#001 ⤑ Finishing A Short Film To Writing A Screenplay
With my latest short film doing the rounds, i've set a lofty goal of shooting a feature within the next year - better get writing.
I remember back in 2019, I’d moved to Seattle. I was enjoying the clean air, the extended family, the IPAs, the edibles and a lot of new artists to be inspired by. I also remember waiting a long time for a work visa and then being severely longed out on my green card application - but that’s a separate story.
I met artist, actor, choreographer, all round renaissance man Ezra Dickinson in Seattle through social media. Over the 15 months I lived there, he helped produce and starred in my first short fiction film Sodo Express which I’ve just finished. It indeed does take a long time to finish self-funded projects, during Covid, as a parent, whilst moving countries three times with perpetual visa issues - excuses, excuses, excuses!
But the film is done and you can see the trailer and hear an audio mix by composer and sound designer IXA below. The film now begins its life on the festival circuit and I’m looking for a platform to give it a nice home so I can share the full film with all of you.
Fast forward to now. I’m coming to the end of a 7-month stint back in Cambodia (this is the third time my family and I have lived here) and I’ve written my first real screen play called The Torrid Zone plus an outline for another feature we’re looking to shoot within the year.
I’ve written corporate scripts before and never really enjoyed it. I’d also try and write my own stories and loved it but nothing ever clicked. I’d sit up late and write. Drink and write. Go to cafes, bars, pubs and write. What I didn’t know was that I was figuring out my writing process, which takes time. Then I came across the Tarantino way of writing (which I saw in a screenwriting tips video) and I adapted it to my life.
So over the last few months I wake up, chill with my fam, do what needs to be done as a parent and then write for about 5-6 hours. Then sit in the pool and ponder on what I have written, make some notes for the following day and hang with the fam. This process, for me, in my current situation, works. It changes slightly day to day. Maybe I go to the gym, maybe I slip in a yoga sesh - yeh I’ve started yoga - I can hear some of you saying, “you what mate?!” but it’s been a revelation.
Now with the writing I still include a beer or two in a shady bar to write out some characters, eaves drop on some conversations and get some details down that you can only write and vibe with in a location. (There is nothing like sitting in a skeezy bar in Phnom Penh, Cambodia listening to a bunch of wasted people exchange stories).
This process of relentless day writing has allowed me to bang out a first draft, approx 80 pages in just a few weeks. I got to the third draft a few weeks later and then shared it with a group of filmmaker people who then told me what was wrong with it - which is amazing.
Now the draft gets to marinate and I debate when and how to do the big rewrite. As we’re gearing up for a move back to the UK, I’ll probably take a few weeks out soon for the rewrite and then kick that project into pre-pre-pre-pre production.
I’m also wondering how my writing process will change in the UK. I will miss my therapeutic pool life. As an expat in South-east Asia, swimming pools have been integral for me in the last decade. But I’ve done enough script writing now to get me through a bit, so I might just pencil in another 6 month tropical hiatus to get a few more drafts done around 2023.
In Other News…
Check out this great little mix of the tracks from my short film SODO EXPRESS by MRIXA who put the audio together.
Video Time!
Meanwhile in Phnom Penh…
…but not surprisingly the Lion was returned on orders of the PM..
And
I know this pandemic isn’t funny, but Singapore has taken it that level further by deciding to ban background music in f&b establishments. Not too sure about the rationale there - suppose it’s encourages people to talk (wouldn’t want that) which spreads the virus….