Screenwriter Interviews
MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Rhonda Ewing
An interview with screenwriter Rhonda Ewing regarding the Indie Gathering Writing Competition.
Q: What's the title of the script you entered in this contest, and what's it about?A: "Missing Love" which covers 20 years, is the quest of a beautiful,young tenacious, black journalist, who takes on the Army in search of the truth about the death of her boyfriend during the Vietnam war while on a black ops mission.
Q: What made you enter this particular contest? Have you entered any other contests with this script? If so, how did you do?A: My partner Ronald L. Marchand and I search the internet seeking contests that were reputable and the most beneficial for our needs and exposure.
We have entered other contests and did well also. We won 1st place in the 2010 Indie Gathering Drama category, Ray Szuch. We won 1st place in a Drama category in the 2010 Cinema City with Suzanne De Laurentis, 2010 Quarter Finals with Page. We are a top ten finalist in this years Indie Producers, Kerry David, top ten Screenplay Search, 2010 2nd round in Austin, Zoetrope 2010 quarter finals, Francis Ford Coppola. We were a finalist in the 2010 Red Inworks, Larry Miles. We were a finalist in the 2010 Movie Script Contest, 2010 semi-finalist in Acclaim. In 2009 and 2008 we placed in 10 competitions.
A: We were satisfied with all the contests we entered. They met their deadlines. We received all our awards.
Q: How long did it take you to write the script? Did you write an outline beforehand? How many drafts did you write?A: It took us 4 years from start to finish with all the revisions we made along the way. We did write a two page outline. Conservatively, I would say we wrote a dozen drafts until now.
Q: What kind of software did you use to write the script, if any? What other kinds of writing software do you use?A: We used Final Draft software. We don't use any other software at this time. We are happy with Final Draft.
Q: Do you write every day? How many hours per day?A: In the beginning, the first two years, we wrote every day. We don't write every day now. When we do, maybe we write about 10 hours a day. In the beginning, we wrote until the wee hours of the morning, and learned not to do that because it generates a lot of mistakes and disagreements.
Q: Do you ever get writer's block? If so, how do you deal with that?A: No, we suffer burnout more than writer's block. We take breaks from writing.
Q: What's your background? Have you written any other screenplays or television scripts?A: We have no formal training and are self taught. We have several other screenplays in the works.
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: No, we live in Arizona and Texas. Neither of us have plans to move to Los Angeles at this time.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: We are putting the finishing touches on "Snow Storm" (minimal cast, location, interracial romance). We also have treatments for: an Ante Bellum horror story in New Orleans, a Sun City Arizona senior citizen dramedy, a fatal romance in Texas, and we are working on a treatment for a psychological murder mystery.
Posted Wednesday, March 30, 2011
