— Arturo Interian, Lifetime Television Movies
“Chris Canaan is a brilliant story teller who combines heart with the skills of a mechanic. If stories were cars– this guy could build you anything from a classic Alfa Romeo to a Jeep Wrangler and everything in-between. It’s EXCEPTIONALLY rare that a screenwriter is fluent in such a variety of genres, from heartfelt and compelling dramas, to suspense and murder, to ancient mythology (just read his adaptation of Beowulf!) and that’s just skimming the surface. And like the craftsman that he is — this guy knows what makes a story tick — he can disassemble a script into the 101 component parts that make it work– diagnose the flaws– and fix the damn thing. Character not dimensional enough? Pace is slow in the second act? Scene plays out predictably? Wrong perspective? Chris can fix all those things — and has done so for years. That’s why when TV Movie producers want a movie YESTERDAY they call Chris. Because he knows story and character so well– he can construct a story and damn QUICK. Actually, that’s not really fair– the guy really is the FLASH meets William Goldman.
I’m a development exec– the son of Cuban Immigrants who got lucky enough to make movies for a living. Along the way I’ve been blessed to work with people like Sidney Poitier, John Badham, Thora Birch, Mary Louise Parker, Sam Sheppard, Aidan Quinn, Jenna Elfman, Marg Helgenberger, John Ritter, Marlo Thomas, Marcia Gay Harden, William Devane, Richard Crenna, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, Kelly Lynch, Tim Matheson, Tom Skerrit, Cheech Marin, Dean Cain, Alexa Vega, Dianne Wiest, and many others I’ve forgotten to mention. Which leads me back to Chris.
See, you don’t get any of these fancy actors without words on the page that they want to say. Sure, sometimes an actor “needs a paycheck.” But more often than not, you need a screenwriter to create a complex character– or a story that they respond to personally. On one particular movie, A DATE WITH DARKNESS — we needed the script yesterday– and we needed a character that would be both charismatic and chilling — that of wealthy Max Factor heir Andrew Luster — who just also happened to be a notorious serial rapist. So faced with this impossible task — a gripping and suspenseful story — a complex villain — twists and turns — fresh and original — and needing it in a matter of weeks to film — whom did we call? What unique writer could we rely on to deliver on these multiple fronts? We called Chris Canaan. And the movie was excellent.”