LAWRENCE BERGMAN

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Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Abington, Massachusetts 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?  
I, along with so many people, am deeply affected by the sheer volume of school shootings.  Additionally, one day my youngest daughter who was 8 at the time, had come home from school and told me they had practiced shooter drills that day.   While I understand that in today’s world this is a necessity, at the same time, I felt so terrible that these little kids had to go through such things.  While I love reading short stories and novels, for me, the most effective way I feel like I can tell a story is through scriptwriting. 
 
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? 
The bulk of this script took about a month to write.  My process is quite mental actually.  I think about the story for days, maybe weeks and once it feels good in my head, then I start the actual writing process.  For me, I really want to feel and understand the characters and their stories.  So, by the time I’m writing I feel very familiar with everything.  After the initial draft is down, then I start to map out the details.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? 
To tell stories and share characters that are meaningful and fulfilling to me.  Of course, you hope they resonate with other people, but it first must start with the writer being true to themselves. 
 
Was your entry at The Wiki Screenplay Contest a full script or “the first ten pages”? Why did you make that choice? 
The likelihood of industry professionals reading full scripts is not realistic.  Therefore, those first ten pages better be killer.  I felt like a hyperfocus on the initial ten pages seemed the smartest way to go.  The feedback and comments provided by the Wiki team have been invaluable.  
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why?
Oh wow, that’s a really hard question.  I think “The Sopranos” and the original “Twilight Zone” are tie for my two favorite television shows of all time.  “The Sopranos” really ushered in a new style of television drama that’s still relevant today.  How many shows were brutally violent, drop-dead, funny and poignant all at the same time?  How many shows found humanity in the most unsavory of characters?  It’s impact then and now is still powerful.  “The Twilight Zone” is still a stunning piece of art.  Rod Serling was able to take these 30-minute sci-fi/horror stories and use them as vehicles for real social commentary.  It tackled bigotry, war, and greed, in clever and unforgettable ways.
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?  Never, ever, give up.  I am fifty-five and my whole life I’ve wanted to be a writer.  I tabled my dreams to have a “regular career,” but inside, writing was all I ever wanted to.  I tell my two daughters (ages 12 & 15) that their dreams can come true at any time. 
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
I have multiple projects; I’m really excited about.  I toggle between drama and comedy.  I have a stage play called “Kin” that just won placement in the New York Theater Festival.  It’s about a family trapped inside their home during a storm-related power outage, who are forced to confront their personal and political differences. 
 
I have a television pilot horror/drama series I’m proud of as well.  It’s called “The Mystery of Jake” it’s about a mysterious man who dies for three days, and experienced an unexpected afterlife, whil running from shadowy religious forces and a satanic horror movies-obsessed serial killer.
 
Also, I’ve got another television pilot entitled “How Not To Be An A-hole Teenager,” it’s a comedy series loosely based on my own parenting of two teenage daughters.