Screenwriter Interviews
MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter CV Herst
An interview with screenwriter CV Herst regarding the Worldfest - Houston Writing Competition.
Q: What's the title of the script you entered in this contest, and what's it about?A: I received the Gold Remi award for Graven Image, which is a proposed drama series for TV. The pilot episode, The Water Carrier, introduces the main characters, teenagers, by way of a ship disaster in 2003, and then flashes forward to today where a now 23 year-old grad student in experimental psychology and a 21 year-old savant with a photographic memory are being recruited by a clandestine government agency to expose an international spy ring.
Q: What made you enter this particular contest? Have you entered any other contests with this script? If so, how did you do?A: A woman in my writing group had success at Worldfest a couple of years ago. Graven Image has also been entered in Moviebyte-recommended Slamdance TV and Scriptapalooza TV contests.
A: Hunter Todd and his team at Worldfest did a great job! The film festival was fantastic and the awards ceremony was over the top.
Q: Were you given any feedback on your script? If so, did you find the feedback helpful?A: No feedback, but none was expected. Two industry pros, Jon Scheide and Andrew Deane, gave very informative lectures on the state of Hollywood today and what it takes to break into the ranks.
Q: Has your success in this contest helped you market your script? Were you contacted by any agents, managers or producers?A: Yes. I have had a couple of queries about the script from a production company and a manager.
Q: What's your background? Have you written any other screenplays or television scripts?A: Hard core science - PhD, years of lab work in forensic pathology. I''ve written a lot of screenplays in three years and wouldn''t you know it? They all need work! But I enjoy the process and that''s a good thing.
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: I live in the Bay Area and if the opportunity arises (i.e., serious writing gig), I would relocate.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: I recently completed a script rewrite for LunaVenture Productions. Based on a true story, East of Java is a character driven screenplay about the 1991 Santa Cruz cemetery massacre perpetrated by the Indonesian army on the people of East Timor. It has some great, gritty roles, sort of in the vein of A Year of Living Dangerously. And it is a story that''s worth knowing about. Anyone interested must take contact with the prod co at www.lunaventure.com
Posted Saturday, May 23, 2009
