The Hungry Screenwriter’s inspirations

Who inspired you to be an accountant? What about a doctor, artist, writer or graphic designer? Was it an inspiration or on necessity. I went to business school because of what was expected of me. I went there because of necessity. Little did I know that my life would be filled with unfulfilled passions to be something other than what I am now - a financial analyst by day, and a writer whenever I can. It’s something I wanted to be and could have been at the start, but because of said expectations and necessities, had to put off till after I was able to earn a living. And I’m paying for it in the form of daily frustrations, angst, regrets and other unmentionable emotions.

But… At least I’m dealing with it and still have a goal.

After reading kungfubears’ RT journal entry on his favorite writers, inspired me to come up with, not only my favorite writers, but what inspired me in my early years to become a writer, screenwriter and filmmaker.

There were several movies in my teens and early twenties that I really really enjoyed. Movies that had an impact on my life. But of those films, only a few ‘inspired’ me to the point of saying, I want to make movies! I want to write!

Here are just a few.

I’ll start with two John Hughes films. The first, “Ferris Bueller”. Ferris has been a hero of mine (as to many) since I first saw the movie. John Hughes brought the person I wanted to be to life. The ‘Fonz’ had nothing on Ferris. Ferris was cooler than cool! One thing I identified with was Ferris breaking the fourth wall. He talked to the camera, to us, to me! And I did the same in my own imaginary world of cameras. If I had something to say, I’d turn to the camera and say it! I identified with his spontaneous and independent nature as well as his outlook in life. I love Ferris! I wanted to be Ferris! In a way , I still have a little Ferris Bueller inside of me and he ain’t going away.

There’s a reason why my son’s name is Jacob. One is because I wanted to call him “Jake” as a nickname. Why is this significant? There’s one thing and one thing only… Jefferson Edward Briggs. This is Kevin Bacon’s character name in John Hughes’ film “She’s Having a Baby”. He’s referred to as “Jake” in the movie. In a job interview, Jefferson Edward Briggs says, “You can call me ‘Jake’.” They instead call him Jefferson. In the same job interview they ask “Jefferson”, “What do you think of alcoholics?” This has been a running joke with my best friend Dale and me for years… Jake’s answer, in an unsure - is this a trick question type response, “I like alcoholics?” How I’ve always wished an interviewer asked me this question in an interview. I’ve also wished once in my life I said to someone, “You can call me Jake.” Believe me, it’ll happen and if that person is cool, they’ll ask me how I feel about alcoholics. Jake’s life was the life I saw myself having. And I was only 2nd year college at the time. And its funny, my life really played out in a very similar fashion to his in the movie. From being a frustrated writer, getting married, going to school, owning a home, parents, in-laws then eventually a baby. A baby I named, “JAKE”!

Another inspiration was Cameron Crowe. And his movie, “Say Anything” was also another movie that inspired me. I could have been “Lloyd Dobler”. If anyone comes close to being cooler than Ferris Bueler, its Lloyd Dobler. I was a full contact fighter, I was a romantic, and for a career… “considering what's waiting out there for me, I don't want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or... process anything sold, bought or processed, or repair anything sold, bought or processed, you know, as a career I don't want to do that. So, uh, my father's in the army, he wants me to join, but I can't work for that corporation, so what I've been doing lately is kickboxing, which is really a, uh, new sport, but I think it's got a good future. As far as career longevity goes, I don't really know, because, you know, you can't really tell. Your training sticks as a fighter, you know, but it's no good, you know, you have to be great, but I can't really tell if I'm great until I've had a couple of pro fights. But I haven't been knocked out yet. I don't know, I can't figure it all out tonight sir, I'm going to hang with your daughter.”

Lloyd said what I wanted to say! In not so many words. But yeah, I wanted all that as a career!

There’s a song in the movie by Peter Gabriel called, “In Your Eyes”. That’s Donna’s and my song.

When Cameron’s movie “Singles” came out I was single. And just like Campbell Scott’s character meeting a girl out of the blue and pursing her, I did the same with Donna. Steve (Campbell Scott’s character) says in the movie, “If I had a personal conversation with God, I would ask him to create this girl.” I said the same thing when I met Donna. I also did the whole drunk thing calling Donna late one night when we were broken up and left an inaudible message on her machine. A year later we were back together and the rest is history.

The movie that really, really inspired me was one where people were able to see what I was seeing in my head. The cinematography, the visuals, the storytelling… this movie was exactly how I thought and visualized. I was in a Tuesday dollar movie night in college. I walked out of the theater with this glow of excitement and as I walked out of the movie with my best friend, Dale, I said to him, “WE CAN DO MOVIES LIKE THIS!” He probably won’t remember that but he walked out with the same enthusiasm as I did. The movie… “Raising Arizona”. It was this movie that really nailed it for me. I wanted people to ‘see’ what I was seeing in my mind.

Till this day, Dale and I have been pursing this. It’s hard, but its getting done and that’s the bottom line.

And that, in a take, is some inspirations of The Hungry Screenwriter.

Other notables through the years:

“The Sixth Sense” – almost everything we do has a “Sixth Sense” quality to it. From our short films like, “Till Death to us Part” which NOBODY WILL EVER SEE, to “The Ring”, “Lunch at Frankies”, “A Shot to the System”, “First Time” & “Tag”, all have that “Sixth Sense” thing going on. And all, ‘cept for “Tag”, were written before “The Sixth Sense”!

“Swingers” – My first ever screenplay was a “Swingers” meets “Brother’s McMullen” story. A romantic comedy about a guy and his group of friends that have to deal with ambitions and relationships that are stifled by a religious upbringing. I wrote this movie in 7 days. It sucks.

“Shawshank Redemption” – I cried when I saw this movie. Yes, I admit it. I cried. I actually wept. I was weeping. I wept like a small child. My face was wet, my eyes were red, I had the hiccups after… it was a scene. But man, Shawshank Redemption is that story that I’ll chase to write till the day I die.

And many more.