MICHAEL MOORE
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Nashville, Tennessee 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? not THAT kind is the most personal story I’ve written to date. It was inspired by a culmination of situations and interactions I’ve experienced from childhood through adulthood while working to achieve success in spaces that weren’t built with a Black man in mind. I’ve been focused on building my portfolio of scripts over the past year, so a short film naturally made sense. 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? Since this story was so close to me, it only took a couple of days once I started writing. But I had spent weeks thinking about how I wanted to put it on the page. It was important for the audience to feel and understand what the main character was going through without feeling sorry for him. I also didn’t want it to seem preachy, so that meant focusing heavily on restraint and subtext, while making every interaction as real as possible. I’ve never really been an outliner. I’m very accustomed to holding concepts and information visually in my head, which is also how I operate in my legal career. Once I get a feel for the message of a script and the opening scene, I start seeing the film unfold as I write. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? In my first year of writing, I’ve been very grateful to achieve some early festival traction and exposure, along with making meaningful connections with other filmmakers. The next step is getting one or more of my festival-proven scripts produced, with an ultimate goal of leaving a lasting impact on audiences and the art form. Writing an Emmy or Oscar nominated original screenplay is the big long-term goal. 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 full script. For any short script, every page is designed to pack a punch. The first 10 pages would give someone a good sense of the vibe, but they wouldn’t capture the full impact of the narrative. What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why? Inception. A perfect marriage of structural ambition and emotional truth. Christopher Nolan builds a narrative within a narrative, but at the core, it’s about something very human. The sci-fi complexity serves the emotion without overwhelming it. That’s something I’ve always admired and hope to portray in my work, even though this particular story was my first foray into pure drama. What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have? I always say write what you want to see. And now I’d add to that, write what is true to you. If you do those things, your personality and unique perspective will come through in your writing. I believe that’s when something truly special comes together. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? I have a number of projects in process, but the one where I’m spending most of my focus right now is a psychological sci-fi / drama feature called What We Carry. It’s currently on the Black List website’s Quarterly Top List and tells the story of a brilliant neuroscientist diagnosed with a terminal illness, afraid of losing herself before her daughter is old enough to remember her. That fear builds into the architecture of control and deception driving the mother’s choices, ultimately ending in tragedy for herself and everyone around her. At its core, this film is about what love can turn into when we don’t accept its limitations, and about a mother so terrified of being forgotten that she forgets what she was protecting in the first place. I also have an anthology series I’ve been building, Affect Protocol, exploring systemic control, memory, and the weaponization of feeling in near-future societies; and a limited series titled Collective Unknown, which follows different versions of similar characters across recursive timelines. Finally, I have two TV pilots in process. The first is Wrench Kings, a sci-fi epic set in a post- automation future, exploring class reversal, identity, and knowledge that can’t be downloaded. The second is Heartline, set in a future where AI has rendered humans obsolete and empaths absorb emotional stress that the rest of society can no longer carry. Below are my Instagram, IMDB, and Black List profile links if anyone would like to follow my work or discuss/request samples of any scripts or other materials. Instagram: moore_stories_10 Michael H. Moore - IMDb Michael H. Moore | The Black List |
