John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” has sold 10.7 million copies worldwide. The young adult novel-turned blockbuster made $48 million opening weekend. Michael Weber, a 2000 Syracuse University alumnus, was the mastermind behind the script that made millions of girls and guys sob this summer.

“I knew about the book in advance, and once I read it, it’s obviously a beautiful story,” Weber said. “It’s something I wanted to be a part of.”

“The Fault in Our Stars” is a bittersweet, coming-of-age love story of teenagers Hazel (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus (Ansel Elgort). Their love grows on screen beautifully, but there is a catch – both kids have cancer.

Weber said he and his screenwriting partner and friend Scott Neustadtler tried to stay as true to the book as possible when creating the script. They had not collaborated or talked with Green until two months after the first draft of the script was done.

“John wrote an email – a beautiful email – that was mostly complimentary,” Weber said. “He had a few ideas, but I remember him saying how happy he was with the adaptation and how he felt as if our ending was better than the ending in his book, and it made him mad.”

The entire project took two and a half years to make, Weber said. To him, this was lightning fast compared to his other projects. “(500) Days of Summer” and “The Spectacular Now” each took five years to complete, from the start of the project to the premiere of the movie in theaters.

SU professor Evan Smith read Weber’s script for “The Fault in Our Stars,” and said he was elated to see the success it has become. Weber credits the start of his career to Smith’s television, radio and film classes in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and said that Smith’s unique take on the movie industry and his experience inspired him to start screenwriting.

“No one helped me more than him,” Weber said. “He is very honest about what the business is like, while being incredibly encouraging and supportive, and that’s the right balance I needed at that time, or I probably would’ve never given this a shot.”

Smith said his relationship with Weber has grown from teacher-student to proud friend. He added that he is just as likely to learn from Weber now as Weber did in his classes.

What impressed Smith the most while Weber was a Newhouse student was his dedication to screenwriting outside of the classroom. Smith said it was pleasing to him to see the sincere interest and willingness to work that Weber and about nine other classmates in their year had in screenwriting. To Smith, that effort was a great sign of future achievement.

“I love the fact that Michael has become such a big success while writing passion projects instead of popcorn films,” Smith said. “That’s a huge testament to his talents and his business sense. I have two words for Michael – he’s tenacious and talented.”

Fellow former television, radio and film major and friend Jared Glazar has worked with Fox Searchlight Pictures’ marketing for more than five years. With his experience, he knows how difficult it is to make it in the film industry, and is extremely proud of the movie’s popularity.

“It was actually a really amazing experience,” Glazar said. “To see one of these teen novel adaptations and to hear their reactions, the 13-year-old girls in the audience, was amazing. Just as a movie fan, that was just a cool experience.”

Weber said that the best way for a screenwriter to strengthen their writing is to make time to write something everyday. Glazar said that although this may be a cliché, Weber is the only person he knows that does this and it has clearly helped him thrive.

“It takes a hell of a lot more than just being a fan of movies to be a good screenwriter,” Glazar said. “But he combines a real love for movies with a real love for writing, and has a good discipline for it. It’s a passion for him.”

Weber is now working on multiple scripts for future projects, many of them novel adaptations. He said with the movie industry today it’s easier to adapt novels than to pitch original scripts, because the novels already have a fan base. His most recent work is on “Paper Towns,” another young adult novel by Green.

Even with his busy schedule, Weber still manages to visit SU and talk to students about his journey in the movie industry. His agent Bill Zotti said they always have meetings they can’t set because, yet again, Weber is at his alma mater. Zotti added there is no one that wears the title of Syracuse alumnus prouder on his sleeve than Weber.

“I’m a proud Syracuse graduate,” Weber said. “I know I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now without the experiences I had at Syracuse. I couldn’t imagine having gone anywhere else.”

Published on July 22, 2014 at 2:23 pm

Contact Jackie: jmfrere@syr.edu | @jackie_frere