MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Dylan Murphy

An interview with screenwriter Dylan Murphy regarding the ScriptVamp/Attention Grabber Writing Competition.

A: The title of my script is Judenfrei. The script is about a group of middle aged policemen from Hamburg who are used to carry out executions of Jews in Poland in 1942. The story looks at the killings through the eyes of the policemen ordered to carry out Hitler's genocidal plans.

All of them respond in different ways when given orders to shoot Jews. Many become willing executioners. However, a significant number refuse to kill and face little sanction for this course of action. The story tries to examine the different motives of those policemen who killed and the reasons why many refused to kill.

I suppose I'm trying to find an answer to the question often asked: How could people commit such acts of inhumanity? This is a very relevant issue for our modern world with crimes against humanity becoming increasingly regular.

The script is based on two massacres carried out in the summer of 1942 by Reserve Police Battalion 101.

A: I was attracted by the opportunity to get some professional feedback on the opening to my script. I have entered other competitions and have felt that they were just money making exercises for their organisers.

I was delighted to be the Honourable Mention Winner in the October Attention Grabber competition.

A: I was very impressed by the professionalism of the competition organisers.

A: I have spent two years writing Judenfrei. The feedback that I have received from scriptvamp has been very helpful and a much needed confidence boost.

A: I didn't use any software to write the script. Having said this, I have recently invested in Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 to help polish up my script.

A: I don't write every day as I work 50 hours a week in my teaching job. I generally write every day in my holidays.

A: It is best not to get too stressed as this makes things worse. I just forget about the script for a while and let my subconcious work on ideas for the script. Eventually ideas burst into my head and I can start writing again.

A: I am a historian by profession and have a keen passion for historical novels. I have co-written three academic history books. This is the first script that I have written.

A: No I live in Yorkshire in England. To be perfectly honest, I would never want to move to Los Angeles. It lacks any kind of soul.

A: I am adding the finishing touches to the full length script of Judenfrei. I have started writing another script about the humourous experiences of my friend with the British legal system.

Posted Friday, December 3, 2010