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Screenwriter Interviews
MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Earl Hamilton Jr.
An interview with screenwriter Earl Hamilton Jr. regarding the Scriptapalooza TV Writing Competition.
Q: What's the title of the script you entered in this contest, and what's it about?A: "Hal-of-a-deal" - Malcolm in the Middle. Hal tries to save some money by buying some cheap meat from a mobil butcher, but when Lois notices the foul smell and the newspaper wrapping it came in, she tells Hal to throw it away. Hal decides to eat some anyway and ends up getting sick. Meanwhile, Dewey is stealing from the family to pay for his video game addiction at the local arcade.
Q: What made you enter this particular contest? Have you entered any other contests with this script? If so, how did you do?A: Scriptapalooza has become a pretty big name in the industry, so I figured, the bigger the better. Some other contests I've entered were, aTalentScout, which I was a finalist, Disney Fellowship and The Austin Film Festival.
Q: Were you satisfied with the adminstration of the contest? Did they meet their deadlines? Did you receive all the awards that were promised?A: They always answer all my questions promptly and they posted the winners when they said they would. It took a month to get the check but all went well.
Q: Were you given any feedback on your script? If so, did you find the feedback helpful?A: No feedback.
Q: Has your success in this contest helped you market your script? Were you contacted by any agents, managers or producers?A: No success or calls yet, but I read that one of the previous winners wasn't contacted until six months later and that led to a writing job, so I'm trying to be patient. It always looks good to add something like this to a resume.
Q: What's your background? Have you written any other screenplays or television scripts?A: I started out doing lights & sound in the theatre and even some acting, which eventually led to me writing. Since then I've writen nine stage plays, nine television specs, a couple of shorts and three screenplays, one I was hired to write for Faizon Love ("Friday", "Made", "The Big House", "Torque"). I've even written some commercial specs but I'm not quite sure how to market them yet.
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: I don't live in Los Angeles right now, but I do plan to move there soon.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: I'm putting the polish on a Bernie Mac Show spec. I'm also working on a comedy screenplay about a couple of kids who are mutated into super heros and have to defend their town from aliens.
Posted Thursday, June 24, 2004
