This weekend we were pumped to sit in on a screenwriting Master Class conducted by legendary writer David S. Goyer (the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, the Dark Knight trilogy) as part of the Toronto Screenwriting Conference. Held at the intimate Daniels Spectrum, the talk drew a packed crowd of aspiring and established screenwriters, hailing from as far away as Chicago, New York, and even London. With pen and notepads at hand, the swarm of delegates were eager for Goyer’s imparted knowledge on crafting mythic stories. With lines such as “You can ask me anything but I won’t answer what Christian Bale was like” and “any writer who puts writer on their business card is fuckin’ bullshit”, the humorous and humble screenwriter conducted his session with moxie.

The following are a few highlights from the session:

• When prodded by moderator Julie Di Cresce if the Kryptonite Arrow is used in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Goyer blurted out that it would be very difficult for Batman to defeat Superman without something like that. He then went on to say, “If you go to the end of the comic book…” and then trailed off, suddenly remembering that he could not divulge anything further about the film.

• He admitted that The Dark Knight Rises was “basically Rocky 3“

• When he was younger he used to sneak out of his room and try to watch the televison show Dark Shadows, which inspired his fascination with mythical creatures like vampires (he later went on to write Blade).

• He drew from Lawrence of Arabia and The Man Who Would Be King when writing the Batman Begins script

• The monastery where Bruce Wayne ends up in Batman Begins was adapted from a monastery in Tibet that Goyer had seen not too long prior.

• Goyer was pitched to do the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film adaptation with “Can you do The Dark Knight version of this?”

• He pitched to studio heads that Blade would be “the Star Wars of vampire films”

• Goyer frequently draws on the Star Wars films as inspiration in his writing.

• The poignant “Can I keep pretending I’m your son?” line from Man of Steel was taken from a talk he had with his stepson.

• He is currently co-writing Fantastic Voyage for James Cameron and it’s the most research he’s done for any project.

The Toronto Screenwriting Conference (TSC) is a two-day weekend event on April 11th & 12th at the Daniels Spectrum. For further information please visit http://www.torontoscreenwritingconference.com