Author: Greg

Greg writes, teaches and sleeps. Sometimes he plays D&D.
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Pilot Season

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Those of you who know me, know that I love TV, well scratch that, I love good TV. I barely watch regular TV (I hate commercials) but I watch a lot of TV series from around the world anx with TV series I mean scripted, I can’t stand reality TV but that is another post. Today I want to talk about TV pilots and why I can’t get enough of them.

Every year, new shows get developed and some lucky writers see their pilot scripts produced. Sure, only some of them make it to series but in my opinion pilots (even unaired ones) are fun to watch. I like how a pilot has to set up the characters and create a world. Seldom a pilot is the best episode of a show and it usually takes a show some time to really find itself but you can see the core of the show in the pilot and you also can tell whenthat core is missing.

I just saw the unaired pilot for “The Big Bang Theory” and it is really bad, really bad. The story doesn’t work, penny is missing (there is another girl but something ist just wrong with her charavter and the way she is introduced) and ther is other odd stuff that doesn’t feel right. There is one thing though that works and it is the only thing that survived into the second pilot that started the show we all love: Sheldon and Leonard. Their chemistry and their banter just works even though everything around them is just off.

What I reall want to say is this. Pilots are a great opportunity to watch the beginning of a story and train your eye to find the core of story, a skill that is always usefull.

Cheers.

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Midweek post

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It is the middle of the week and that means I should write a post. I am still waiting for feedback for the third draft of my feature. It is not that I want to start reworking it right away but I really want to know how others like it.

I really like how the third draft turned out. Some big improvements over earlier drafts, still not perfect and it still needs a lot of work but the story is quite clear now and it works, at least I think so. I still have to some work on the characters and on the fine tuning but I really feel that the movie is coming together and that it will a) turn out to be a good first feature for whiteworms or b) that it will sell for some nice cash. But that is far away in the future, I need to write it first.

Over and out.

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A summer abroad

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I told you about the two Whiteworms projects I am working about, there is one other thing I am thinking about. I spent a great summer in Cambridge, I met some great people, made new friends, had a lot of fun and I think there is a story (or more) I want to tell. I had the great idea to make some notes of things hapening around me while I was there and those notes will serve as a backbone for a screenplay. I am not entirely sure how or when I am going to write it but there are just so many great moments, I just have to write a movie about it.

One of the challenges will be writing about my friends. So far I created characters in my head, sure some of them have been influenced by real people but I never wrote about real people before. Then there is the thing about me being in the movie. How do I write myself? Sure I am an important part of the story and all I know about the summer is what I saw and heard but somehow making myself a main character feels wrong. I don’t want it to be my story, I want it to bea movie about a group of people having a great summer.

Right now the Whiteworms project has priority but after the current or the next draft, I might need to think about something else and clear my head, that is when “A summer abroad” might come in handy even though I really feel the urge to write it right now. Why is “the other project” always more interesting than the one your currently working on?

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My new project

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Orlindo Frick, the other “owner” of Whiteworms, and I have decided to resurrect our little company. The plan is to produce a short film that will (hopefully) get us a few meetings. In these meetings, we want to have something solid to show, which is why we’re also working on a feature-length animated movie screenplay. Orlindo is focusing on the short film, while I’ve started work on the feature.

This project is incredibly important to me, so I’m doing everything I can to make sure the screenplay is as strong as possible when it’s finished. I don’t want to go into too much detail—no spoilers—but I’d like to share how I’ve approached the project.

Very early on, I had a small idea. Since it’s an animated movie, I started by going through the list of animals that haven’t been done to death already. Then, I decided on a time and place for the story. To be honest, all I had at first was one scene—a scene I saw very clearly. It’s by no means a key moment in the movie, but it helped me find the essence of the story.

For a long time after that, nothing happened. I kept the idea in the back of my mind, but I wasn’t actively working on it. Then, at some point, something clicked. When I finally sat down to write the outline, the story seemed to flow naturally. Sure, there was (and still is) a lot missing, but the skeleton of the story was there—and it worked.

Since then, it hasn’t changed much in terms of structure. The current version is much clearer, more detailed, and better paced, but the major plot points are still the same.

I’m on track to finish the latest draft this week, and I think it’s a substantial improvement over the last one. After this draft and a longer conversation with Orlindo, my goal is to complete the first draft of the screenplay by the end of the year. It’s ambitious, but I think I can do it.

I’m genuinely psyched about this project, and I have a good feeling about it. This could very well be the screenplay that launches my career—or brings Whiteworms into the spotlight.

Wish me luck!

Greg