MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Nicholas Horwood

An interview with screenwriter Nicholas Horwood regarding the PAGE International Writing Competition.

A: The title of the script is THE MINDBENDER. It's a superhero story set in a very unglamorous part of Northern England. The less than super hero is a man named Barry Barker who spends his days delivering leaflets for a VD clinic and dreaming of a check-out girl named Whitney. When he is struck between the eyes by a meteorite he develops telekinetic powers and attempts to become a super hero... with less than super results.

A: I'd heard many good things about Page. The consensus seemed to be that the organisers were a friendly bunch and that Hollywood industry types took notice of scripts that did well in the contest. I also liked the fact that there were ten different categories in the contest, meaning that scripts of the same genre would be competing against one another as opposed to TV sitcoms being pitted against historical dramas, etc. I haven't entered THE MINDBENDER into any other contests but I have felt confident enough to approach producers in the UK with the script after the Page win.

A: Page is a very well oiled machine. All the deadlines were met on time and the organisers were very friendly and informative in their correspondents. All my prizes were delivered very promptly.

A: I didn't receive any formal feedback in terms of written reports but the two main organisers of the contest were very complimentary about the script.

A: I was contacted by a few producers but with the script set in an unglamorous part of England I did not expect an avalanche of enquiries. Two of the biggest production companies in the UK did agree to consider the script, however, despite my not being represented. I put this down to the Page win.

A: I've been writing on and off for about nine years. I've written ten feature length screenplay and various other projects. I had one screenplay produced in 2007 (an adult comedy rewritten by the director as a children's musical!). I reached the finals of Final Draft's Big Break contest in 2007 and 2008 and the semi-finals and quarter-finals of various other contests. I recently won a place on a mentoring scheme in the UK called Guiding Lights (my mentor is Tony Grisoni: TIDELAND, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, etc.) and I recently had my very first meeting with an agent.

A: I won a trip to LA with the Big Break contest and absolutely loved the place, but moving there isn't an option at the moment. Aside from the expense most of my scripts are set in the UK anyway, so London is the obvious place to be right now.

A: I'm concentrating on finding representation at the moment. I've just finished my tenth screenplay which is a psychological horror story about an American science-fiction author who moves to a cottage in Cornwall and falls victim to the strange beliefs of the locals.

Posted Sunday, December 28, 2008