CHRIS CHURILLA
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CHRIS CHURILLA

Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Pueblo, Colorado, USA

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?
My inspiration was the comic strip “Calvin & Hobbes”, which is about a highly imaginative six-year-old boy, and several strips featured him imagining himself as a hard-boiled private investigator. I thought to myself, “Could this be something I base a script on?”
Given the results, I think the answer is yes! As for why I wrote a script instead of a short story, I find that writing screenplays is much easier; you don’t have to describe everything in painstaking detail.

How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards... whiteboard...or just start with FADE IN?
The basic form took about a week. The first draft, which was less than 10 pages, took a day or two. I then sent it to another screenwriter for feedback, and after a few days, they told me they liked the idea but thought I should expand it more, so I did. Several days later, I had the
script done. Everything since then has been fine-tuning. I’ve only written shorts so far, so my process usually involves just figuring out the ending first and then going from there. But for this script, my process was a little different. I brainstormed ideas for different scenes and wrote them down. Once I felt I had enough, I figured out what order to put them in.

What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
To just keep writing as long as I can. Fame and fortune would be nice, but those are out of my control.

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 script, and I chose that format because I think submitting just the first 10 would not have given the judge a complete picture of it.

What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why?
As someone who’s been going to the movies for over 30 years, I can’t pick just one. The movies that hold personal meaning to me are The Shawshank Redemption, Good Will Hunting, and Fight Club. They are all about men in less-than-ideal circumstances, but they fight to
improve themselves and their lives.

What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
I’ve only been seriously writing for about three years, so it feels weird to give advice, but I’ll share what I think. I think it’s important for people to pursue writing for the right reason. For me, the top reason is simply loving the act and art of writing. Fame and fortune shouldn’t be it. I think anyone who gets into it for those reasons is setting themselves up for disappointment. We writers have no control over how people will receive our work, so we shouldn’t focus on that. That leads to my second piece of advice: write for yourself first. You are the first person to experience it, and it should be something you enjoy; if it isn’t, then work on it until it is.

What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
I’m not content just writing movies; I’m also making them. I recently completed filming “Weirdos”, a horror-comedy whose script was named a finalist at A Night of Horror, a highly regarded international horror film festival. Once that is complete, I plan on making two more
short films this year.

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