The Struggle
Do you believe in the supernatural and spirit world? I know I certainly do. It was last year around October, I was in the middle of writing a ghost story for it to be a part of my weekly ghost story blog. Well long story short, I may have woken up some unknown spirits and somehow they got into my computer and crashed it all. My computer was seem to have slowed down, and then I kept waiting for it to load. Loading... Loading...Then it cut off. So then, it stayed a gray screen overnight. I knew at that point, my computer was done. So when I took it off to the computer store, nothing was recovered. I was devastated. All of that hard work. All of my short stories, novellas, essays, and other school work all seem to have gone to dust. I thought to myself, how am I going to write Friends and Neighbors? I guess maybe God just wants me to write it better. So I did all I can to write it, and I still wasn't feeling that same enthusiasm. Finally, I was told to take my hard drive to another computer store to recover everything that I had lost. "Good luck!" I told them "You might not get them based on from what the other company told me." Received a call a few days later and everything was recovered. I was happy as I can be. Now, that's where my motivation clicked. I continued to write the novel, add some things, take away some things, and I thought to myself, nobody is going to read the story and turn it into a movie, I'm going to have to do this myself. Who knows, this novel may not even be a best seller. So I went ahead and started writing the script while writing the novella side by side.
The Process
The process is different from writing a story. You have tools and guidelines to follow when writing a movie script. I had to make the characters come alive. At times the emotions have hit me. Especially my favorite character, Rachel. I didn't know much on how to write a screenplay, but I continued to read and study the process. That came from reading real Hollywood scripts, watching movies, studying books, and so on. First I thought about an outline. I can't include everything, but I included some key elements from the actual story. I kept revising, editing, changing, and adding a whole lot. When writing this screenplay, I thought about who I want to be casted, where at, what time, and this and that. Director's Thinking, is what was going through my mind, which screenwriters aren't suppose to be thinking like that. Unless you're Quentin Tarantino, Stephen Spielberg, or George Lucas. Regardless of the thoughts of what NOT to do as a screenwriter and though this story is dear to me, I still wrote it with my vision. So as the months have gone by, I kept writing until I have finally finished the first 'final' draft of the script as of this past April, and decided to submit it to The Academy, Nicholls Fellowships screenwriting contest. I was relieved, and from there, all I can do is wait on the notes and feedback. It's nowhere near perfect, me being an amateur, and I will not be surprised of the constructive criticism and feedback. But learning from the art of screenwriting and networking with many other screenwriters of the film industry, it has taught me to grow as a writer, and that's what I continue to do.
The Future
Even though screenwriting is a process on its own, from extensive research to the writing of the script, the real hard work begins with pitching the idea and have it produced. I have my vision, and though I want the movie to be produced and film right in Junction City, there are no promises made at this point. Only a few select people have read snippets of the script. So what now???...Well, honestly I need to do just that. To sell the script and get it produced. THAT'S WHAT I THINK IS THE HARD PART. When you have over one thousand something screenwriters trying to sell their scripts, chances are often slim. It's hard, and many times, your script can get overlooked, tossed out, placed on a waiting list, or producers and film companies may not look at your script period. But, it's going to take a lot of patience between now and then. It may happen, it may not happen. We all know that not everything comes easy, and you will get a lot of bumps and bruises, but that's good. Think of it like Shark Tank. Once you have invented the product, now you have to pitch and sell. So now it's a matter of pitching. Who knows what might happen. I also have learned that producers are allowed to do anything they want to do if they have access to the rights. For example (Back to my point of the process),
I love watching The Godfather saga, and by saga I mean the HBO version where it's like seven hours long. I learned that not even the writer and director, Francis Ford Coppola, had the final say to what he wanted in his movie. It was the producers to say what changes they wanted. He fought and went through hell to make that movie according to his vision, and now it's one of the top films next to Citizen Kane. You can read about it here. I'm saying that writers and directors don't always have the final say, but I think if we added more creativity and originality in the industry, movies could be great. And I think that's the essence of Friends and Neighbors, is because the story itself is unique. Who knows, the film might be shot in Wisconsin...I hope not. It's my vision. Anyways,
While that's in the process of being in the contest, and I'm 'somewhat' selling my script into a producer's hands, I already started on writing the prequel to Friends & Neighbors. LOT'S OF SURPRISES IN THAT STORY!!! Both of these scripts has brought some interesting memories since they're both auto-biographical. As of now, I can't say much about what that story is about. Except "PRIDE ON THREE!!"
My goal is not just tell stories based on my life and experiences, but to help others gain some knowledge and wisdom to apply it to their lives. Many have asked me about where I get my relationship wisdom from, so why not show you through visualization instead. My only goal and hope is helping others reach the success, so I hope that these stories...or movies, give people a chance to do and be something greater.
