One of the main reasons we started this site was to hone our  writing skills (the jury has returned hung on that one) but the real pleasure has been encountering other screenwriters  and their work.  One such fellow is Benjamin Ray,  winner of the Pacific NW Screenwriting Contest for his dramatic feature script "Marcus and Faith," a gritty, love action story. I recently had a chance to get to know Ben and his work through an email exchange. I'll let him tell you about his unique background.

After I graduated from University of Toronto, I realized I made the
greatest mistake of my life. No wonder my friends told me I was lost.
Ever since I could remember, I always had an interest in stand-up
comedy. I tried it, got off to decent start but soon I was  finding it
hard to behave like a LIGHT SWITCH – you know - jump on stage and you have to be ON -happy, happy, happy. Listen, I don't mind being happy, just I'm happy being unhappy, sometimes. It's too exhausting to fake this happiness thing. Well maybe I could fake it real good if I
did drugs which are fashionable in the comedy business.

But I knew if I chose that path I would be dead in the gutter. Screenwriting came to rescue. I caught the screenwriting fever and never looked back. Unlike the previous generation of screenwriters who learned their craft through film school, I'm self-taught and honed in my skills from my days on stage and while juggling three shifts and a family. Consequently, I developed a fusion of controversial pop culture and exciting cinema.

The interview

HIT: Why did you write "Marcus and Faith"?

Ben: I wanted to write a gritty love action story. One that young adults will remember into their retirements and last forever. Something that is very cinematic and unforgettable. Screenwriting is not film-school. It's cinematic angst/passion/stress in motion.

HIT: If they make this script into a movie, why should we watch it?

 Ben: Its visual treat- full of - seedy dialouges/seductive romance/comic mayhem/action and a moral premise that will knock your socks off. A coverage provider from Scriptapalooza told me that my opening scenes grabbed him by the throat and it was very well written. I believe a movie should rarely make the audience work hard. The audience job is to enjoy the adventure and to be submerged into a world that does not
exist in reality. That's the screenwriter's job-- to create life for the audience-they don't want to escape life. They come to the movies to find life.

HIT: Why do you write screenplays?

Ben:  I love visualizing my scenes and then putting them on paper on a technical level. It's too easy to get wordy when writing. But writing a screenplay, that's where you learn to write enconomically. Each sentence has to capture the scene on a visual level. Forget what your English teacher taught you. Screenwriting is new form of writing. It cannot be taught. You have to think like a camera controlled by the director and remember the screen does not lie.

HIT: Have you, or do you, ever experiement with structure beyond the tradtional three-act?

Ben: Actually my first script "Sin so Well" did not have a three act structure. It was more propelled by the art of writing action set-pieces (popular with in the 80s- 90s)  fused with R-rated dialogue and introducing romance with a Hong Kong/John Woo vibe. Most
readers and coverage providers found this too offensive. You should listen to the coverages. One guy from AFI  ripped my script apart. Currently, all my screenplays follow a three-act structure and they're doing better.

HIT: Winning the Pacific NW Competition must have been quiet a thrill. How has it helped in terms of your career? Do agents and producers give your work more time and consideration than screenwriters who have not won contests?

Ben: Yes it was. Producers are requesting the scripts, but afterwards I rarely hear from them. This is the norm and I'm learning to be more creative. The contest made me realize that we have to get established film directors and writers to read our scripts. They can open doors and make us realize that this is a business and to learn the business.
Hollywood is 10% about writing and 90% about the concept.

HIT: How about getting into production? Have you thought about producing/directing a low-budget version of your work?

Ben: Yes. I have converted the feature script Marcus and Faith into a sit-com. I plan to collaborate with a director/friend who has his own equipment and crew. Firstly we will film it like a short  and pitch it as a webisode. Then in the future we will market it to the Studios. Of course this will be piggybacked by our feature script "Marcus and Faith". You know what they say, KEEP WRITING, but above all KEEP MARKETING!

HIT: Finally Ben, the ubiquitous advice question for screenwriters starting out in the game. What can you tell'em?

Ben:  Get as much coverage and developments as you can from reliable and honest film consultants. Rewrite until you have winner. And listen to only 20% of their advice. Stick to your vision. Then tests it in the top five contests in North America. Afterwards, query to Managers and producers. Keep writing and above all keep marketing.

Thanks Ben! For more info on Ben and his work, visit www.hollywoodtoronto.com or email him at brscreenwriter@gmail.com

"…Then one fine day you realize that it’s better to see as little as possible. You have a sort of reduction, only it’s not a reduction; it’s a concentration and it actually says more. But you don’t do this immediately from one day to the next! You need patience. A sigh can become a novel."

- So says Jean-Marie Straub in Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie?

Ray Pride has a great interview with Tamara Jenkins, the writer-director of The Savages. Have not seen it yet, but loved her first movie from many moons ago, The Slums of Beverly Hills. Here she is on writing

Yeah, and you’ve sucked out all the descriptive juices because that’s what you’re going to see and that’s what people are going to do. It helped me when I got stuck to just pretend it was just a novel, to just keep going and write this stuff that I eventually would rip out, stuff that had to do with describing internal states — things that you would never really be able to have in a screenplay. And it was really long — the first draft of the script was 200 pages. In a weird way, I felt like I wrote a novel and then had to do an adaptation of the novel to turn it into a screenplay, which brought it down to 120 pages. I spent a year going from 200 pages to 120 pages, and it took me years to get to the 200 pages. So a year to kind of, what’s it called, reduction? When they do that to a sauce, the reduction sauce?

I just read Ms (Mrs.?) Cody's screenplay Juno (have not seen the movie) and despite the snarky turns of phrase, it is a solid effort. But nothing breeds contempt like success and over-the-top self-promotion. Here Something Awful's Bob Mackey piles on one of her latest leaked efforts. Funny stuff.

Paramount Vantage is putting PDF files of its five 2007 potential year-end contenders on a public page. The titles include A Mighty Heart; Into the Wild; The Kite Runner and Margot at The Wedding. And if you follow the format of the four other URLs, you'll find Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood.

This is so great for screenwriters, sure, but by all means, GO see the films.

Yves Lavandier’s Writing Drama, a comprehensive guide for playwrights and scriptwriters scriptwriters (translated by Bernard Besserglik)  is that rare kind of writing textbook: Inspirational and instructive yet fun to read. Lavandier, who is French, brings a European perspective to the art and craft of writing. He cites over 1400 works-not just film but TV shows, plays, comic books, operas, and even the circus-to get at what drama consist of and how we write it.

Starting with the basics of conflict and emotion, Lavandier analyses each aspect of  drama and human nature and offers examples of classical to modern works to back-up, and often times, disagree with his points. One idea that struck me was his emphasis on the audience and how the writer must think of it in every stage of the writing. To not do so is to have not only a flawed film but a bad script as well. Very, very, good advice. If every writer will think of the role of the audience when he or she sits down to write, we would have stronger films and plays.

I also gained a lot of insight in his chapter on Dramatic Irony, which is when a character lacks an essential piece of information that the spectator is in on. Many examples are gone into in depth to illustrate this principle and how it works-or not-in practice. In a part entitled The Local Mechanisms, Lavandier explores Exposition, Activity, Dialogue, and Effects and how they are used in works of high and ‘low’art.

Lavandier breaks down two classic pieces of drama, Moliere’s The School for Wives and Hitchcock’s North by Northwest, using what he calls The Synthetic Model which he defines as “a canonical form or prototype that identifies the recurring techniques in classic works as Aristotle did.” I think everyone is in agreement that you have to learn the rules of writing first before breaking them. Admittedly this brings us some repetitive boring movies, especially from many Hollywood studios, but it need not Lavandier argues, as The Synthetic Model provides only a framework, leaving the writer to pour his soul into it. Lavandier provides several exercises for the writer to sharpen his or her skills, work with concepts, and other mechanics for a good script.

Having read several books on screenwriting, I would say that Yves Lavandier’s work is one of the best I have come across. I will refer to it often in the future while working on scripts. Highly recommended. Go here to read an interview with the author and how to get a copy.

Just finished a draft of the next short film LaughCalvin wants to make tentatively titled "My Attorney Bernie." Below is the first part of it. It will be up on the Laughcalvin site soon in its entirety. Feel free to fire away at it in the comments section.

INT. GROCERY STORE- DAY
A few shoppers mill about. BERNIE, MID-30’S, looks intently at items on a shelf. He wears a cheap blue vest that has a tag with MYSTEREY(SIC) SHOPPER printed on it.
A VERY TALL WOMAN, turns her shopping cart down Bernie’s aisle. He glances at her and quickly pulls out a small video camera.
He moves items, some which drop to the floor, to arrange it on the shelf just so. He aims it at the Very Tall Woman.
He looks through the view finder to make sure she is in the shot.
VIDEO CAM VIEWFINDER SHOT of Very Tall Woman. More items are knocked to the floor.
Breathing faster, Bernie begins pacing back and forth and then, trying to play it cool, freezes and reads the labels of FEMININE NAPKINS.
He glances over at The Very Tall Woman again. He glances at the hidden video cam. He goes over and stops inches from her.
She looks at him but he studies the labels of the same toothpaste.
He suddenly wheels around and goes back to the feminine napkins section.
Then, as if suddenly remembering an item he must not forget, he heads over to The Very Tall Woman again and bumps into her.
She is startled and almost falls but Bernie grabs her to catch her fall and grope her simultaneously.
An odd DANCE hangs perfectly balanced for a moment.

I have been back 14 hours from a trip down home to see family and friends. If you have never been to the Carolinas, I do recco. it. There is more to it than religion, racing, 'rastling, and racism, I tell you what. Email me and I'll let you in on some tips for really enjoying the beautiful south.

For now however, here is an excerpt from my screenplay in progress, working-titled "The Father Suit." It's a cross between "Night of the Hunter" and "Paper Moon." In this scene, our father, who suffers from schizophrenia, has abducted his two young children and taken off down a dark river. Pardon the format problems. Until then.

INT. PORGY & BESS- SAME
Lee Wayne and the kids step into the cabin. There is a table, a few broken chairs, a dead sofa, a hot-plate, etc.
It is an unholy mess.
ADDY
Peeew! It stinks.
DILL
Looks like the janitor crew is lazy, Mr. Livingstone.
He turns to Lee-Wayne who does not answer. Lee-Wayne walks toward a dark hatch in the rear. Dill motions for Addy to wait and follows.
Dill steps quietly through the opening into a closet with a filthy bathroom on the right and another shadowy room ahead.
Dill stops and listens. He can hear Lee-Wayne moving around in there and muttering to himself.
A chair moves.
ADDY (V.O.)
Dill..?
Dill looks up. He’s sweating from fear and heat. Trembling,  he goes to peek inside the room but stops.
He hurries back to Addy.
DILL
You OK?
ADDY
Yea..
She looks odd.
DILL
What is it, Sister?
She motions for him to be quiet.
DILL (CONT’D)
What is it?
ADDY
Shhh..listen.
There is only the occasional lapping of water against the boat, of decaying wood creaking, a faraway bird chirping.
Sunlight comes down in shafts through the cabin.
Dill and Addy, covered in sweat, look around and at each other.
Suddenly footsteps are heard moving across the top of the boat.
Then the sound of an outboard motor being started.
It sputters to life and the boat begins to move. Dill and Addy rush up top to the deck.
They are moving away from the shipwreck dock, through the dark water.
No one is at the wheel.

If you are serious about finding a director or movie producer, who is
looking to option a script go to
http://www.screenplayshollywood.blogspot.com

It lists "Screenplays Wanted" ads written by film directors and movie
producers looking for screenplays. It's free and it's updated daily.

Below is a page from a screenplay I am working on currently about  a father who flees his home with his children and is pursued by their mother down a dark, muddy river.

SOUND OF CHURCH ORGAN PLAYING OLD SPIRITUAL
INT. PINEY WOODS CHURCH- MORNING
FRANCIS LOCKLEAR, 28, plays beautifully to an empty church. Something dark slowly begins to creep into the music.
A little child comes in the church and makes her way down the aisle and finds a pew and lays down to sleep.
Francis eyes her, continues to play.
CUT TO:
INT. LOCKLEAR HOME- SAME
LEE WAYNE LOCKLEAR, 30, packs STRANGE COSTUMES into a battered suitcase. The sound of children talking. Lee looks over his shoulder, terrified.
He hides behind the door, back flat against the wall. He peeks through the crack into the kitchen.
DILL WAYNE LOCKLEAR, 12, is making two potted meat sandwiches. His sister ADDY, 10, hands him a paper towel.
DILL
We ain’t got no mustard.
ADDY
That’s OK. Don’t forget to make Daddy one too.
Lee Wayne closes his eyes as if in pain.
CUT TO:
INT. WILLIAMS HOME- SAME
PERNELL WILLIAMS, 35, knots his tie in the mirror. He is dressed to the nines for under thirty dollars, including his shoes.
He grabs his Bible and avoids his KIDS who pull at him to  take them fishing, into the kitchen where he slaps his WIFE’S behind, who holds out her hand for money, but he’s out the door and into the yard and in the poorest street.
A quick adjustment of his balls, he grins like he owns the world.

Penned by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, and Jason Schwartzman - get your early draft (5/17/06), pre-Natalie Portman, pre-talking tiger Darjeeling Limited script here. Thanks to VendattaV at Oh No for the tip. For reference: Francis - Owen Wilson, Jack - Jason Schwartzman, Peter - Adrien Brody.

And from the written page to the nearly-finished product, AICN has a report from a self-admitted Wes Anderson fan who sat in on an early Darjeeling screening. “The main problem with the movie is that it really goes nowhere.” Their words, not mine.

Uh-Oh.

Scott Mullen has some great advice for aspiring screenwriters over at his blog Alligators in a Helicopter. I guess most probally "know" this but storytelling is such a personal thing that it is hard for folks to accept that writing, including screenwriting, invloves more than just one's own personal story.

"Personally, I think there should be a law. Writers should be required to write five scripts, while also doing other things to learn their craft. Writers should treat it like they are learning to be doctors; you have to learn the nuts and bolts before you are ready to actually step up and be a pro. Writers should treat this learning process as a time when it doesn't matter what you write, because you aren't allowed to submit it anywhere.

Five scripts. And only then can you start inflicting your scripts on agents, managers, producers.

I know, I know. Crazy. And obviously it's unenforcable, and I know, your third script was great. And your second. And your first.

Sigh.

Take the metaphorical 1000 jump shots from the corner every day for five years. Learn your craft. There are no real shortcuts."

Whenever I am hungover or in the throes of the screaming rhubarbs, I always like to read a little Friedman. It works like a vitamin B-shot to the DT'ed system:

"The cinema-world evolved as I knew but would not say: the movie I became famous for and did not write was better reviewed and out-earned the movie I spent ten years writing (and wasn't even invited to the premiere.) Or sent a one-sheet. Or a DVD."

Take a shot.

I knew we were not alone in a previous post about hearts being in, half-in, eyes melting, becoming engaged and lethargic, drunkenly besotted, or whatever  the case may be in blogging for HIT. Scott the Screenwriter/Reader has floated up and down since being a recent Nicholl's semi-finalist:

"I thought I had it made. I thought I was on my way to representation. I had two pretty good scripts, a supernatural thriller I was finishing, and someone's else's script that I'd done a low budget rewrite on that actually wound up with my name on it too, and which is also out there.
While I waited, I did another pass on my supernatural thriller, got notes, polished it up, got more notes, polished it up again.
And waited.
Nothing."

This a good post to read if you are lagging of late and need a sympathetic soul to push you on.

A Get-Together of Wordplayers

Posted by Scott the Reader on Monday, 6 November 2006, at 7:39 p.m.

Peer Gopfrich and I have finally gotten off our butts and set something up.

Time:
Sunday, November 12 @ 5 PM

Place:
Jerry's Famous Deli
10925 Weyburn Avenue
Westwood, CA 90024
(310) 208-3354 (this is the Deli's phone number)

What:
Dinner and Conversation

We have an upstairs room, thanks to promising them a certain minimum amount of business. But the room holds 50, and the more who show up, the longer we can stay.

Anyone who is interested, RSVP to me, at the e-mail address in my name at the top of the post.

I hope to see a lot of you there.

Scott

You have probally heard about the new script by Charlie Kaufman called Synecdoche, NY by now and the brouhaha about reviewing and leaking it on-line, but if it doesn't bother you to read about a script before you see the movie (screenwriters?), then go here  to read "ZeroC's" run-down of  it on Ain't It Cool. Wow. Kaufman to the 10th power.

 The LA Times' Jay Fernandez has read the new CF script called "Synecdoche, NY" and boy is he jazzed:  ..according to Fernandez, it is great, a "wrenching, searching, metaphysical epic... about death and sex and the vomit-, poop-, urine- and blood-smeared mess that life becomes physiologically, emotionally and spiritually. It reliably contains Kaufman's wondrous visual inventions, complicated characters, idiosyncratic conversations and delightful plot designs, but its collective impact will kick the wind out of you".

Fernandez was so blown away by the read that he goes on to write "If this film gets made in any way that resembles what's on the page... Synecdoche will make Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine look like instructional industrial films. No one has ever written a screenplay like this. It's questionable whether cinema is even capable of handling the thematic, tonal and narrative weight of a story this ambitious." (Thanks Scott!)

Hope my friends, my hope: In a world where being young is valued above all else, I wouldn’t have liked to be labeled a young writer, with the emphasis falling on "young" not "writer." In my opinion the writer has to place himself or herself in a time outside societal time, and in this sense, it seems to me, writing a book when you’re 40 could even be called a vaguely — very vaguely — political act. Plus, I still think that to write something worth reading you have to have lived. You need to have been up against things and beings, love, death, etc. Living deflowers the eyes and the mind. It tests our mettle. Cioran said that no philosophy survives a bout of seasickness; he could never have written that sentence if he hadn’t spent a day being seasick.

- Gregoire Bouillier, author of The Mystery Guest.

Professional Reader and Scriptwriter Scott Mullen has an inspiring update on his writing career to this point and why he feels this is his time:

"It's all coming together. 15 years of screenwriting, about a dozen scripts (many of which suck and have been properly relegated to the bottom shelf), and a monster education in screenplays by being a fulltime reader for 15 years. On the downside, I'm 43, and if I don't do it now, when?"

Go read it writers.