MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Paul Chepikian

An interview with screenwriter Paul Chepikian regarding the Scriptapalooza Writing Competition.

A: "Emily's Numbers" is about Jack and Bernie. Bernie, on his deathbed, insists his late wife, Emily, came to him in a dream and gave him the winning lotto numbers. He makes his old pal, Jack, promise to buy a lotto ticket and use the winnings to save their retirement community from being sold and turned into condos. Jack keeps his promise and at the funeral, places the ticket in Bernie's pocket. Go figure, it's the winning ticket! Getting the ticket back shouldn't be difficult, right? Wrong! A screw up has three bodies shipped to three different locations: a crematorium, a medical school and a cemetery in Jersey. Who went where is anybodies guess. Let the games begin.

A: Scriptapalooza's reputation around town is what made me consider submitting my work. The town being Hollywood. I've lived in Los Angeles since 1979 and its' reputation has been growing. I'm very proud to say that this year, Emily's Numbers also made it into the quarter finals of the Nicholl Fellowship which means it was one of 250 out of over 5,000 submissions. A few years ago, it was also what's called a second rounder at the Austin Film Festival. As a side note: I've had people ask me if they should submit the same script to the same contest. If you believe in the work, my answer would be yes. I've had scripts rejected in a competition and then it's done well. Judges change, tastes change, etc. But you must be honest with yourself about your work.

A: Everything they promised was delivered. It was a wonderful experience.

A: There was no feedback from the contest nor was I expecting any. I did get some minor feedback from some people who asked to read the script and feedback is always important whether you agree with it or disagree with it, it makes you take another look.

A: It definitely opened some doors. I was very fortunate because I had lightning strike twice with the Nicholl Fellowship as well. But Scriptapalooza takes a very hands on approach in trying to help market your work for one year. I was contacted by various people in various positions. Though nothing has come from any of these encounters, I was always told the writing was good though they may not be interested in the subject matter. I was welcome to submit anything anytime. That's a major door that opened for me. I think the biggest obstacle was the writers strike. It immediately shut down everything, especially for new people trying to break in.

A: My background is advertising, design, photography, cinematography, improv comedy, acting and writing. I've managed to make a living at any given time in any of those fields though more recently, it's been more behind the camera. I have other screenplays in various states of completion. I guess my biggest accomplishment thus far would be a half hour sketch comedy I wrote and produced back in 1992 with my late friend and business partner, Tony. We cast it from our improv group, we shot it ourselves, funded it ourselves, edited it and shopped it around. Showtime bought it as is, no changes whatsoever and aired it as a comedy special. It got nominated for an ACE Award that year for Best Comedy Special against some major players. It was a nice ride.

A: I moved here in 1979 from Jersey. You can take da' boy outta' Jersey but you can't take Jersey outta' da' boy.

A: I wish I was more disciplined! I have trouble getting started. Once I do, I'm hard to stop. But, whoa, that getting started is really tough for me. I'm struggling with what to work on next. The good news is that I'm not at a shortage of ideas. Emily's Numbers was close to my heart but I knew going in that no matter how good it was, a story about two old guys wasn't exactly what Hollywood is craving. Though I was very excited to see the Bucket List got made. Emily's Numbers is in the same vain. I personally like small, character driven stories. Make me laugh, make me cry, make me feel good, show me people overcoming hardship and making the world a better place and I'm there. Don't get me wrong, I love those other movies, I'm there with my popcorn to watch em', I just don't write em.'

Posted Wednesday, March 19, 2008