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Screenwriter Interviews
MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Christopher Canole
An interview with screenwriter Christopher Canole regarding the All Sports Writing Competition.
Q: What's the title of the script you entered in this contest, and what's it about?A: Felix the Flyer. The greatest race in Olympic history retold as Cuban mailman Felix Carvajal runs the 1904 Olympic Marathon remembering his 1200 mile super-run up the Mississippi River to battle the world's best marathoners attacking him with racism, cheating, and drugs, to become the champion for all small national athletes who dare to dream of victory.
Q: What made you enter this particular contest? Have you entered any other contests with this script? If so, how did you do?A: It is rare for a film festival aimed specifically at the sports audience. I heard about The All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival too late last year, but seeing that Michael Murphy's ''The Knuckleballer'' won was an indicator the festival director, Pat Battistini, recognized great writing. Pat's festival located at the Raleigh Studios in Los Angeles, one of the sports capitals of the world, as well as judges like T.J. Simers (LA Time sports columnist), Holly Rowe(ESPN), Rod Chiabai (Fox Sports), David Howard( Screenwriter of one of my favorite movies, Galaxy Quest) and many others in the sports industry is a perfect opportunity for a sports film writer to garner exposure to producers looking for this genre.
Q: Were you satisfied with the administration of the contest? Did they meet their deadlines? Did you receive all the awards that were promised?A: Pat constantly kept contestants informed of the results. The ''bobble head'' award of a Coach is one of my favorite awards and it sits next to my computer as a reminder to keep writing every day. The best part of the prize package was an All Access pass to the film festival where I watched numerous short and long film about sports from all over the world. An extra bonus was the feedback Pat provided on one of my other entries to correct a historic event.
Q: How long did it take you to write the script? Did you write an outline beforehand? How many drafts did you write?A: The first draft took about a month after three months of research. It was very necessary to outline Felix Carvajal's story because I tell it in a series of flashbacks as he is running the marathon. I rewrite Felix the Flyer after every contest win, so there are at least twenty-four drafts.
Q: What kind of software did you use to write the script, if any? What other kinds of writing software do you use?A: I use Moviemagic and Final Draft. It is absolutely mandatory to use screenwriting software. I read script for the Action on Film Festival for the award named after me and was amazed by the number of writers who make up their own screenwriting format. It is very distracting to read a script outside the industry standard because it constantly pulls me out of the reading.
Q: Do you write every day? How many hours per day?A: When not researching for the next script I write exactly one and only one scene a day. I want to ''stay hungry'' at the end of my daily writing session. This adds up to two or three completed scripts a year. (
Q: Do you ever get writer's block? If so, how do you deal with that?A: By the time I've finished research and outlining, the momentum is so strong I've not hit the writer's block wall yet. When I do feel a scene is not working I walk around and think of other things so the characters in my story can take control back from my own ego.
Q: What's your background? Have you written any other screenplays or television scripts?A: I am a Cal Arts masters degree graduate, union set photographer and actor who decided it was time to create my own stories, resulting in now being a WGA writer. In the past six years I have written eleven screenplays: Bloodgroove (60?s college story), Drawn Together (political thriller), DVD Day (science fiction doomsday), Spring Snow (Mishima novel adaptation for my PhD in literature), Runaway Horses (Another Mishima), Z.I.A. (Family Zoo story), Counter-Clockwise (Science fiction romance), Felix the Flyer (sports biography), Pen Dragon (comic book fable), Her Swastika Sword (sports biography), and LINKS (modern day retelling of Jim Thorpe legend)
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: Now that I am a WGA member I attend about one event a week in LA. The drive up and back is a grind, so hopefully one day I will have an apartment there for longer stays.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: I just completed LINKS: An American Indian teenager determined to duplicate Jim Thorpe's Olympic triumphs leads his high school tribe on a sports spirit quest to attack the same social hurdles Thorpe confronted a hundred years ago. LINKS was selected as one of the six scripts for the Writers Guild of America's AMERICAN INDIAN WRITERS COMMITTEE READING at Twentieth Century Fox Studios. The casting director Rene Haynes is reading LINKS with the idea of casting the Native American actors from Twilight's Wolf Pack in the major roles. LINKS also just won the runner up Best Drama award at the Action on Film Festival. I'm determined to get LINKS produced for a future All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival.
Posted Wednesday, August 11, 2010
