MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Matthew Gilleece

An interview with screenwriter Matthew Gilleece regarding the StoryPros Intl. Writing Competition.

A: It's called "Everyman".

It's about a man (John Smith) who is so unbelievably average in every possible way that a corporation decides to save millions of dollars in consumer research by using his opinions instead. The problem is, John can't know he's making multi-million dollar decisions, because then he would no longer be ordinary. So the company follows him around in secret, encroaching ever further into his privacy to the point where they meddle with his personal life in an attempt to make him even more average.

Eventually the government finds out about John's "abilities", and... well, you'll have to read it to find out more.

A: I tend to do a flurry of revisions over a period of weeks or months, then when I feel (momentarily) satisfied, I look around for contests to enter. StoryPros happened to be a good one that had a deadline at just the right time.

I have entered previous versions of this same script into a bunch of contests over the last couple of years - Final Draft's "Big Break" (twice), Scriptapalooza, Creative World Awards, Script Pimp, Script Savvy (two months in a row - both times they said I came very close to getting honorable mention, and in a different month probably would have, darn it -or wait, do they tell that to everyone?) and few others.

I was disappointed but ultimately not surprised that I didn't place in any of those - I knew the script had a good core idea but needed a lot of work, and I took it to workshops and got analysis and feedback and tried to hammer it into submission... I mean, shape.

I'm going to use part of my prize to have even more analysis done so I can make it as good as it can possibly be. Then, I'll use other parts of my prize to try to get it out there (which I haven't done aggressively yet, since I knew it wasn't ready). And enter more contests of course.

Oh yeah, I was a semifinalist in "The Movie Deal" 2008 contest but didn't make the next cut; oddly enough I am at this moment a Finalist in their 2009 contest - I hope to go further, and perhaps by the time this is posted, I may have an update for you!

A: They did meet their "Finalist" deadline - by about 15 minutes! At a quarter to midnight on the date they were supposed to announce the finalists, they did so. Just under the wire - talk about drama.

Actually, I have not yet received any of the prizes, nor have I seen the details - but this is still fresh, it's been less than a week. I have been exchanging emails with one of the guys running the contest, and he's been as nice and accommodating as can be (he even offered to paypal me the prize money if I needed it right away - I gracefully declined).

So yes, I am satisfied with how the contest was run, very nice guys. Assuming they do send out details over the next few days like they promised to... I'm sure they will.

A: Everyman has been in the works for about three years now, and I can't even count the number of drafts it has been through. I would sometimes leave it for a while and come back to it later - I recommend that everyone do that, it gives you a fresh perspective. Although I suppose I overdo it a little...

I did not write an outline, a mistake I will not make again. When I started out, I really had no idea what I was doing (didn't for awhile - still not sure I do!). I learned about proper structure on the fly, and had to cut a LOT of what I had worked so hard on.

Ultimately it was worth it because I think the final product is (or will be) really good. But it's so different from where I started - I kind of wish I hadn't wasted so much time going in the wrong direction. But then again, maybe it wouldn't be in the shape it's in now if I hadn't sought out feedback and help because I needed it so badly. Hmm...

Well, either way, now I know the right way to approach my next screenplay.

A: I used Final Draft because a friend (who also enters contests - she's won and placed in a few of them) recommended it. I found it very easy to use, it answered a lot of my format questions without me having to ask them.

So far it's the only kind I've used, so I can't compare it to anything else - but I understand I will be getting a lot of new software in my prize package, so I will make good use of them.

A: To be completely honest I do not write every day - I'm kind of ashamed to admit it. But as a father of three with a full time job, it's difficult. I know, I know, I should find the time&

But I do have a system of sorts. When I have a specific goal - to clarify descriptions, punch up a section of dialogue, find a clever way to pull certain things together, whatever - I will write every day, even if it's inconvenient, until those goals are met to my satisfaction.

Then I take a break, separate myself from it for a little bit, so I can come back to it with fresh eyes. It seems to work for me - although I suppose if I had more time to write I could finish a script that much quicker. Then again, maybe not, maybe this is the pace that works for me. The only way I'll ever get a chance to find out is if I make a full-time living writing screenplays. You never know...

A: I can't say I've ever had a major case. Again, I don't force myself to write every single day, so maybe that's a part of why it doesn't happen.

I have had situations where I'm not completely satisfied with something I've come up with but can't think of anything better. When that happens I just shelve it and let it percolate while I work on some other section. It's like trying to see something in your peripheral vision - you'll only be able to see it if you don't focus on it.

Eventually something will occur to me - often at an inopportune time, when I'm relaxed or not concentrating on anything in particular (in the shower, on the bus or train). So I write it down immediately. I've made the mistake of assuming I'd remember a good idea, and lost a couple that way. Never again.

A: I did a bit of acting in community theater as a teenager and continued sporadically through my early 30's - at which point I had kids, and somehow couldn't find the time anymore.

In college I tried writing some plays, which never saw the light of day. My wife and I self-produced a few interactive murder/mystery dinner shows that I wrote - that was fun, but it didn't go any further.

At one point I had an idea (the basis of "Everyman") that I knew wouldn't work well on the stage, so I thought, "why not write it as a screenplay"?

I also wrote a short which was a semifinalist in "Gimme Credit" contest, and another one that was shot but is still in the can. I acted in that one, which was a mistake because I can't stand watching myself. I keep thinking I'm awful, and I suspect I may be right.

I've been working with a composer on a stage musical for children for a couple of years now. (Sound familiar?) I work for a major advertising agency, but not in a creative aspect. As I said, I have three children, and I'm also in a funky/jazzy/folky/jamming band, we write a lot of our own songs. No wonder I don't have time to write every day...

A: I live in NYC. The only way my wife would agree to uproot ourselves and the kids to LA would be if I got an incredibly lucrative and fairly long-term offer. Now I don't want to jinx myself by saying that's unlikely, so I'll just say: IF that were to happen, we'd happily become Los Angelenos.

Los Angeleans?

Residents of LA.

A: I plan to use the software and services in my prize package to start my next script the right way (this time), I'm just not sure which idea to tackle first.

I'm leaning towards a thriller/horror story about a young woman who gets tangled in the unfamiliar underworld of drugs and body modification while searching for her brother's killer.

Then again, I may start working on a horror/actioner about a pesticide company that unwittingly unleashes a spore that could kill everyone in the city.

Or maybe I could get cracking on the raunchy comedy about a recently divorced man who moves in with his younger brother and his miscreant friends, then gets an unusual offer from his ex-girlfriend.

It's nice to have choices, isn't it?

Posted Friday, January 8, 2010