CHRIS LOVELAND
 CHRIS LOVELAND
How did you discover The Wiki Screenplay Contest and how did you decide to enter this contest among all the others?
I’ve submitted in the past and thought your contest did quality work with a quick turnaround. I had just received a request to read this project with the possibility of being optioned in early April. The problem? I hadn’t edited the movie in over a year. I did a ten day intense writing session to get my project tight. Unfortunately, the producer did pass (with some kind words which is always appreciated) so I decided to submit to a few contests to see where my revised screenplay stacked up. Where do you live (City, State, or Country)? I live in Redwood City, California in the heart of the Bay Area right now. 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? What inspires your overall journey into screenwriting? Some stories whisper, some stories scream; this project was the latter. For me, it seems I can only come up with new ideas when I’m halfway done with another piece. This project proved to be no different. Little images of these characters, their voices, their tragedies followed me into other stories until I just gave them their space. This piece is honestly a departure for me as a writer, much more emotionally fraught than my other work. Thus, I thought it would work best visually and not solely through prose. Also, to an extent, this piece acts as a critique of the contemporary film and media industry. The first inklings of The Lyon of Times Square were inspired by daily life. Opening my phone to see a grocery store had been shot up by a racist, then walking to the theater and watching some superhero mindlessly quip before they inevitably save the day. Senseless mass tragedies dot our reality while fiction, and to an extent our media ecosystem, relentlessly pretends perfect heroes exist—they do not. It leads to an infantilization of the viewer and ideological stagnation. I was inspired by screenwriting not because of a particular love of form (I enjoy every medium of writing) but because when I graduated college in 2021 prestige TV felt like the future before streaming muddied the waters. Also, I’ve found tv/movies to be the easiest way to connect with the modern individual. Not everybody reads anymore, some are even proud of that fact. How do you decide which stories to tell, and what draws you to these particular themes? Most of my stories are social critiques. Most of my pieces interact with historical stories which are often allegories or social critiques of their own. Themes I always incorporate in some capacity are love, family, inequity, purpose, and belonging. I will write about literally any subject in any genre if it can evoke one of those themes or just be a story worth telling. What is your typical writing routine? How do you structure your workday to stay productive? I’m blessed to be able to focus on my writing nearly full time right now. I’m eternally grateful I can do this, and in large part I owe my thanks to having incredibly supportive parents. That said, I understand this is an opportunity so I try to stay regimented. I wake up early, chart a few accomplishable daily goals (the illusion of constant progress) that build the base for large projects. An average day would see goals like: Go to the gym, write 3 fresh pages on this action pilot, pitch myself a concept for a short, edit the dragging third act of this drama movie, and then maybe a short comedy sketch to close things out. I believe the conscious and subconscious both play a massive role in writing so it’s important to stay mentally and physically healthy. I always make sure to walk for about 90 minutes a day. How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards...white board...or just start with FADE IN? It took me three days to write Lyon as a pilot, one month for the rough draft pilot to become a movie, then a few interspersed week-long sessions to tighten and add depth. Sometimes I’m so desperate to start writing I don’t plot anything out and leap right in (often to my own detriment once I lack propulsion around the midpoint). I believe a good hook with proper structural compression cannot be accomplished until the full project is completed and fleshed out. So, my outline process is pretty simple but effective—I write slug lines of plot points/emotional beats and space them out. Over the course of time I fill those beats in with cohesive scenes until eventually my spaced out fifteen page jumble of sentences ties itself into a screenplay. Then I often go back to the opening and try to squeeze in as much leading information as possible without being expository. How do you handle writers block or moments of doubt (we all have them) during your creative process? Poorly! I think one of the problems with still being a young and inexperienced writer is just the loneliness of defeat. Successes can often feel so small and yet the losses can loom so large. I try my best but still I do often allow my own negative feelings to compound and snowball out of control. These negative thoughts are the only real “writer’s block” I have because I simply won’t sit down and write when I have them. Especially since most of my friends are in more concrete fields such as finance, tech, consulting, etc. where they’ve experienced immediate success and promotion, it can feel really crushing not to have anything to point to as “my work.” It can feel like I’m failing because I’m a writer who hasn’t been published (though we call ourselves writers not publishers, I suppose). That’s all to say if I sit down at a document I never have writer’s block. I bounce around from genre to genre to fight it, if need be. But, the real block for me comes from avoiding my work altogether when I feel inadequate or stagnant. I just have to stay moving, maintain my rhythm. |
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What tools or software do you find essential to your workflow as a screenwriter?
Writerduet is my favorite screenwriting software. Industry standard and intuitive, it’s actually pretty cheap. The other main calling card comes from the fact that it can be collaborative much like google docs (and other collaborating writers don’t even need a subscription). How do you approach competition entries, and what have you learned from participating in these contests? Which contests have you entered...and how has your work been received overall? Have those contests been helpful to you in your writing? I enter a smorgasbord of contests. I prefer ones with cash prizes, serious judges, or legitimate partnerships that could bring exposure. In my opinion, the rest are not worth the price. I learned not to put all my eggs into one basket. With all of these contests closing, Coverfly shuttering, it could not be more apparent that I need more irons in the fire. I pretty much always place in contests now, but this is only the second contest I’ve won in a little over a year of submissions. I think contests have been helpful; but they can also undermine a writer’s final product if they listen to many conflicting voices and nitpicks. Always remember that when you pay a contest or a notes service for commentary that sometimes the judge will be searching for things to say. That does not always mean those critiques are true or that it matters. Can you share a specific challenge you've faced in your screenwriting and how you overcame it? Well, I moved down to Los Angeles to start work for a production company in March of 2023. That was one month before the writer’s strike. Obviously, I’m supportive of the writers but its unmistakable that the strike, execs, the pandemic, and streaming have made a perfect storm that has stalled production. I’ve seen statistics that suggest production is at a lower point now than basically ever before in our modern era of film and TV. I made about a dozen industry friends in LA, all entry level or just above, who have spent 3,4,5 years now in the same position because there’s no upward growth. Of those dozen, most maintained their jobs through the strike (illustrating they were indeed essential) but were forced to handle more responsibility from downsizing. This led to burnout and many talented young creatives slugging away at an unfulfilling day job while not achieving the goals they came to the city to accomplish. Any industry advice will tell you that working up through a desk or production company is the tried and true path. I think my “challenge” is the same as everyone else’s, an increasingly difficult barrier of entry. It feels the same names are making project after project and the end product is ultimately stale. If you are balancing your “writing time” with a “day job”...how are you managing that? I’m lucky not to be worrying about that right now. For contest money, I do gig work such as freelance script coverage for production companies, friends, and other contacts I’ve made in the industry. I also try to volunteer at my local library as much as I can. Where do you see yourself in five years as a screenwriter? I hope in the writer’s room for some sort of genre-bending, evocative, prestige TV show. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? I would like to see my work on the screen, make my parents proud, and say something that some scared kid hears that makes them feel a little less alone. I want to write characters that illustrate archetypes of modern people. Fascism might be creeping upon us, but I want to spread the concept of social equality through writing. Naive, the powerful are, not to think ideas can be malignant as tumors. The most beautiful wildflowers sprout even without their necessary conditions. The prettiest flowers can push through paved concrete and grow along a wrought iron picket fence, in spite of the world’s cold industry. The film and television industry is constantly evolving. How do you see the role of screenwriters changing, especially with the rise of streaming platforms and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence? Have you used A.I. in your writing; if so, how have you used it? Unfortunately I think streaming will just end in further consolidation and monopolization of the industry. It can’t be stopped so I don’t really have an opinion. I’ll accept and adapt. Whereas, I do have an opinion about GenAi. I’ve never used GenAi in my writing and I likely never will. I find it antithetical to not just the creative process but to what it means to be humans connecting and communicating. Most models were trained by pillaging writers and copyrights, thus they are an echo of humanity. An echo that will die out as the models continue expounding on one another. Further “enshittifying” our culture until everything is just a dull reverberation of some past we once remembered. I think a lightningrod example such as The Brutalist (2024) presents possible use cases of ethical GenAi, but I ask: do we trust Hollywood to use this tool ethically? Which film or television writers inspire you? Why? It’s corny but all of them. Basically every single writer inspires me in some way or another. In particular, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay for Industry. I appreciate its adaptive and fresh style, evocative characters, and very lived in world. Reading about Down’s experience, it's no wonder the show captures the world, but what stands out is the evolution of the product. Season Three was practically a different show entirely than the pilot in the absolute best way (ensemble story, access to new characters/perspectives, same thrillride). Of course there are different directors to the episodes with Dunham taking the pilot and then an assortment of talented people since her. I love watching writers grow along with their projects and I know both of them have incredible careers ahead of them. I can’t wait. Maybe I’ll even get to work with them. Some other assorted favorites are Jesse Armstrong, David Chase, Mike White, Raphael Bob-Wiksburg, Steven Knight, and of course Vince Gilligan. Apologies for the HBO bias. What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show? This answer changes often but for now I will say The Nice Guys (2016). What advice do you have for aspiring screenwriters? I might be better suited to answer this question in five years. Don’t be afraid to explore what makes you scared, test new genres and themes, languish in discomfort. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? As I said above, I’m making a concerted effort to bend genres. As such, I have a bunch of projects I love of all different varieties. I’ll only advertise my three most recent works other than The Lyon of Times Square (which itself is probably my favorite screenplay to date). I don’t like to share my projects publicly, but feel free to email me for the password. The first is a sweet, heartfelt pixar-style short: https://filmfreeway.com/TheOldManAndThePaintbrush The second is a 30 minute pilot that incorporates magical realism as an organ donor, blessed by a trickster genie, possesses his recipients for a righteous cause: https://filmfreeway.com/TheDonor927 The third is a sketch show: https://filmfreeway.com/AnotherSketchShowNoACollectionofMasterpieces Where can the world find you online? (Social media links, etc.) My Coverfly Profile: https://writers.coverfly.com/profile/writer-c1666d663-230333 My FilmFreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/ChristopherLoveland My Email for any inquiries: [email protected] My Twitter/X: @ChrisLoveland99 |
