Sasqwatch!

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The Sasqwatch Film Festival

Last year, I connected with a Canadian film director who was looking for a fast, funny, crime-centered short script. Of which I had… zero.  But what I did have was a stack of short stories.  So I transferred one of my short stories to script format.  He loved it, optioned it (that’s put it on hold in movie terms) and then produced it. It was a fantastic collaborative process and I loved seeing what he did with the script.  Once the short film was complete, it was submitted to a variety of film festivals (including Sasqwatch Film Festival).  Unfortunately, I wasn’t near to any of the festivals that accepted the film.  And I wanted to see MY movie on the big screen.

But finally…

Then it got accepted into the Sasqwatch Film Festival in Vancouver BC.  Which is well within driving distance for me in Washington State. So we farmed out the kiddo to my brother and invaded Canada!  And then, after four hours sitting down in the car, we sat down in a darkened theater and watched Suzy Makes Cupcakes and a slate of other shorts.

So, it’s about cupcakes?

No. It’s about crime. And cupcakes.  But mostly it’s about a woman who got married young to an abusive jerkwad who works for a crime syndicate.  Suzy wants out of the life and away from her husband, but how to do that? Well… you come up with a plan, you make some cupcakes and then you see where the day takes you.  But you do it all in twelve minutes or less because this is a short film after all. The short story version of the story made it’s debut at Noir at the Bar in Seattle and you can hear me read it in the recording from KUOW.

Was Sasqwatch everything you hoped?

Yes, actually it was. While it was a bit weird to hear people saying words that I made up, it was so fantastic to see it on the big screen. The director Jayson Theirren also flew into town and we got to meet in person for the first time.  Afterwards, we all got drinks and talked movies, movies, movies.  Then my partner and I went out for dinner, ate too much, and had a lovely evening out in Vancouver sans child. So basically, it was all that I hoped for and more.

Writing Discoveries

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by Paula Gail Benson

Book by J.K. Rowling

The first weekend in November, the South Carolina Writers Association (SCWA) held its annual conference. Entitled “Storyfest,” it featured a day of master classes followed by two days of panels, guest speakers, readings, and pitch sessions. The entire event was invigorating—truly a great opportunity to connect with other writers, improve craft skills, and find inspiration.

I attended one of the master classes. Called “Before Fade-In: Pre-Writing to Help You Conquer Page One” and taught by Geoffrey Gunn,* a filmmaker who now lives in upstate South Carolina, it provided excellent story techniques that were transferable from working on screenplays to other writing mediums.

One exercise that resonated with me was in the category “Choosing to Do.” Geoff had us list our top five favorite films or novels. We could choose to list particular works or the authors/directors who created them.

The exercise helped to examine what we gravitate toward as readers or viewers. We were asked to think not about what we wanted to write, but about what we wanted as entertainment.

I decided to list movies that I found particularly interesting and could view multiple times. As Geoff pointed out, my five might have been the most eclectic of the class. They were: (1) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (the third book in the series and I think the most involving storyline), (2) To Kill a Mockingbird (such a simple, yet inspiring premise—how important it is to be able to walk around in another person’s shoes), (3) Shakespeare in Love (I love Shakespeare’s plays, but find his biography fascinating—to be able to combine his stories in a contemporary piece that helps a new generation discover him is fabulous), (4) Murder on the Orient Express (Agatha Christie’s classic with its unique ending), and (5) School of Rock (well, that seems out of the blue, but its structure and plot are just really neat, and it taught me a lot about rock and roll appreciation).

After we came up with our lists, Geoff asked us to evaluate the common elements, to understand where we got our ideas so we could keep the reservoir full. He suggested we could invite inspiration into our own creative process by reviewing our top five list when we didn’t know what to write next.

When I reviewed my diverse list of five, I found at least two appealed to the YA market, all five had aspects of legal elements (which ranged from living under a society’s customs or rules to actual criminal offenses to courtroom action or justice delivered outside lawful processes), and all five had realistic, if not always perfectly happy solutions.

Here is what I decided “connected” my list of five:

(1) They all dealt with a person who needed to fit in but didn’t within their societal structure. (Harry, Scout, Shakespeare and Viola, all the suspects in Murder, and Dewey Finn)

(2) The person(s) needing to fit in take(s) an unconventional journey to find belonging.

(3) In the end, the person(s) discover(s) “home”—the place he or she or they need to be.

The exercise has given me a lot to think about and has provided greater insight into my own writing.

Why don’t you try it? See what it tells you about your work.

Very best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving!

______________

*Geoffrey Gunn is a terrific instructor. Here is his bio from the SCWA Storyfest event: “Geoffrey Gunn is a writer, producer and director specializing in independent film. His past writing and co-writing credits include anime legend ‘Mamoru Oshii’s Garm Wars: The Last Druid’ and the dark comedy ‘Dirty Weekend,’ both of which enjoyed international film festival runs before finding their way to theaters, home video and streaming services. Additional writing credits include the Lionsgate release ‘Siren,’ micro-budget darling ‘Cinema Purgatorio’ and the Lifetime thriller ‘Fatal Family Reunion.’ He made his directorial debut with the award-winning short film ‘Last Night at the Ellington,’ which was the recipient of a South Carolina Indie Grant. With over 15 years of experience in the business of independent film, Gunn also routinely works as a panelist, teacher and consultant on screenwriting and filmmaking.”

Movie Making

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Movie Poster for Suzy Makes CupcakesLet’s Make a Movie!

I’ve have often been told that I write “cinematically”.  I don’t know what that means exactly, but like most writers I’d love to have a movie made of one of my books. And for the past few years, I’ve been experimenting with writing scripts. I took a seminar on how to flip novels into scripts, bought a few books and worked on what are known as “spec” scripts.  Scripts that no one has commissioned, but you feel like writing anyway. I find that concept hilarious.  No one calls a writer’s unpublished novel a “spec” novel.  Although, I suppose that it is. I find the script writing process interesting, the format challenging, and the idea that I could see my work on the big screen exciting.

What I’ve Learned

Along the way I’ve found out some interesting things.  I’ve also found that a novella is about the perfect length to make a TV length movie.  A full novel is… a lot.  Which makes me even MORE impressed with those adaptations that managed to be something great or even come close to capturing the flare of the original novel.  For instance, I believe Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson who adapted LA Confidential  has earned a place in screenwriting heaven–James Ellroy’s novel was massive, sprawling and noir to the bone.  The movie managed to condense it down and make it acceptably noir to audiences (which is to say we had characters that we actually liked).  If you haven’t seen–go watch it.  If you haven’t read it… meh.  Only read if you like (well-written) dark heart of humanity stuff where no one is an actually good person.

I’ve also begun to question whether anyone in Hollywood actually reads.  With novels, an author finds a beta reader(s) to critique the book and then we polish it up.  After that we send off a synopsis and blurb and maybe a few pages to an agent or publisher, who probably has the intern vet the submissions (completely reasonable).  If it ticks their boxes they ask for the complete manuscript and read it.  With movies… You pitch something to someone (if you know the someone) based on a logline.  And if they like it you send in a one sheet with the blurb or synopsis and pitch it MORE.  But to get someone to actually reads the full script and give a critique or edits?  For that you have to submit to a contest or pay someone.  So novels have a more clear cut path forward and movies are a bit… scrap it out and hope you get lucky.

Successes so Far

But… I did get lucky! Through the help of a random friend on Twitter (or whatever it’s being called this week) I sold a script based on my short story Suzy Makes Cupcakes.  It is currently making the festival circuit and picking awards and nominations as it goes.  And now I have a credit on IMDB (Internet Movie Database).  How crazy is that? Suzy won’t be available to watch by the general public until next year, but if you want to read the story it was based on, you can check it out in Shotgun Honey: Recoil.

Have I learned anything else?

I’ve learned that movies are far more collaborative than I even pictured.  I’ve learned that an actor can make something I wrote absolutely sing.  And I’ve learned that watching having something I wrote exist outside my head is a little bit trippy.  And I can’t wait to do it again.

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of action-adventure and fantasy tales that focus on women who know when to apply lipstick and when to apply a foot to someone’s hind end. She participates in many activities including swearing, karate, art, and yelling at the news. She can usually be found chasing after her daughter, or glued to the computer working on her next novel (or screenplay). You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

 

Two Things, Two Places, All at Once

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Glitz and glamour. Politics and power. Winners and losers. Millions of people tune in to watch the spectacle that appears on our television screens once a year: The Academy Awards.

As with almost everything else these days, the entertainments we each choose to watch have become more and more disparate. Also, movie stars rarely awe us in the same way they used to do. What was once a common annual viewing ritual seems to have lost its place as a shared social and cultural experience.

Back in my Hollywood days, I walked the red carpet. After leaving my acting career behind, I began work at AFI (The American Film Institute), where I learned what good movies are made of. So last Sunday, as always, I watched the Oscars, even though I hadn’t seen any of the nominated films.

A popular game begins immediately afterward, when the critics—amateurs and professionals alike—have their say about the bests and worsts of the broadcast. Most vocal among them are the grumblers who debate the worthiness of the winners. Coming in a close second are those who critique the female attendees’ fashion choices, which put me in mind of the dress I once wore to the Oscars.

The morning after the broadcast, I dug deep into storage to search for it, and also for the printed program from that night, both of which I thought I had stored together. Found the dress, and a couple of old Polaroids of me wearing it, but I didn’t find the program. I don’t remember the exact year it was, or who the nominees and winners were. (I’m sure selective memory is at fault here. Those years were not among my favorites.)

But here’s the dress: a flowered silk jacquard overlaid with gold thread in a Paisely pattern. Still looks new, though I no longer weigh the ninety-eight pounds required to fit into it.

I am late to the party in seeing this year’s nominated films, but I do want to see them, hopefully in a movie theater, the way the are meant to be seen. Though the trailer for the big winner, Everything Everywhere All at Once, looks somewhat headache-inducing, I’m willing to brave it anyway, because I’ve heard that it portrays life in multiple universes, a subject that intrigues me.

Which brings me back to the dress I wore on the red carpet, long ago. When I peer into the photos of me in it, I feel lightyears and multiple universes removed from the person who wore it. Still, I want to find that missing Oscars program, if only to confirm how far I’ve time-traveled beyond those show biz days.

When did you last watch the Oscars? Did you see any of the winning films and performances this year?

Gay Yellen is the award-winning author of the Samantha Newman Mystery Series, including The Body Business, The Body Next Door, and the upcoming Body in the News!