Frank Tomasulo
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Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
New York, New York, 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 background has always been in cinema – including a master’s degree and doctorate from leading film schools - and I tend to think visually. Thus, this story Old and Cold, is about a visual artist, a painter, who has some of the same problems as a filmmaker: commerciality, pleasing oneself vs. pleasing the public, art vs. politics, etc.
 
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 short script took about 15 hours to write. I started with a step outline of the key scenes and beats, then developed detailed character studies for the three main people, and eventually moved to FADE IN.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
As Executive Producer of a no-budget independent film called Maggie and Jonnie, my current goal is to obtain financing for this heartfelt and heartbreaking love story.
 
Was your entry at The Wiki Screenplay Contest a full script or “the first ten pages”? Why did you make that choice?
This script was entered in the Short Screenplay category; thus, it was a full script. I submitted the entire screenplay because the first ten pages would have only carried the story to Act Two. The final resolution would have been absent.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why?
This represents a list of films that synthesize thematic relevance and cinematic technique, movies that can be viewed again and again with new insights into the Human Condition and the possibilities of artistic expression.
1. Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941)
2. Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)
3. L’avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960)
4. L’année dernière à Marienbad (Alain Resnais, 1961)
5. Wild Strawberries (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)
6. Il conformista (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
7. Jules et Jim (François Truffaut, 1961)
8. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-Wei, 2000)
 9. Angst essen Seele auf (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1974)
10. A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1970)
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Be sure that your spelling, grammar, punctuation, and screenplay formatting are correct.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
I am Executive Producer of a no-budget independent film called Maggie and Jonnie, which is to seeking financing for this heartfelt and heartbreaking love story. I expect to complete the feature-length screenplay shortly.
In addition, I would like to expand my award-winning short screenplay, The Sex Life of the Praying Mantis, into a feature-length script titled Vieteran.

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