TYREL HAIGHT
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Vancouver, BC Canada 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? My dad and I were watching a WW2 documentary about the Holocaust and there was a Nazi officer, Helmut Kleinicke, who helped Jewish people from getting sent to the death camps. After researching a bit, there were virtually no records of low-level guards helping, but I thought out of thousands, there had to been a few. What I did find out is that a lot of records of German people heling the Jewish population were suppressed and destroyed by the Third Reich, which is now lost to history. So, I decided to explore that in a screenplay. Screenwriting is the way I prefer to tell my stories, never put much thought into writing a novel. 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 usually get a short script done in a day or two. Then if I lose sleep thinking about it then I know it’s worth exploring and working on the script. I usually play the movie out in my head and just dive into it writing it out. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? I love writing. I will continue to write, even if it goes nowhere, but the ultimate ambition is to write scripts that invoke feelings, good or bad, in my readers and viewers of my work. At the end of the day, if what I write can make people think and feel something, then I’ve done my job. Was your entry at The Wiki Screenplay Contest a full script or “the first ten pages”? Why did you make that choice? I submitted a short script that was 10 pages, so by default, it was the full script. What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why? Depends on my mood. I don’t really have a favorite. I can watch an old Dean Martin musical film or a new Jerry Bruckheimer action film. Even a silly Rom-Com. I like to find worth in everything I watch. What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have? Write what you love and love what you write. Have fun, passion and pay attention to details when writing. Write for yourself, don’t do it for awards or money, that’ll come later. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? I have few notable projects in the works. I’m working on a horror feature titled “CHALKY” with Eric Pike out of LA. I wrote and developed a supernatural TV series “ROMANI” with creator Ana-Maria Butcura out of Toronto, which is being looked at by a number of networks and studios. Finally, a short action film “M4 ROAD” I helped write with Akwam Al Harash, is securing funding for the feature length film. |
