CARY GARBUTT
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 PictureCARY GARBUTT
​Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Los Angeles, California. I’m based in LA, where I live and work as a writer and director developing character-driven films through my company, Fiction Hundred Films.

Your script stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your story and why did you write a script instead of a short story or a novel?
The inspiration came from a real person—a homeless man I met and befriended in downtown Los Angeles named Lydell Young. He was kind, wise, and deeply spiritual. This film is for him. The story was born from silence. I was thinking about grief—specifically the kind that isolates you, that makes you disappear from the world. I wanted to explore that visually and cinematically, through a character who barely speaks. A man who’s haunted by loss, yet finds a fragile connection in a broken place. I chose to write this as a screenplay because it’s meant to be seen, not just read. The story lives in what’s unspoken—in images, sound, and small gestures. Film allows for that kind of quiet emotional storytelling in a way that prose often doesn’t.

How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process?
The original draft was completed in 2022, but something about it didn’t sit right. When I revisited it later, I realized I had something worth salvaging—and reshaping. I followed Jill Chamberlain’s *The Nutshell Technique* to restructure the character arcs, which helped bring out the emotional spine of the story.
The rewrite took about four weeks. My process always starts with a notebook. Once an idea lands, I begin sketching it out by hand, building around the character arc and the emotional transformation I want the story
to convey. I don’t jump straight into software. I stay analog until I can see it clearly.

What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
To master script. To tell stories that are compelling, original, and necessary. I want to create films that hold emotional weight without shouting. Stories that reveal something human and true. My ambition is to write work that connects — not because it'S loud or trendy, but because it's undeniable. I’m building toward a body of work that’s precise, resonant, and cinematic.

Was your entry at The Wiki Screenplay Contest a full script or “the first ten pages”? Why did you make that choice?
It was a full short script. I wanted the reader to experience the full arc—to feel the transformation. With a minimalist story like this, the power is in what isn’t said—and the emotional payoff lives in the final moment. You can’t feel that in just ten pages. You have to sit in the quiet and let it build.

What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why?
One?? That’s impossible. That’s like asking for one favorite song. But if I had to offer a glimpse into what moves me creatively, I’d say *The Lighthouse* and *Koyaanisqatsi*. Both are bold, atmospheric, and uncompromising. They trust the audience, they challenge form, and they explore isolation, rhythm, and silence in completely different—but equally cinematic—ways. Those films don’t explain themselves. They just immerse you.

What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Take your time. Make sure the story and the character arc are fully realized. Don’t rush to submit — present your best. Believe in what you’ve written. If it’s coming from something true, it will land. Keep the faith in your voice, even if it feels quiet or different from what’s “popular.” Right now, I’m deep in a rewrite of my feature *Trauma* — a military story that draws from my experience as an Army veteran. Like with *Brother Hold Your Light*, I’ve learned that it takes time to shape a story into something sharp and resonant. But it’s worth it.