COLLEEN AYCOCK
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Where do you live (City, State, or Country)? 
I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and my co-writer, Mark Scott, still lives in Austin, Texas, where we met and worked. We have collaborated on various fiction and non-fiction projects now for over 30 years. We have written 7 books, most of them on boxing. Mark was an amateur boxer in his early days in Texas, and my father was a Depression-era professional boxer in Texas who told me stories about the early boxers, particularly the early black boxers, and their struggle for recognition.
 
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 father was an avid Western history buff, and the only reading material in my childhood home was his collection of True West magazines, which I devoured. (I could tell you every detail about the Donner Expedition.) But I credit my father for explaining why the values of “individualism” (represented by the American West) and “fair play” (from boxing) are important concepts in American culture. 
My co-writer and I had already written the book “Tex Rickard: Boxing’s Greatest Promoter," (McFarland, 2012), about the Texas marshal who turned Madison Square Garden into the sport Mecca it is today. So, we figured we would try to tackle a series on the history of Big Sport in America, particularly boxing, which coincided with the end of the Western Frontier and the second careers of the iconic western lawmen.
  
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?
This television series, “The Sport,” materialized over several years. We didn’t come to screenwriting first. Our books came first and then we thought about how could we get this marvelous history out to an audience outside of boxing history buffs.
Our first attempt was laughable. Hint: just because you have successfully published a book or two with a reputable publisher, or written official biographies for Statuary Hall in DC, written encyclopedia entries, fiction or technical writing, doesn’t mean you can write a screenplay. Actually, we found that screenwriting was the most difficult form of writing we had ever undertaken.
We work from outlines. We enjoy this planning stage because that’s where we can play with the movable parts or details/actions to see how the characters develop inside the chronology. Once we had finished the Pilot (establishing the big picture), we mapped out the Series, and the next Episode came easily, in a matter of months.
Helpful Hint: After that first failed attempt, we decided to learn the craft by getting the best books we could find to guide us. We bought every book we could find written by Robert McCullough (Santa Barbara). In my opinion, his books, taken together, form the screenwriter’s Bible. They have been ours, exclusively. 
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? 
Mark and I both want to write scripts that can inspire others. I come from a family of storytellers, pranksters, professional sportsmen, fighters, and even historic duelists, so I have seen the humorous side of American life, and that, too, can be inspirational. Mark found that the discipline that boxing instills goes a long way in excelling in life; and he wants to lay out the history of "the sport to which all others aspire," as Hemingway said.
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
Of course, we love sport, cultural dramas, and history.
·      David Mickey Evans, “The Sandlot,” because it proves that childhood memories can be fodder for film and can interest all generations,
·      Paul Schrader and Martin Scorsese for “Raging Bull” about Jake LaMotta because we knew Jake LaMotta and so many other boxers with similar hardscrabble stories,
·      Mario Puzo and Francis Coppola for their intricate plotting and character development in “The Godfather” movies,
·      Heywood Gould for “Fort Apache, the Bronx” crime drama, for the gritty character played by Rachel Ticotin (who inspired our character, Madge, in “Joe Gans,” 
·      Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” for the brilliant depiction of exploitation and the nuanced performance of Lily Gladstone, and
·      Sheldon Turner, "The Longest Yard" and Art Cohn, "The Setup," (based on the poem by Joseph Moncure March) for their focus on the integrity of sports and the moral implications of throwing a contest for sports betting, something Mark and I explore in our scripts.
·      And yes, Sylvester Stallone for the first “Rocky” movie, for its portrayal of how pursuing a goal can raise a man up out of despair.
          
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
Our favorite television show/series of ALL TIME is “Lonesome Dove.”  We both admire the exceptionally crafted work of Larry McMurtry. He first wrote “Lonesome Dove” as a feature script, but everyone in Hollywood, producers and actors, turned it down, including John Wayne. Disgusted, he decided, in 1971, to write the book that made him a Pulitzer Prizewinner. Later, another Texan, Bill Witliff, wrote the television script from the book. Having grown up in South Texas, Mark and I have known and appreciated all the fine details and movement of that series.
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Get as much professional feedback as you can, even if you don’t agree with it. Try out the suggestions given, and imagine how your screenplay would change if you followed those particular suggestions. You might like them, and the suggestions might send your story in a new, more creative direction. This exercise is a good test of your imagination and your writer-flexibility.
Most importantly, get to the heart of your subject. What is the soul of it? What makes people (your characters) do what they do?
Our Advice: Find your passion, follow it, and write your heart out, over and over again until you get it right.

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