Interview by Audrey Larson

Bob Saenz has been writing professionally since 1995. He's optioned several original scripts and sold 8 to production companies and cable TV networks. His first produced film, “Help for the Holidays” (for Levinson Productions), was the Hallmark Channel’s #1 rated original film for 2012 and the 10th highest rated original Hallmark film of all time. Bob is also a SAG-AFTRA actor with numerous film and television credits. 

Tell us more about yourself and your screenwriting experience:

My name is Bob Saenz. I've been a working screenwriter and actor for the last 20 years. My produced/credited films as a writer include, the Larry Levinson produced “Help for the Holidays”,  “Cupid’s Bed & Breakfast”, “On Paper”, “Rescuing Madison”, “Romantically Speaking”, and the “Right Girl”, all for Cable TV Networks. I sold two other original scripts in 2014, “On the Move” an off center romantic comedy and “Extracurricular Activities” a dark comedy thriller. I optioned another to a New York Production Company, the big budget caper comedy “Baggage”, and have three other original specs scripts and three series ideas in play in LA.  I have been hired to do adaptations, rewrites and polishes on film scripts and television projects for Producers, Directors, and Production Companies in Hollywood and have optioned six of my original scripts to Hollywood Production Companies in the past. My acting roles include Hallmark’s “Valley of Light”, Francis Ford Coppola’s “Jack”, David Fincher’s “Zodiac”, Finn Taylor’s “The Darwin Awards” and the upcoming "Unleashed", "Helicopter Mom", and Chris Ford’s “The Village Barbershop”, among dozens of others. I also had a six year run as the recurring character Sgt. Carl Hoskins on the CBS TV show “Nash Bridges”. 

How did you get started in screenwriting?

I was acting on the series Nash Bridges and thought, "I can write this well." Of course I couldn't, because writing a script is not only an art, but a lot of work and discipline and education to do well. Took me a while to get the hang of it, but ended up optioning a script about a year after I started. It never got made, but I did get an invaluable education about how all of this works. Took me years more and a lot of close calls and rejection to finally get my first produced film.

Can you explain the process of selling a script? 

Sure. After writing it, you need to put it away for a couple of weeks and then reread it. You'll find all kinds of things you can do to improve it. That's where a rewrite comes in. Some professional writers do as many a six of these before sending it out. I know it seems like a lot of work, but you always want to send your best because you only get one chance with a script with any producer. Once you send it, if a producer likes it he will option it. An option is like somebody renting your script for a defined time period, normally a year. During that year, he will look for funding (money to make the film) and try to get interest from directors and stars. If he doesn't get funding or interest, after the year you get your script back and you get to keep the money they gave you to rent the script and you can sent it out again. If they fund the film and want to make it, then they buy the script from you at a price you agreed on when they optioned it.

What part of screenwriting do you find most difficult? 

The time it takes to do it right. A good script can take three to six months to write and be ready to send out. You have to be disciplined enough to work on it every day. The other difficult part is the rejection. As a writer you hear the word NO much much more than you hear YES. 

What was the most rewarding moment of your career so far? 

Watching my first produced film on the screen. It was a culmination of a lot of years of hard work and dreams.

Who are your favorite screenwriters? What are your favorite movie or TV scripts? 

You may not have heard of some of these people, but they write fabulous scripts: Gary Whitta. John August. Mike Sweeney, Nick Creature, Gary Graham, Mike Maples, Emily Blake, T.A. Snyder. I'm sure I've left some people out, but these are the ones off the top of my head. These writers work in the industry every day doing writing on projects for every major studio or TV network.

It's not so much what I like, that you, as a new writer, should read, but go on the the internet and look for the script from your favorite films and TV shows (you can find them) and read them. You'll learn so much from that exercise.

When coming up with an idea or writing a screenplay, how do you balance commercial viability (sticking to somewhat of a “formula”) with originality? 

It's a delicate balance. Being able to be original but remain in the confines of the three act story. What I mostly do is try to write a great story first and not worry about all the other stuff. I find if you write a great story you want to see and what you think your audience wants to see, the story points you need fall together naturally.

What’s next for you? What projects or screenplays are you working on now?

I'm reading three novels and couple of scripts to see if I can get the jobs adapting the novels or rewriting the scripts. I have a film I wrote filming in February of next year and another that may go in the summer. I'm writing a new Christmas film for Hallmark, at least I hope they buy it.

What advice or tips would you give to aspiring screenwriters (especially young ones):

Write and write and write. You learn by doing. Take classes (like you are) and learn about screenwriting. But again... write scripts. As many as you can.

Any activities/exercise you’d recommend to aspiring young screenwriters? 

Besides writing, you should also read as many scripts as you can. See what they did right. See what you think they did wrong and learn from it. Live a full life. Do things. Get out and experience life. Take classes on the subjects you want to write about. Climb mountains. Travel if you can. Meet new people. Get out. Don't stay inside just writing or playing video games or watching TV. Great writers draw on their life experiences and if you don't have any, you don't really have much to write about.

You can find Bob on IMDb and Twitter @BobSnz, or visit his website and blog at bobsaenz.com. 

By Steven Markowitz

An animation is a dance. It is an art of motion, captured through a filmmaking lens. The greatest animations combine this wordless storytelling of dance with the cinematic language of film. Understanding this is the first step in becoming a great animator.

Writing for animation is, at its essence, similar to writing for live action. Plot, characters, tone, pacing, perspective, and all the other concepts taught in scriptwriting are still crucial. Yet animation is not a genre, it is a medium. So we must take a step back and think about how we tell our story.

When you move between mediums (books to comics, comic to film, film to animation), you must ask yourself what are the advantages of each medium for the story. For example, in novels the reader gets to visualize the world however he or she wishes. For animation, that advantage is that anything you can imagine, you can create.

As the writer, ask yourself why a story should be animated. The obvious, and easiest, answer is everywhere: talking animals and inanimate objects with personalities. There is nothing wrong with these answers, in fact some of the best films use this answer. But looking deeper, there is a more difficult, but ultimately more rewarding and powerful, answer.

Animation allows the writer to abstract complex ideas and themes into simple imagery. Emotion can be given character. Very real stories can exist in an experimental place.

The recent film Inside Out is a great example of this theory: breaking down the human mind into original imagery and characters, then using the visual language established by the film to explore depression and mental illness.

Training ourselves to think and write like this is not easy. However I have outlined exercises which will help us get started. These are not rules, they are merely suggestions.

1. Write a story without dialogue. 

New writers tend to use dialogue as a crutch. In animated shorts, it is almost never necessary. If you really feel a character needs to speak to get across the story, leave the dialogue in and when you’re finished writing, go back and cut it out. Think of new ways to communicate visually what the character is saying. There is always an answer.

This leads us to my second point…

2. Do not over-exaggerate everything. 

Without dialogue, it can be easy to fall into the trap of making all the emotions of the characters the max level every time. The problem with this approach is that while it can be comedic, it leaves no room for character growth. Worse, your audience will not believe the character is real in anyway, which is the goal of animation: to give life.

3. Always dig deeper. 

Create a web of themes and visuals that relate to your story, and keep brainstorming until you find originality. Remember, no matter how talented the writer, they first thing he or she will think of is the cliché, then the opposite of that cliché, which is still a cliché. What we want to do is find that third option, something completely unexpected.

4. Keep trying. 

Writing for animation can be frustrating since it is a visual medium where the only limit is your imagination, but just keep writing. Also, watch any and all animated films you can get your hands on. Spend a little time browsing on the internet and you will find films unlike anything you’ve seen before. Go to an animated film festival. Take a drawing class. Be vigilant. And never stop writing.

Interview by Audrey Larson

Gerald Hanks is a screenwriter and screenwriting consultant from Houston, Texas. The films he's written have been in several short film contests like the 48-Hour Film Project, Splatterfest Horror Film Contest, and the Zone sci-fi film race. He's optioned two feature scripts and sold several short script. 

How did you get started in screenwriting? 

I've been doing some form of creative writing since I was a kid, but just recently got into writing for film. I was working on a novel, but I had a hard time finding a publisher, so I thought it would make for a good film. I found a group of filmmakers in Houston and discussed the project with them. They liked the script and saw that I knew the basics of storytelling, so they wanted me to help them with their projects. That's how I started with my first 48 Hour film, All That Glitters.

What is your pre-writing process? Do you plan a lot or jump right in to writing?

Since filming a movie requires so much effort from so many people, I take a lot of time in the outlining and planning stages. The planning helps me deliver the best script to the people who will bring it to life. I develop the characters to their fullest, including their favorite music, books and food. I also use a “Beat Sheet” to get a feel for the overall structure of the story. From there, I develop a scene-by-scene outline. The outline includes the setting, characters, action, conflict and emotional arc of each scene. With this outline, instead of writing a 100-page feature-length script, I'm just writing 40 scenes of 2 or 3 pages each. 

What part of screenwriting do you find most difficult? 

The first draft can be difficult. You want to get it right the first time, but it never is and never will be. For me, the most difficult part is the rewriting process. When I saw what garbage the first drafts of my earlier scripts were, I dreaded re-reading them. I had to learn that the first drafts are supposed to be garbage. The saying “writing is re-writing” is never more true than with screenplays!

What was the most rewarding moment of your career so far? 

While the films based on my scripts have won several awards, the most rewarding moments for me are when audience members talk about how well the films turn out. I've had actors and directors tell me how much they like my scripts and how they want to work with me. The best reward is the respect of your peers.

Who are your favorite screenwriters? What are your favorite movie or TV scripts? 

For dialogue, Quentin Tarantino is the master! For character and story structure, I have to go with John Lasseter and the Pixar crew. I just saw Inside Out and it was AMAZING! For story ideas and imagination, Christopher and Jonathan Nolan (Batman trilogy, Inception, Interstellar) are playing in a whole different league!

When coming up with an idea or writing a screenplay, how do you balance commercial viability (sticking to somewhat of a “formula”) with originality? 

I don't think that writers need to compromise originality or creativity for commercial success. If your characters have strong desires and chase after them with all their hearts, the audience will respond, regardless of genre or formula. Look at Guardians of the Galaxy. Even though it's based on a Marvel comic book, you still had a talking raccoon and a walking tree as major characters. Based on “commercial viability”, it should have flopped, but audiences LOVED that movie! I still LOVE that movie! I'm of the opinion that James Gunn did a better Star Wars movie in his first try with Guardians than George Lucas did with all three prequels combined!

What challenges are there when writing for film that aren’t present when writing for other mediums— like a play or novel? 

For rookie screenwriters, the biggest challenge lies in what NOT to include in your screenplay. Some writers like to include every detail of a character's appearance or a room's furniture. The writer has no control over what the director, producer, casting director, costume supervisor, or set designer will choose, so writers should only include the minimal details. Also, some rookie writers like to “over-direct” the actors in their scripts. Some do this by giving detailed instructions on facial expressions, body positioning and vocal inflections in the script. Others write about what the character is thinking or how they're feeling, rather than what they're doing. Simple rule: if the audience can't see it or hear it, don't write it.

What’s next for you? What projects or screenplays are you working on now?

I just finished a project for a short film contest called Cinespace. Richard Linklater (Boyhood, Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise) is one of the judges. I also just completed a script for a film that is currently in pre-production and is scheduled to start shooting in September. I've had some meetings about some potential TV shows, so I'm waiting to hear on those projects. I also offer screenwriting consultations and script analysis for aspiring writers. I do one-on-one consultations for Houston-area writers, as well as phone consultations for those outside the Houston area. I also post pieces to my blog, Story Into Screenplay. I post screenwriting advice, movie reviews, and updates on my latest projects.

What advice or tips would you give to aspiring screenwriters (especially young ones):

Develop your characters. Actors want strong characters that give them powerful and challenging roles to play. Audiences want to see those characters struggle, grow and change. Take as much time as possible to develop your characters and their relationships. The plot, theme, structure and everything else in your will follow from your characters' journeys. Also, don't stress too much over your first draft. Give yourself permission to write total garbage in your first draft. Finish the first draft, get it out of your system, then fix the problems in your rewrites. A good script takes a few drafts, and a great script takes many, many more. This also solves the problem of writer's block, as you don't have to worry about if it's going to be any good – because it won't, and that's perfectly OK!


You can find Gerald on IMDb, or connect on Facebook and Twitter @StoryIntoScreen. Check out his website, Story Into Screenplay, or email him at [email protected]. 

By Renée J. Lukas

No matter what you’ve heard, there is no magic formula to writing a screenplay. There are, however, guidelines that can make your life much easier when you set out to write your script. These 4 tips are good rules of thumb to remember.  

1. A story needs CONFLICT. 

What do movies like The Hunger Games, Finding Nemo, Alien. . . all have in common? From science fiction to animation, what common link could they possibly share? You guessed it, conflict!  

Imagine. . . Bill and Jane are friends who get along really well. The end. Who wants to see that? Boooring. Now, Bill and Jane are friends, but Bill finds out that Jane is really an alien who is planning to take over the world. Now you’ve got a story! It’s all about creating a problem. Invent a character, then throw problems at him or her. Remember, no story can exist without conflict. 

2. It’s a good idea to know the ending before you start writing.

It’s been said that you can write a novel without knowing how it will end. Screenplays, on the other hand, are entirely different. There are usually three acts—a beginning, middle and an end. Your screenplay must be no more than 120 pages (a minute of screen time per page) to be a two-hour feature film. For this reason, you have to know where your story is going in order to get there in a short amount of time. 

In your script, you’ll want to write “set-ups,” which are clues that lead your audience toward the destination, or the end. 

I’ve tried to write some scripts without knowing the end. Be warned—what you end up with is a lot of rewriting. It’s possible to go back and try to fix everything. But trust me, it’s usually a big mess. Do yourself a favor—know the ending! 

3. Never forget that CHARACTERS move the story.

Whether your story is a drama or action flick, every decision you make about what happens next should make sense for your characters. 

If you, the writer, need your main character to go on an adventure, make sure he either loves adventure or has a good reason to go. In the first Star Wars, Luke Skywalker is content to live on Tatooine and be a spaceship mechanic. He may not like the Evil Empire, but it wouldn’t make sense for him to wake up one day and decide to fight. No audience is going to believe that. Instead, Luke loses his family and his house—all tragically destroyed by the Evil Empire. This gives him a) a motivation to fight, and b) he has nothing left on his planet to make him stay there. 

So before your characters do anything, ask yourself why they’re doing it. Then your story will feel real. 

4. When you write dialogue, listen to how people really talk. 

Here’s a typical scene between two teenage boys that could be written by a beginning screenwriter:

Notice I gave Andy a little personality, too. Remember to mimic the conversations you hear every day. Most teenagers don’t use formal language unless they’re from the 1800s. Instead of “yes” they might say “yeah.”  Think of things like that, and your dialogue will pop off the page. 

When you set out to write your screenplay, you’ll get all kinds of advice. Remember, there isn’t a magic formula. Be creative, follow some of these guidelines, and it will help to make your screenplay the best it can be. Good luck and keep writing!   

Interview by Audrey Larson
 
Mike Messier is an award-winning screenwriter, director, and actor. He is the host of the RI cable access program "The Mike Messier Show". Mike hosts "Short Film Showcase", a TV show out of Seekonk, MA that features the best Filmmakers and Actors out of New England, and co-hosts "To the Edge", a roundtable discussion of pop culture and independent cinema. As a screenwriter/director, Mike won three awards for his Wrestling With Sanity- Short Film Trilogy: Imagine News Audience Choice, Ruff Cutz Audience Choice and Image Gazer Best Drama.

Introduce yourself, your film background, and screenwriting experience:

I’ve won eight awards in independent film & local TV. I am an Acting Coach of a workshop called Tao Zen Acting. As an Actor, I’ve worked principle with Cybill Shepherd and Wesley Snipes in Hard Luck and had a bit part in Hope Springs in a scene with Meryl Streep. I’ve been writing screenplays for about ten years. In my senior year of high school I took a TV production class. I wrote a script for class called War War III part II and I ended up acting in the movie as well. That script was wild, written pen on paper and we just made photo-copies of it. 

Some years later in college, Jorge Lomastro and I produced a real no-budget, eighty minute film titled Man In You – A Providence Love Story. It took us a year and a half to finish the film, but looking back, it was a real great experience, definitely jump in the deep end type of stuff. I was the lead character named ‘Guy Smith’, a man possessed by lust and weakness. We had a great soundtrack for the film, including artists from New York, Los Angeles, and Providence. 

This was ‘on the job training’ at its finest, working with personalities, egos, and such. There were no cell phones at the time and things were much, much different. We didn’t even have a full screenplay for the movie, although we did outline the story and scenes quite well, and the movie came out structured and cohesive, all things considered.

What do you find most rewarding about screenwriting? 

Screenwriting is more or less free, once you have the proper software and some education into the process. In other words, it doesn’t cost money to write, whereas it does cost money to produce an actual movie.

Screenwriting is the genesis of cinema and it should not be overlooked or taken for granted. 

Screenwriting, at least under ideal circumstances, is where the imagination can run free and wild, without concerns for budget or casting. Once a project gets off the ground, there may be many compromises with directors, producers and actors. At least with the first few drafts of a screenplay, a screenwriter usually has his or her creative integrity and vision unchallenged.  

How long does a feature vs. short script take you to complete? 

I’ve been able to write a decent short script, three to seven pages, in a few hours. A feature length first draft, I can accomplish in six weeks. I’ll want to chisel that feature script for as long as possible if given my druthers. 

Who are your favorite screenwriters? What are your favorite movie or TV scripts? 

He’s become a 90s cliché, but I’ll stick with Quentin Tarantino as a favorite screenwriter. The playwright Young Jean Lee is a wild writer and I used some of her odd plays in an Acting class I taught.  She has such freedom and humor. 

If you got to write the screen adaptation of any book, what would it be? 

I read many motivational, spiritual and inspirational books and I would love to translate a few of these into a screenplay. I actually wrote a script based my readings of such books. That script is titled A Search for the Muse.  

I’m currently working with author Daniel Simone on his book titled The Lufthansa Heist. It’s quite an intensive story and the characters are really colorful. 

What’s next for you? What projects or screenplays are you working on right now?

A Donkey for John is a short film I’ll be shooting in Maine in November. I’m working with Producer/Actor John Orlando and DP/Editor Chris Hunter. We’re calling it “A whole new animal of a comedy.” 

Distance from Avalon is a movie I’m currently gathering forces for. It’s an intense take on vampires, a very personal and relationship based tale, with a social commentary on cults and the nature of suicide. The teaser is on www.distancefromavalon.com. 

What advice or tips would you give to aspiring screenwriters:

Educate yourself with writing classes and by reading books, such as Screenplay – Writing the Picture by Russen and Downs and The Screenwriter’s Problem Solver by Syd Field. There are many, many books on screenwriting and I advise reading as many as possible. Stephen King’s On Writing is especially fun on audio. However, don’t be locked in or restrained by anyone else’s style or opinions. Ultimately, an original voice is fresher than a homogenized craftsman.

Join or start a screenwriter’s feedback group and give each other fair and honest feedback, without being cruel or “overly suggestive”. I’m in a group called “Writers of Wickenden” that meets at Café Zog in Providence, RI. The group members are very supportive and we’ve grown to be pretty tight with time.

In one of the books I’ve read, a screenwriter says that if a writer dedicates four hours to actually write each day, before too long that writer will actually start to be pretty decent. The same writer may want to incorporate regular exercise and walking into the mix and eat healthy food and drink plenty of water. 

Get out of the house to write. Find a coffeehouse, library, or park where you can bring your journal and/or laptop. It’s a bit more “human” and interactive than staying at home. If I’m writing at home, it’s usually late at night into the early morning. Having sports talk radio on or music I like is helpful. Burn some incense, light a candle. 

My best advice is to have an open mind and heart and allow the muse to enter you, unfiltered. Find your Zen.

By Lindsay Slark

Storytelling gives the writer the power to make people feel. A great story will leave you feeling something and it can stay with you long after the credits roll. It has the power to make people think differently, inspire people, encourage them, make them laugh, take them somewhere else for a while. All of this begins with a great script. As a screenwriter, you have the power in your hands to say something and move people you have never met, across the country and even across the globe. 

In the 21st century, storytelling presents greater challenges in writing than ever before. The greatest stories ever told have already been told. Screenwriters today have to be more creative than ever. They have to be inventors. 

The advantage of storytelling nowadays, in particular screenwriting, is that the audience could be in the millions! Film is a very powerful medium and in my opinion one of the best storytelling mediums there is. That is why I am a screenwriter. 

For me, writing comes from deep within. Sometimes it is a way of expressing things you wish you could say to another person. Other times, it's about disappearing into someone else's world for a while. I have never written a film where I stand from the sidelines emotionless. I ride the journey with my characters. I cry when they cry. I laugh when they laugh. Your characters live within you. They are a part of who you are. Truly love your characters, connect with them, understand them as you understand yourself. Let them take you on a journey. My greatest strength in writing is that I allow the characters to guide me, not the other way around.

I always begin the story at the end. There is not a script to date that I haven’t written where I don’t start at the end and wonder, how did my character get to this point? Of course, I understand the journey my character is making, I understand the events of the script that finds the resolution at the end of the film. However, by working backwards, I am able to surprise myself. I find other, innovative ways to tell the story, sometimes I even surprise myself. That is the most beautiful thing about writing, there are no right or wrong ways of doing it. Find a way that works for you. Film is creative, writing is like painting a picture or making music. All creativity stems from emotion. Get involved in your story and the emotions of the characters and bring them out. 

The true power of film is to bring people together. A great story will do that. Many years ago, storytelling was an event held around a campfire, under the stars, with individuals huddled round to listen to stories about great heroes and their epic journeys or stories about our ancestors. Nowadays, we group together in movie theatres and cinemas around the world, under the flickering lights of projectors, watching the stories unfold before our eyes. It's still magic. It is still a fundamental human desire to tell and to be told stories.

I believe that telling stories is primitive. It takes us back to our childhood fantasies of battling giants in foreign lands, capturing castles and rescuing princesses, meeting strange and wonderful people and having strange and wonderful adventures. Storytelling in the 21st century is important because it makes people feel, it makes people think, and it makes people dream.