Screenwriter Interviews
MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Alan Baxter
An interview with screenwriter Alan Baxter regarding the Spec Scriptacular Writing Competition.
Q: What's the title of the script you entered in this contest, and what's it about?A: My co-writer, Daniel Potts, and I wrote a TV spec entitled, "Dexter: Transient". We won first place in the TV Writer.Com Spec Scriptacular.
Dexter hunts down a man who kills transients and produces DVDs of their brutal slayings.
A: This contest had a category specifically for action/drama TV specs.
We've been successful in other contests as well. Our "Dexter" won the Silver Award in the WorldFest-Houston Film Festival 2008. It was a finalist in Shriekfest 2008 and Scriptapalooza TV 2008. It was also a second-rounder in the Austin Film Festival 2008.
A: It was a pretty slow process, but in the end we received all of our prizes.
Q: Were you given any feedback on your script? If so, did you find the feedback helpful?A: No feedback.
Q: Has your success in this contest helped you market your script? Were you contacted by any agents, managers or producers?A: We weren't approached by anyone through the contest. On our own, we sent out query letters which noted our contest wins. We're currently being read by agents and managers.
Q: What's your background? Have you written any other screenplays or television scripts?A: Daniel and I met several years ago while working as studio pages at Paramount Pictures. Since then, we've written a short horror script, a "Dexter" spec, a "Burn Notice" spec, a horror TV pilot and an action/drama TV pilot.
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: We both live in L.A.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: We're looking to secure representation and we're putting the final touches on an action/drama TV pilot about modern-day pirates entitled, "Mercenary".
Posted Sunday, March 1, 2009
