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Screenwriter Interviews
MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter April Rouveyrol
An interview with screenwriter April Rouveyrol regarding the Cinestory Writing Competition.
Q: What's the title of the script you entered in this contest, and what's it about?A: My script is called AMERICAN CHILD and its about an agoraphobic 12 year old kid who is forced to leave his house when his Grandmother dies. He meets a 16 year old petty thief who tries to rob him, but winds up driving him to Nevada to find his Mother. These kids are so different but their lives are both train wrecks and they sense that maybe they can help each other on this trip. They don't find what they're hoping for but they get something else.
A: A friend told me about it. Said they have a great mentoring program. The script has done pretty well. Which I'm thankful and delighted about. It won Grand Prize at Cinestory, Grand Prize in the Nevada Film Office and was a finalist/semi finalist in several others, including AMERICAN ZOETROPE SCREENWRITING COMPETITION and the NICHOLL FELLOWSHIPS.
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: Yes the staff at Cinestory is great. They are helpful, supportive and responsive. All awards were received. The promises delivered. Mentors have been wonderful.
Q: How long did it take you to write the script? Did you write an outline beforehand? How many drafts did you write?A: It took me three weeks to write and I was working off of an outline which consisted of little scraps of paper and odd things like fabric coasters because it was written while my husband and I were on a trip to France and that's when the majority of the plot came to me. I did several drafts of the script after that. I like to do a lot of prep work before I start the first draft, in terms of putting together a treatment and outline. Then in the actual first draft I can focus more on dialogue and flow, since the plot is worked out.
Q: What kind of software did you use to write the script, if any? What other kinds of writing software do you use?A: Final Draft. Pen and paper.
Q: Do you write every day? How many hours per day?A: Yes. I keep increasing my hours. I have a toddler who is in preschool now, so I'm able to write 3 full days a week and 2 half days. I'm hoping in September to increase it to 5 full days!
Q: Do you ever get writer's block? If so, how do you deal with that?A: I had writer's block for years at one point, when I was transitioning from being a playwright to screenwriter. I can't really say I was blocked, but I wasn't able to tell the stories that were coming out of me, in the quarantined space of a stage. It was frustrating. Then I realized, wrong medium. It's called a movie. My brain got rewired somehow.
To ward off writer's block, I try to write every day. Even on non-writing days, I try to write something, an idea, a thought, a line, even my name. To keep the neurons moving.
A: Playwright. Just wrote plays before AMERICAN CHILD. Just finished my second screenplay, a sci fi thriller. Now working on my third. Should be finished soon.
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: Yes, I live in LA.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: I just finished a sci fi thriller and now I'm working on a crime thriller that's got elements of THE FUGITIVE or TAKEN and some of the social conscience of TRAFFIC.
Posted Tuesday, May 31, 2011
