Greg DePaul
Hi! I'm Greg DePaul. I wrote the screenplay for Bride Wars, starring Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway and Chris Pratt, which earned over $100 million worldwide. I also co-wrote Saving Silverman, starring Jack Black and Amanda Peet. I've sold TV & feature scripts to to Sony, Disney, Fox, New Line, MGM, Miramax, and Village Roadshow.
My novel, Girl Goes Boom, is represented by Nikki Terpilowski at Holloway Literary Agency. Stage rights for Bride Wars are represented by Tonda Marton of the Marton Agency.
In 2021, I wrote and directed St. Nick, a short film, which screened at the 2021 Newport Beach Film Festival and the 2021 Woodstock Film Festival. St. Nick was financed by the The Creative Coalition, a non-profit, arts advocacy group, as part of their campaign to raise obesity awareness. On Christmas, 2020, I wrote, directed, and produced The Zeppler Family Christmas, a live, online dramedy starring actors in LA and NYC. All proceeds from ticket sales went to a fund to help feed low-income families of children attending the McKay K-8 School in Boston. Thanks again to everyone who helped with both of those projects!
Check out my book, Bring the Funny: The Essential Companion for the Comedy Screenwriter, on Focal Press. I teach dramatic writing at The Savannah College of Art & Design. I've also taught at NYU, SUNY, and The New School. I run a workshop for playwrights, screenwriters and filmmakers in NYC called Stillwater Writers. I recently taught a master class in screenwriting at The University of Barcelona.
Wanna know even more about me? You glutton! Fine. I grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, where I worked as an investigator for criminal defense attorneys. I also worked in the newsroom of The Washington Post, studied drama at The Catholic University of America, and played in a rock band. Then I moved to Hollywood and became a screenwriter. Eventually, I got hitched and had kids. My lovely wife, Dvora, and I snuck away from Hollywood to the NYC area, where I started teaching screenwriting and coached countless kids' basketball, soccer, and baseball games. Oh, and I wrote some darkly comic plays that were produced in NYC.
When I'm not teaching, I write scripts and play Americana tunes on my new Gretsch Jim Dandy parlor guitar.
Contact me at gvdepaul@gmail.com.
My novel, Girl Goes Boom, is represented by Nikki Terpilowski at Holloway Literary Agency. Stage rights for Bride Wars are represented by Tonda Marton of the Marton Agency.
In 2021, I wrote and directed St. Nick, a short film, which screened at the 2021 Newport Beach Film Festival and the 2021 Woodstock Film Festival. St. Nick was financed by the The Creative Coalition, a non-profit, arts advocacy group, as part of their campaign to raise obesity awareness. On Christmas, 2020, I wrote, directed, and produced The Zeppler Family Christmas, a live, online dramedy starring actors in LA and NYC. All proceeds from ticket sales went to a fund to help feed low-income families of children attending the McKay K-8 School in Boston. Thanks again to everyone who helped with both of those projects!
Check out my book, Bring the Funny: The Essential Companion for the Comedy Screenwriter, on Focal Press. I teach dramatic writing at The Savannah College of Art & Design. I've also taught at NYU, SUNY, and The New School. I run a workshop for playwrights, screenwriters and filmmakers in NYC called Stillwater Writers. I recently taught a master class in screenwriting at The University of Barcelona.
Wanna know even more about me? You glutton! Fine. I grew up in Prince George's County, Maryland, where I worked as an investigator for criminal defense attorneys. I also worked in the newsroom of The Washington Post, studied drama at The Catholic University of America, and played in a rock band. Then I moved to Hollywood and became a screenwriter. Eventually, I got hitched and had kids. My lovely wife, Dvora, and I snuck away from Hollywood to the NYC area, where I started teaching screenwriting and coached countless kids' basketball, soccer, and baseball games. Oh, and I wrote some darkly comic plays that were produced in NYC.
When I'm not teaching, I write scripts and play Americana tunes on my new Gretsch Jim Dandy parlor guitar.
Contact me at gvdepaul@gmail.com.
High Praise for Bring The Funny
“Bring the Funny is a manual on writing comedy screenplays that is for all levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced. It can be highlighted, bookmarked and kept right by the computer throughout a career. With directness and wit, DePaul covers a wide range: the exploration of genres, finding your own style, creating characters and premises – all framed by a pragmatic road map for the film industry. It’s filled with brass-tacks pointers for making your comedy work on the page – for readers, buyers and performers.”
Jim Uhls, Screenwriter, Fight Club, Jumper
“Comedy demands high stakes and telling the truth within those stakes requires very careful construction. Bring the Funny is a crucial reminder of all the factors that determine whether or not a great idea becomes a successful piece of comedy. Greg's points on character, premise, style and genre illustrate why this handbook is the essential guide for the comedy screenwriter. Greg DePaul writes Funny.”
Kevin Kane, Emmy-winning Producer, Inside Amy Schumer
“If you want to get into screenwriting – buy this book. Bring the Funny is no-nonsense, insightful, and really good. Our only hesitation in recommending it would be that, if you actually follow DePaul's advice, there will be more competition for us.”
Lisa Addario & Joe Syracuse, Screenwriters,
Parental Guidance
“DePaul’s credentials are impeccable as both a successful comedy screenwriter and an instructor of comedy writing. Bring the Funny covers all the bases in a way that’s fun to read. It also contains lots of practical, hard-won advice for the aspiring writer. I can’t wait to use Bring the Funny in my Comedy Writing classes.”
George Rodman, Professor, Brooklyn College
“Bring the Funny is a primer on 21st century film comedy. Using only movies made after 2000 as examples, Greg explains the craft and business of comedy screenwriting in a way writers can grab and immediately use. He also gives you a whole new vocabulary for writing and working with producers – tools you need to succeed in this crazy industry. Buy it, read it, and keep it close by when you screenwrite. You’ll need it.”
Hank Nelken, Screenwriter, Are We Done Yet?
“Greg DePaul totally brings the funny.”
Alan Riche, Producer, Southpaw, Starsky & Hutch, Tarzan
Jim Uhls, Screenwriter, Fight Club, Jumper
“Comedy demands high stakes and telling the truth within those stakes requires very careful construction. Bring the Funny is a crucial reminder of all the factors that determine whether or not a great idea becomes a successful piece of comedy. Greg's points on character, premise, style and genre illustrate why this handbook is the essential guide for the comedy screenwriter. Greg DePaul writes Funny.”
Kevin Kane, Emmy-winning Producer, Inside Amy Schumer
“If you want to get into screenwriting – buy this book. Bring the Funny is no-nonsense, insightful, and really good. Our only hesitation in recommending it would be that, if you actually follow DePaul's advice, there will be more competition for us.”
Lisa Addario & Joe Syracuse, Screenwriters,
Parental Guidance
“DePaul’s credentials are impeccable as both a successful comedy screenwriter and an instructor of comedy writing. Bring the Funny covers all the bases in a way that’s fun to read. It also contains lots of practical, hard-won advice for the aspiring writer. I can’t wait to use Bring the Funny in my Comedy Writing classes.”
George Rodman, Professor, Brooklyn College
“Bring the Funny is a primer on 21st century film comedy. Using only movies made after 2000 as examples, Greg explains the craft and business of comedy screenwriting in a way writers can grab and immediately use. He also gives you a whole new vocabulary for writing and working with producers – tools you need to succeed in this crazy industry. Buy it, read it, and keep it close by when you screenwrite. You’ll need it.”
Hank Nelken, Screenwriter, Are We Done Yet?
“Greg DePaul totally brings the funny.”
Alan Riche, Producer, Southpaw, Starsky & Hutch, Tarzan