Where do you live (City, State, or Country)? 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? The inspiration came from my daughter telling me of an incident in which a co-worker told her that another co-worker saw his wife at the mall holding hands with another woman and how much she kept hugging the woman, turns out it was her very young-looking mother from out of town. I see my stories in vivid color on an invisible stage or screen, not novels.
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? I first wrote the story as a short play. As for my writing process, I usually develop scenes in my head while I'm walking around doing other things during the day or night. If I can't write it right away, I sometimes record it. But there are times that by the time I get to a computer or recorder, I have already forgotten the great scene I saw in my mind's eye.
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? As a playwright, I have had the privilege of witnessing the production of several of my stage plays and musicals. I'm now learning the craft of screenwriting and hopefully, I'll be good enough to get my foot in the door.
Was your entry at The Wiki Screenplay Contest a full script or “the first ten pages”? Why did you make that choice? “the first ten pages” I made this choice because of cost, but in hindsight, I think it would have been better to go with the full script option. The coverage is amazing. Going forward, I'm going to choose the full script option.
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why? IMITATION OF LIFE, THE COLOR PURPLE, and BEACHES. Storyline and tear-jerking scenes. THE SIXTH SENSE is my kind of ghost story. TV shows: LAW AND ORDER SVU. Also, SQUID GAMES and STRANGER THINGS, have inspired me.
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have? I don’t feel I have attained enough to give advice. But I want to say, learn your craft well. Over the past month, I've learned some basic things that I didn't know my scripts were missing. When you submit choose the option for Feedback, I am still amazed at the feedback I received. It opened up a whole new world for me, not only in the scripts I submitted, but in other scripts I was working on.
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? I am now wrapping up rewrites of a screenplay I wrote years ago. After that, I will resume working on a script I consider my biggest writing project yet. It started as a movie, but now after watching STRANGER THINGS, I see a Series, I however don’t have the first idea how to write a series bible. So, I'll probably finish it as a movie first. Don’t know yet.