MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter WL Gorman

An interview with screenwriter WL Gorman regarding the Wildsound/TV Writing Competition.

A: REDEEMING GRACE

It is about a fractured and unstable near-future Canada where danger is ever-present and anarchy is just a breath away. In the centre of this cauldron is an ex-military gun-for-hire (Steven Grace) who seeks redemption from both his country and his father for an undeserved disgraced past. With the odds stacked against him, the series deals with Grace's efforts to achieve redemption. The episodes are character-driven with lots of action, a troubled romance, political tension, and conflict. Lots of conflict.

A: Several years ago I had a feature film script chosen as a finalist in WILDsound's former contest format. When I learned that WILDsound was now offering table reads by actors for winning scripts, I submitted REDEEMING GRACE in the hopes of getting some attention.

A: Yes to everything! When they told me that my script was close to being ready, they also offered me some notes on the story and the script and I used their notes to revise the script. Honestly, their notes were very helpful and I felt that they made the pilot better.

I was promised a table read, a taping of the table read and the upload of the read onto their website. WILDsound met the dates that they had promised and, in fact, they uploaded the table read onto several sites - a very welcome surprise.

Overall, I found Matthew Toffolo and his people to be very professional (and friendly).

A: It took almost a year to go through six drafts. I didn't write an outline in the traditional sense. I made a lot of notes about what I thought the series should be about, and then I focused on the pilot by writing a lot of my notes on "stickies" and then organizing and re-organizing them until I liked the flow of the story. (I normally do write outlines though, and I recommend it).

A: I use Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 and am happy with it.

A: I write on the average of 4-8 hours per day. Early morning and evenings are my best times, but I can write at any time of the day if I'm on a creative roll.

A: I have never had writer's block, and I doubt that it has anything to do with being a great writer. I simply subscribe to what Stephen King and many other successful writers have said in this regard - write something every day, even if it's not your best work or it's outright sludge. Keep writing and something will come of it. Maybe something totally new and unexpected. Maybe something good.

A: I am a retired army officer who has been in many interesting situations in various parts of the world. I currently work at developing and directing military training exercises based mainly on computer simulation programmes.

I have written two feature films, two novels (in draft), one radio play, and I've got two other TV pilots done in draft - one a drama and one a comedy.

A: I live near Ottawa, Canada and don't have any current plans to move to Los Angeles.

A: I am well along on a feature film script about four women who seek revenge on a former, almost-famous rock star who did them all wrong. It's called Served Cold.

Posted Tuesday, May 19, 2015