Luke Duffy
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Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Born, raised and living in Dublin, Ireland.

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?
The inspiration for the story came while watching a documentary in 2020 that had no similarities at all to the script that I ended up writing. An image appeared on screen and in that moment, it was like an explosion of possibilities went off in my mind. I grabbed my laptop and wrote down as much as I could and went from there. All the ideas for stories I’ve ever had have come to me in this way, this unexpected moment months or years apart where the bare bones of a first draft present themselves to me through a picture, a sentence, an event that I witness.
Having written in both novel and short story format in the past with other projects, writing this as a script felt like the most natural thing in the world. It is the way this story is meant to be presented.
 
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?
Like many people I had more time than I anticipated in 2020 to write this script, and the first draft was done in roughly six weeks. My process is to have the main thread of the script prepared beforehand, as well as the key characters and their motives. I return to this master sheet often. From there I write a first draft, leave it a week and come back to it
New scenes and motives begin to appear, with both large and small changes necessary. As I get to know the characters better, what they do in scenes can change as well. I repeat this process several times.
I have spent about 18 months with the story from 2020 to today, always looking for ways to improve it. Of anything I have ever written though, nothing came to me as naturally or felt as easy to work with as “Invisible Paradise”, although that title may still need some work!
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
It would be incredible to see one project that I created from nothing but an idea make it to the screen. Of course, to make a living as a writer or in a writer’s room is the dream of so many, and this is something that I do strive for. I work hard reading scripts and breaking down film and television on a near daily basis.
But at 32-years-old, I am at a point in my life where I am happy with where I am personally and away from writing, and I feel like that is now reflected in my writing and my approach. We all want to win the lottery and go to the very top of the business, and I am no different.
To have one project greenlit and ultimately made is where I am at right now, and should I achieve this goal then we can go from there.
 
Was your entry at The Wiki Screenplay Contest a full script or “the first ten pages”? Why did you make that choice?
I submitted the first ten pages to The Wiki Screenplay Contest. I have had the full script also written for some time, but I wanted to see where the first ten pages were at right now. The importance of those pages is crucial, and I want to ensure that they are as strong as can be before proceeding with attempting to get the full script into the hands of the relevant people.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why?
My favourite films, perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of “Invisible Paradise”, are those that are a bit strange. Weird. “Annihilation”, Directed by Alex Garland (I have also ready the Jeff VanderMeer Southern Reach trilogy) and “Arrival”, Directed by Denis Villeneuve are two such examples. Similarly, Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” taught me to first learn the basics, but to not be afraid to think outside the box.
My favourite television show is The Wire. The layers of storytelling and the arc of the key characters across five seasons is, to me anyway, among the best I have ever seen. I cannot overstate enough how formative this show was in my desire to become a writer. The Wire is complicated, full of Baltimore slang and in 2023 is dated as well, and yet on every watch it continues to hold up.
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Work consistently yourself and do not be deterred by the rejections that you will inevitably receive. If you work hard on your script, and if you can have fun through the countless re-writes you will have to sit through, then it will show in your work. I don’t think it hurts to envision the story you want to see and tell on the big screen either. I believe there is a reason “Invisible Paradise” placed as a finalist, and it is because I feel a connection to the story that I have never felt with anything else I have written.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
I have written another script about a man who accidentally finds himself in the room when an alien lands on earth, and how his world turns upside-down with this information. He becomes paranoid and cannot tell even his wife what is going on, for fear of sounding crazy. As much as I have enjoyed writing this script over the last number of years, I still believe it is missing that something to take it to the next level.
For something completely different, I have written a script about a teenager from the West of Ireland in the nineties who goes against the wishes of his Grandfather and falls in love with the NBA over playing Gaelic football for the town. In earning a scholarship to a small college in America and subsequently getting injured and seeing his dreams end, he comes to realise that the Gaelic football club, the town and the desires of his Grandfather before his passing, were what he should have been paying attention to all along.

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