MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Mike B Jones

An interview with screenwriter Mike B Jones regarding the Scriptapalooza Writing Competition.

A: The title of my script is The Fantastically Adventurous Adventures of Barry Throssip. It's an adventure story about a hypochondriac worrywart named Barry Throssip who gets caught up in a globetrotting race to prevent the evil Doctor Sourseed from using a magical stone to raise the long lost ancient continent of Lalantha.

A: I entered Scriptapalooza because I felt that it actually provided something for its entrants rather than just money. Before I entered any competitions, I went and did my research on which competitions offer what to the winners. There are far too many useless competitions out there that are simply designed to take money from writers and offer them very little in return. Scriptapalooza is not one of them. In my opinion, industry exposure is a million times more valuable than winning a cash prize or merchandise. Right from the start I wanted a competition that could actually put my script out there and offer me the potential of finding representation. Scriptapalooza does exactly that. So really, the choice was quite easy to make.

I entered three contests with this script: Scriptapalooza, The Nicholl Fellowship and the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition. I didn't make so much as the quarterfinals in either the Nicholl Fellowship or Austin.

A: I was very satisfied with the administration of the contest. I especially appreciate the fact that Scriptapalooza keeps writer's names off the scripts so that there is no risk of bias from the judges. There have been many competitions that I refused to enter simply because my name was required on the script. That may sound paranoid, but I like to know that I'm entering into a competition on a level playing field with my fellow writers.

As far as deadlines being met, yes, Scriptapalooza took care of that as well as the awards that were promised.

A: I would say that it probably took me about five months in total to write the script. I write vague outlines before I sit down to actually write a script, but I also like to paint myself into a corner once I start writing a screenplay. I know that many writers write outlines in order to avoid painting themselves in a corner, but for me, I find that the creative juices really start to flow when I'm genuinely stuck. It can be torturous, but that's writing. I believe that I wrote somewhere in the neighbourhood of 7-9 drafts of Barry Throssip.

A: I use a buggy, prone to crashing, screwy version of Final Draft. It has nearly brought me to the brink of insanity many times.

A: I write everyday, yes. On average, I would say that I write roughly six hours a day. Not six hours straight, mind you, but six hours total throughout the day. In my opinion, sticking to a writing schedule is essential for any writer and the more frequently you do it, the easier it gets. Not that writing is ever easy, but the sitting down and focussing part can get easier if you stick to a routine.

A: Honestly, no. That probably sounds pretentious, but it's true. I get stuck on specific parts of scripts - but that's a different beast altogether than getting writer's block. When I get stuck, I generally try to remove myself from the work because you just can't force creativity. I go for a walk and listen to music or watch a movie or read a script or go swimming. It's when I take my mind off of the work that I'm trying to do that something just unexpectedly jumps in to my head, giving me the push I need to continue on.

A: I didn't go to film school. I hung around with a lot of people who did, so I kind of got a vicarious version of film school. I wrote a few short films that got produced, but I actually didn't seriously start screenwriting until a few years back. I wrote my first feature length screenplay in 2007 and just went from there. Before that I wrote a novel that remains unpublished but was a great method for learning to write. From there I moved on to writing a lot of short stories, getting published online and in various anthologies. I did a lot of travel writing and wrote for different magazines in different countries around the world. In 2009 I was selected for the Berlinale Talent Campus and the Berlinale Script Station, where I really learned a lot about screenwriting and filmmaking in general. I would highly recommend the Talent Campus and Script Station to anyone who wants to connect with screenwriters and filmmakers from around the world as well as really take their work to the next level. In addition to screenwriting, I currently write for the UK based tattoo magazine Skin Deep.

I wrote one television script a few years back, but I'm not much of a TV watcher. Films have always captured my attention, even from a very early age. I love everything about them and I want others to be able to feel the same enjoyment that films have always given me. Barry Throssip is the ninth feature length screenplay that I've written.

A: I do not live in Los Angeles, no. To be honest, right now I'm kind of homeless. I travel a lot and spend different amounts of time in different countries. I think travel is vital to any writer. I would love to be as close to the industry as LA, but I'm not an American citizen, so packing up and legally moving to LA isn't really an option for me at this point.

A: I have no idea what's next. I can only hope that good things will continue to happen. I'm working on a new script right now and shooting a documentary this fall/winter in South East Asia. Beyond that, all I can do is take things as they come, one day at a time.

Posted Tuesday, September 27, 2011