Screenwriter Interviews
MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Kenneth Bogar
An interview with screenwriter Kenneth Bogar regarding the Horror Hotel Writing Competition.
Q: What's the title of the script you entered in this contest, and what's it about?A: SHOOK
William and Curtis, best friends, 12 years old, are assaulted on their way home from school. Dragged along for a night of revenge that goes horribly wrong, they end up on the run from dozens of "Bloods" gangsters. Their only sanctuary is the Deacon tenement building, now abandoned and rumored to be haunted. Trapped inside with an ex-con and a psychopath, all of them must struggle for their lives against the danger outside, a nightmare inside... and each other.
A: I wanted to see how it would fare against screenplays of the same genre. This was my first contest entry. I won Best Horror Feature Screenplay and Best Horror Script.
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: I was very satisfied and impressed with the Horror Hotel convention as well as the administration of the contest. They met their deadlines and I received a trophy plus free software as promised.
Q: How long did it take you to write the script? Did you write an outline beforehand? How many drafts did you write?A: I wrote an extensive outline to plan out every setup and every scary moment. It took me 3 months to write and only 2 drafts.
Q: What kind of software did you use to write the script, if any? What other kinds of writing software do you use?A: I used Final Draft which I've been using for years. I just started using Movie Outline (my award from Horror Hotel) and so far it works nicely.
Q: Do you write every day? How many hours per day?A: I don't get a chance to write every day in the beginning stages of an idea, but once the basic plot and characters have been formed, I'm writing almost constantly until completion.
Q: Do you ever get writer's block? If so, how do you deal with that?A: My problem used to be writing and re-writing at the same time and that would cause me to get stuck especially in Act 2. Now I avoid writer's block with "word vomit". I just write anything and everything that will get me through until I reach the end, then I go back and re-write until I have a dratf that I'm satisfied with.
Q: What's your background? Have you written any other screenplays or television scripts?A: So far, I've written 5 screenplays, an episode of a TV sitcom and several short stories. I have a short horror story sample published on Wattpad.com and am presently writing an urban horror anthology.
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: I live in new Jersey for now. No plans at present to move to Los Angeles unless an opportunity presented itself that made the move necessary.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: Once my anthology is done I plan to continue writing urban horror scripts. I feel that urban settings are an untapped and underused resource of good horror material.
Posted Monday, May 27, 2013
