature-length
be released May 24, was
script"
written by Shere at Biggby
Somewhat apprehensive
Coffee on Northwestern
about moving from com-
Highway in Farmington
edy to fantasy, Shere still
Hills, only a few minutes
began writing down ideas.
from his West Bloomfield
He looked for answers to
home.
his personal and constant
Dan Shere: "I try to
"This is not just a big,
question — who is this story
write
stories t hat reflect
fun, visually spectacular
about and why should we
positive value s."
adventure says Shere,
care? — and found them.
39, who completed the
Shere worked on Epic for
first working script for the
two years, taking the project
production. "It also tells the story of a girl
from development into the studio produc-
struggling to reconnect with her father
tion stage. He then passed it along to other
after several years of being apart"
writers.
Epic follows the battle between forces
The film, inspired by the William
trying to keep the natural world strong
Joyce book The Leaf Men and the Brave
and forces bent on destroying it. A teenage Good Bugs, has a story by Joyce, Wedge
girl, who is magically propelled into this
and James Hart. Additional scriptwriters
arena deep in the woods, teams up with
include Tom Astle and Matt Ember.
"The film has a lot of humor, which I
comical figures to save that world and
ours.
love, and characters with depth and real
Voices of the characters are spoken
emotional issues:' Shere explains. "I've
by Amanda Seyfried (Mary Katherine),
always loved writing comedy, and this
Jason Sudeikis (Bomba), Beyonce Knowles story forced me to stretch my creative
(Queen Tara), Colin Farrell (General
muscles and write about fantastical char-
Ronin), Josh Hutcherson (Nod), Christoph
acters and settings.
Waltz (Mandrake), Pitbull (Bufo), Steven
"But no matter how fantastical the char-
Tyler (Nim Galuu), Aziz Ansari (Mub) and acters — even talking centipedes and slugs
Chris O'Dowd (Grub).
living deep in the forest — I tried to give
"The film is being produced by Blue
them human emotions and desires. My
Sky Studios, which is 20th Century Fox's
goal was to make the audience feel emo-
D
tionally invested in the story."
Shere became emotionally invested in
a screenwriting career while majoring
in philosophy at U-M. In his senior year,
he happened into a class taught by Jim
Burnstein, whose most recent film, Love
and Honor, for which he co-wrote the
screenplay, was released earlier this year.
"I wrote a screenplay for Jim's class and
really enjoyed the process:' Shere recalls.
"There were no philosophy firms hiring
at the time so I decided to move out to
Los Angeles and pursue screenwriting. I
ended up selling that first script to United
Artists:'
Shere, the son of Joel and Margaret
Shere, spent early years in Southfield
and West Bloomfield. He attended Hillel
Day School and North Farmington High
School, finding encouragement for his
writing from teacher Barbara Dubb.
Religious services often were attended
at B'nai David Synagogue, where his late
grandfather, Charles Shere, served as
president.
"My parents always supported my
creativity:' says Shere, now glad to have
them living just doors away. "They bought
instruments for my brother, Jeremy, and
me and let us play really loud rock music
in the basement when we were teenagers.
"Jeremy and I wrote a song called "In
Deep:' and that was in the Disney movie
Prom. Even though he lives in Indiana, we
love playing together every time we get the
chance. I also play guitar at various pro-
grams at Adat Shalom Synagogue:'
Shere's wife, Rachel, is a rabbi at Adat
Shalom and can hear her husband's music
live at both work and home, where they
are raising three sons: Eitan, 10; Avi, 7;
and Ezra, 4.
"I feel a moral obligation to tell mean-
ingful stories with positive themes because
I am a Jew," the screenwriter says. "In
Judaism, we learn ethics and values
through stories.
In Epic, MK (Amanda Seyfried) doesn't
understand the madcap antics of her
father, Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), as he
searches for a hidden world.
Grub (Chris O'Dowd), Mub (Aziz Ansari),
Bonin (Colin Farrell) and Nod (Josh
Hutcherson) prepare to aid a fallen com-
rade.
"The Passover story teaches us the
value of freedom and the responsibility
that comes with it. The Creation narrative
teaches us that all humans are created in
the image of God, meaning every person is
of infinite value.
"I try to write stories that reflect positive
values instead of the violence and vulgarity
found in a lot of media. That's one reason
that I really enjoy working in animation,
which gives me the opportunity to work
on films that I feel comfortable showing
my own kids:'
Shere, currently adapting the children's
novel Measle and the Wrathmonk into a
screenplay, showed drafts of Epic to Eitan,
who helped in testing out ideas and dia-
logue.
"I have taught screenwriting for eight
years and always thank my students at
the end of every semester because helping
them with their scripts really sharpens
my own skills as a writer," Shere says. "In
addition, it's just a lot of fun.
"I travel to Los Angeles when I'm pitch-
ing a new project, but most of my work
can be done on the phone or by email.
That's one of the great things about writ-
ing. You can do it anywhere!"
❑
Epic opens in theaters on Friday,
May 24.
May 23 • 2013
127