MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Steven Schwab

An interview with screenwriter Steven Schwab regarding the Hollywood Scriptwriting Writing Competition.

A: My script is a comedy called “The Adventures of Captain Paragon.” It’s about a television writer named Danny Archer who witnesses a murder. At first Danny is considered a hero when he testifies at the internationally televised murder trial. Then, on cross-examination, Danny is humiliated by the high-powered defense attorney, who gets Danny to admit that he often fantasizes about the television superhero he writes about, Captain Paragon. The defense attorney portrays Danny as dangerously unstable and suggests that he may have committed the murder himself. Danny realizes that he has to give up his fantasies about Captain Paragon and face reality in order to prove his innocence and uncover the identity of the real killer. Whew!

A: I’ve entered the Captain Paragon screenplay in ten contests. Moviebytes has been a great resource for me, in terms of finding out about upcoming contest and also determining which contests are best suited for my screenplay. In the contests I’ve entered I’ve been a semi-finalist twice, a finalist once, and now second place in the Hollywood Scriptwriting contest.

A: I was very satisfied with the way this contest was handled. I was also surprised. I came home from work one day and found an envelope with the award certificate sitting on my doorstep. At first I was just glad it wasn’t an eviction notice.

A: I received excellent feedback. Most of it was good, but some of it was critical, which will help with future rewrites of the script. The reader compared my screenplay to the film “My Favorite Year.” Although I’m a fan of that film I never made the connection before. Now when I pitch the Captain Paragon screenplay I tell people it’s like “My Favorite Year” meets “The Incredibles.”

A: Not yet, but I’m hopeful that the results from the Hollywood Scripting contest will help me get more people to read it.

A: I’ve been writing comedy professionally for more than fifteen years. In New York I wrote and directed an award-winning short film called “Secret Agent Woman,” about a lonely guy who unknowingly falls in love with an undercover agent. Since moving to Los Angeles I’ve written comedy for “The Best Damn Sports Show, Period,” “National Enquirer’s Uncovered,” and “The Late, Late Show.”

A: I’ve been living in Los Angeles for the past ten years. Before that I lived on the upper West Side of Manhattan. The main reason I moved to Los Angeles was to work in the film and television industry. Although it took me five years to get started, eventually it worked out perfectly. I’ve written for several television shows, radio programs, comic book companies, and this year I even published my own comic book, Hero City; about a town where everyone is superhero.

A: I’m working on a script for a detective film called “The Big Dream.” It’s about a detective who wakes up from a coma, after ten years, to find that his fiancée is married to his best friend, and the prime suspect in the murder he was investigating is now mayor of the city. I prefer to write high-concept screenplays. It’s very challenging but, if you can pull it off, you end up with one hell of a ride.

Posted Wednesday, November 17, 2004