PEDRO CANAIS
 Pedro Canais
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Lisbon, Portugal. 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? Greed was the main inspiration for this script. How greed works as a main force for transformation in all senses. How it starts, how it may grow inside the human spirit and how it may explode in anyone’s face. That was also why I felt that I had to tell this story as a TV series. Not only because of it’s pace but mainly because Fortuna is about specific transformations of character and about the transformation of the whole world it describes. It occurs in Europe, during WWII. 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 story should have been a novel, first. I started thinking about it right after I won the PEN Prize for Literature, in Portuguese language, with my first novel. But I've always been a TV professional, and after the first draft, it was immediately clear that Fortuna could only reach its best potential as a series, especially on a digital platform. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? This has always been very clear to me: not only to inspire as many people as I can but to make them wonder, smile, laugh, cry or even scream or feel astonished. Exactly what I look for as a consumer, both in TV or film. Was your entry at The Wiki Screenplay Contest a full script or “the first ten pages”? Why did you make that choice? It was a complete TV script. I thought this particular contest might give me a good hint as to how the story might be perceived while I'm still developing it. What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show... and why? Favorite TV show: Succession. I think it has the right blend of tone, the most significant choice of characters and the widest background. And I also worked for a News Corporation for decades. I know how they can work from the inside. What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have? Write something that can inspire. And put yourself in the shoes of all your characters, not just your protagonist. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? I don't think anyone would memorize one or two titles. So I would just say that we are living in very particular times and that is what now puts relevance to any story. That’s exactly what I’m doing. https://www.networkisa.org/profile/pedro-canais |
