Uncover the Untold Secrets of Screenwriting with Jack Epps in This Exclusive Go Into The Story Interview

I often get two questions. People come up to me and ask, “Did you have to kill Goose?” And, “Did you have to kill Hooch?” The answer is yes and yes.

[laughter]

Jack: Because without it, there’s no movie. You learn lessons when you see your films up on the screen. You think you know what you’ve got on the page. You think you know what you’ve written and then you go see it and you go, “Oh, that’s interesting. That works.” Or, “Wow, we really missed that boat. That didn’t work at all.”

Scott: Let’s round off this little retrospective of your movies here with Dick Tracy, which evidently you had started writing way back before it came out. It came out in 1990, starring Warren Beatty and Madonna, directed by Beatty. I imagine that that was quite a trick for you and Jim, that project.