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As one of the most successful screenwriters of modern times, Aaron Sorkin is renowned for his quickfire, rhythmic dialogue in films and television dramas including The West Wing, A Few Good Men, The Newsroom, Moneyball and The Social Network. More recently he’s directed his own screenplays with films including Molly’s Game, The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and Meet the Ricardos.

Aaron Sorkin tells John Wilson how, at the age of five, his parents took him to see the Broadway musical Man of La Mancha, an experience that sparked his love of theatre. He remembers seeing Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf a few years later and being entranced by the musicality of the dialogue. Debates around the family dinner table, led by his corporate lawyer father, are another source of inspiration for a writer famed for creating adversarial scenarios in courtrooms and the corridors of power. Sorkin pays tribute to his mentor, the Oscar winning screenwriter William Goldman, and explains how Goldman’s screenplay for the classic 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid offers a masterclass in dramatic dialogue. Aaron Sorkin also reflects on his writing process, and how he often gripped by ‘writer’s block’, despite being one of the most prolific screenwriters of his generation.

Producer: Edwina Pitman