![[Austin]](/images/ads/AFF2024a.png)
Screenwriter Interviews
MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Joe Randazzo
An interview with screenwriter Joe Randazzo regarding the Indie Gathering Writing Competition.
Q: What's the title of the script you entered in this contest, and what's it about?A: Three screenplays have been entered.
"The Last Request," which won 1st Place in the Drama Short Script category, is a ghost story about an elderly man who asks his son to find his first love.
"Witness," which won 4th Place in the Drama Short Script category, is about a man who goes into a pastry shop on a whim and thinks he recognizes a man who was very instrumental in his traumatic childhood.
"The Object of My Obsession," which received an honorable mention, is a story about a young man's sexual obsession with a woman in his class and what finally happens when he gets her in a compromising situation.
A: These three have been my screenplays for the year. I've sent them everywhere I've been able to. I'm still waiting for some deadlines to pass, but in the meantime, all three are currently finalists in the Twin Rivers Media Festival and individually, have had varying degrees of success.
"The Last Request" won the 2nd Place Short Screenplay award at Shriekfest 2006.
"Witness" was a finalist in the Writer's Place Fall 2006 competition and just missed the finals of the Wildsound competition.
"The Object of My Obsession," has been the least successful of the three, I believe due to the extreme nature of the plot and the imagery used within it.
A: The deadlines were met and now I plan to attend the festival next month.
Q: Were you given any feedback on your script? If so, did you find the feedback helpful?A: Not yet although to be fair, the festival is taking place next month, so there still is plenty of time for that.
Q: Has your success in this contest helped you market your script? Were you contacted by any agents, managers or producers?A: Not as of this interview, but it has only been about a week since the winners were announced... I'll give it some time.
Q: What's your background? Have you written any other screenplays or television scripts?A: I've been writing screenplays since I was 16. I had the advantage of having some supportive teachers and friends over the years and that was definately important. It was my girlfriend Michelle and a close friend named Vernel McDade who read some of my older work about 18 months ago and convinced me to give my dream another chance and for that, I'm eternally grateful.
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: I live in New York and plan to stay here, however, should the opportunity arise and the offer is right, I'll fly out regularly to LA. But the east coast is my home and I hope to keep it as such.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: Always. I just finished a script that gives a new twist to the vampire mythology as well as some screenplays exploring the only facet of the horror genre that consumes our every thought and still has not yet, to my knowledge, been explored in film. I'm currently working on a very socio-political Sci-Fi/Horror script.
Posted Wednesday, July 11, 2007
