MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Darren Swanson

An interview with screenwriter Darren Swanson regarding the ScriptVamp/Attention Grabber Writing Competition.

A: “War in Heaven” is an action/adventure/fantasy about the Second Coming, and how an ordinary man plays a part in pending Armageddon. The action focuses on angels and demons fighting aerial dog-fights with swords, claws and spears, with the angels portrayed as skilled fliers and fearsome warriors. It's written by a fan, as a fan would want to see it and despite the subject matter, it's not preachy. I'm not religious but I'm drawn to religious characters as ancient super heroes and super villains more than anything. It's classic good versus evil.

A: Basically because I'm impatient. I didn't want to wait several months to get results. Also because ScriptVamp has a great reputation and an excellent score-card on Moviebytes. Having been ripped off once (Red Hand/Get it Made comp, by the way), I only enter contests with a great score-card. I entered a different draft of this screenplay in the 2010 American Screenwriting Competition and it made it to the quarter finals. I have the current version entered into a couple more with results not due until next year.

A: Very satisfied, and yes, they met their deadlines. Too early to comment on the prizes but I'm confident they will deliver as promised.

A: I've been working on this script for about two years and I'm happy with where it's at right now. I don't do outlines, but rather I have an idea for a screenplay and just start writing it. Most of the time the idea comes to me as a logline and then I just go from there. I prefer to let the story take me to where it wants to rather than trying to adhere to a grand plan.

This script started out as something completely different, as a story about a man who saves children from abuse, but I realized very quickly that this wasn't enough to carry a 90 minute feature. Since then, I think I've written about five more drafts, so six drafts total.

A: I use Write Bros Movie Magic. I have used Final Draft and both are very good, but I'm just more familiar with MM.

A: I would love to write more but unfortunately, other things get in the way. I run a small retail business and I'm sometimes forced to write in between customers. It's a balancing act and I have to be careful not to be annoyed when customers interrupt my writing. It's bad for business! But even if I had all the free time in the world I'm not sure I'd write every day. When you force yourself to do something when you don't really feel like it, it becomes a chore. Writing is a passion, not a chore.

I don't have a regular writing schedule, just whenever the planets align and I'm in the mood at the same instance that I have a spare hour or two. I guess, presently, maybe three or four hours a week. I have spent as much as eight hours a day, everyday tapping the keyboard. I spend almost as much time and energy pitching my work as I do writing.

A: Who doesn't? Writer's block is a signal that you need to step away from what you are working on that moment and go work on something else. That's how I deal with it and inevitably I find that whatever I work on instead will provide me with the answers I need to get back on track with what I was working on originally. Of course, when you have a deadline it can be hard. But if you take a step back and don't panic, it'll sort itself out in time. You'll wake up at 3am, 6 hours from your deadline, and have a light-bulb moment and the answer will materialize.

A: My background is sales, customer service and business management. I started writing about 3 years ago after being inspired to write the true story about a friend's brother who went missing in the Australian Outback. I had this naive idea that if I wrote a screenplay about it, then it would get produced and create publicity for the case. It was a simple plan. The screenplay is entitled “Closure” and I've written many versions of it, including a MOW version and a version I developed with a well-known Australian producer. Unfortunately, it never went past development but I'm confident someone will pick it up again. “War in Heaven” was my second feature screenplay and is the script that landed me an agent/manager. I have completed 2 more, as well as a kid's TV pilot and two shorts. I have a dozen features in various stages of completion and another 4 or 5 ideas for future scripts. My plan is to write at least one script in every genre. I'm a firm believer in writing for the market, and since the market changes quicker than you can get your script polished, I like to be prepared.

A: I am an Australian/American, born in Australia but a naturalized citizen of the US. I lived in Santa Barbara for 18 years and moved to Tasmania, Australia about four years ago. While in California I had dreams about entering the biz somehow but Santa Barbara is a little too close to the action. Every waiter, gas-jockey and video store clerk is a budding writer, director or actor. I did have the opportunity to intern for a local music video production company but was worried about it interfering with my real job at the time, so I passed. Eventually, I had to move as far away as possible before I was game enough to give it a go again. Would I move back? For the right opportunity, heck yes! Although I was homesick for Australia most of the time, I love the US, especially California. Right now, Tasmania is probably the better choice for me. The economy is good and the local film industry may be on the verge of a break-through, off the back of the success of “The Hunter” with Willem Dafoe. My fingers are crossed for a lot of money at the ready to fund a lot of Tassie projects.

A: Always working on a new script, but at the moment I'm hoping to get some development funding from Screen Tasmania for one of the two local scripts I sent them. Apart from that, I will continue to market my other scripts until something happens. There's a big studio out there just waiting to make “War in Heaven” the big summer block-buster I know it is. It's a numbers game so you have to keep pitching and re-pitching until it happens. I sent a pitch for “War in Heaven” to Warner Brothers and they asked for a copy. That was almost a year ago and I know my chances are slim. But at least it's there, right? And you never know who's going to pick it up and have a read.

Posted Wednesday, December 14, 2011