MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Jim Beck

An interview with screenwriter Jim Beck regarding the Acclaim Film Writing Competition.

A: From the onset of this idea, I decided to name the script "Virgil," because everything that happens in the story relates to the title character.

This is easily my hardest script to pitch because there isn't an immediate and clear "hook." The story sounds very basic -- "a mild-mannered man takes the law into his own hands." If I was to read this logline from someone else, the word "dullsville" would pop into my head.

There are countless vigilante stories and that's exactly what this is. What I tried to do, though, is show how a normal individual might evolve into such a persona, but not because he has had some great tragedy like his family being killed. Instead of basing the story on revenge or being afraid for his own life, Virgil becomes a vigilante out of circumstance and desire. He is simply in the right place at the right time, which allows him to do a good deed by saving a young girl's life, and this one event instills him with confidence and self-righteousness. So he decides to find out just how far he can go.

A: Acclaim was the first contest that Virgil has been in. In fact, Acclaim was the first contest that I've entered ANY script into in the past four years (I've been working on getting a few projects produced).

I finished the first draft at the very end of last year (literally on Dec 31st) but immediately moved onto another project. I decided to enter this first draft into a few contests to see what its strengths and weaknesses were. This is why I was so surprised that it placed second.

Virgil has been entered into one or two other contests, if memory serves me, but those have not announced any finalists or winners yet.

A: Honestly, I had forgotten about the contest until I received a book in the mail as one of the awards for placing, at which point I said "What the hell is this? Who would send me a screenwriting book?" I did have a week old e-mail from them, but my trusty e-mail filter did its job. Good filter.

So as far as I know, yes they did a superb job.

A: Yes, I was given feedback. It was mostly positive, so I'm not sure if the notes will help me improve the script. But that's not a bad thing because what it tells me is that the script is a viable project that I should continue to pursue.

Also, I have to say that what I really liked about the feedback is that it was clear that the script had been read by someone who paid attention, which was demonstrated by a couple of real examples from the script. This impressed me because when I had been in other companies' contests a few year ago, the feedback (if there was any) usually consisted of five or six "description words" like fun, daring, intriguing, etc. ... and they often got facts wrong about the story or characters, even if they liked it. Hint to others: do not give your readers a case of Red Bull before they read a script.

A: No one has contacted me yet, but it's only been a week. I realize that since the logline is very basic, getting attention from someone who has not read the script will be an uphill battle. Virgil may end up being known as the Rodney Dangerfield of script submissions.

A: Oh God, yes. Too many, in my opinion. But I was a late bloomer. It took me several scripts just to find "my voice." Most of my scripts are genre ones, like horror or light sci-fi. I've also written a Family Guy episode but have not done anything with that yet.

No one wants to hear me glorify my ego by pitching my other stuff in this interview, so I'll leave it at that.

A: I'm a transplant from Arizona and live in the "Los Angeles area." But no one in L.A. really calls it "living" ... we are "surviving."

A: I am rewriting a horror script right now, which I plan to use in query letters to (hopefully) land an agent. After that, my next two scripts are best described as a new take on the zombie genre and a retelling of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

In the meantime, I am waiting to hear from a production company that I have been working with to find out if my first credited film is going to get distribution. Things are looking good, and the interested party may also want one or two of our other projects. So ... woohoo.

Posted Saturday, August 23, 2008