Friday, October 21, 2011

Exclusive GITS Q&A: John Swetnam ("Evidence") | Scott Myers

Posted on March 1, 2011

On January 21st of this year, I posted this:
Bold Films buys spec crime thriller "Evidence" from screenwriter John Swetnam. Per Deadline:
Police arrive at an abandoned gas station following a brutal massacre. The only evidence at the crime scene is the victims' personal electronic devices, including a camcorder, flip Cam, and two cell phones. With nothing else to go on, a detective must analyze the bits of "found footage" to piece together the identity of the killer.

Another example of the "found film" sub-genre.

Swetnam is repped by APA and manager Jack Wagner.

This is the 1st spec script sale of 2011.

Then I discovered long-time GITS reader Emily Blake knows John. I asked if she'd inquire whether John would be up for a Q&A. Emily did and John emailed me back agreeing to answer some questions.

It's always exciting to hear from someone who sells a spec script. In John's case, even more so as he's what Variety calls a first-timer, someone who breaks into The Biz with a spec sale. So here is the story how John made that big leap into Hollywood:

First off, what's your background and how did you end up wanting to pursue filmmaking?

I am an Air Force kid which means I moved around a lot. Every two years or so I had to change friends, towns, countries and continents. It was stressful at times but it also allowed me to experience different cultures at a young age. I'm of a mixed background (Thai and white) and sometimes it was hard to find the place where I belonged or to find things that I had in common with the other kids and that's what I've always loved about movies, music and television. They cross every divide and have the ability to give a common ground to so many different people. There's something magical about meeting someone from some random town a million miles away and being able to strike up a conversation about some movie you both enjoyed. Movies connect us and I guess I've always just wanted to feel connected.

As for what was the moment that really started my dream of making movies… it was when I was living in Ely, England. My dad had a pretty tough job and we didn't have much money and I remember when they came to town and were shooting a movie called Revolution with Al Pacino and Donald Sutherland and they needed extras. I'll never forget going to visit my dad on set at our local Cathedral and seeing all these grown men in period costumes, carrying guns and "playing pretend". It seemed so unreal to me that these grown ups could have so much fun and get to make believe all day and get paid for it! I was curious and intrigued to say the least.

And then years later when I saw Jurassic Park… I was officially hooked.

Have you had any formal education or training in either/both screenwriting and directing? If so, what and how did that education contribute to your recent success in the sale of your spec script "Evidence"?

After getting a bachelor's degree in TV production at MTSU (outside of Nashville) where I studied broadcast TV and was going to make music videos, I decided to go take the leap and move to California for grad school. I have an MFA in screenwriting from Chapman University. The best thing grad school did for me was that it gave me a place to go. I had a purpose and I was taking classes and I was in Southern California. I'm not sure I learned any great secrets about writing, but I met some great friends (one of them being my former writing partner Darren Whisker who I owe a lot to) and it acted as a sort of buffer between my life in Tennessee and the business of Hollywood.

When it comes to the craft of writing… there are three types of aspiring writers as I see it. First, you have the people that will never make it. Period. There's a huge percentage of aspiring screenwriters that will never, ever, ever make it no matter how hard they work, ever, ever. That's just a fact. Then you have the ones who were just born with it. I mean, these guys just have a gift. And lastly, you have a percentage of writers who have ability, but it's very raw and buried way way down. They're not born with some extraordinary gift, but if they watch enough movies, write enough scripts, read enough scripts, and study the business in an intelligent way, they can go far. I consider myself in this category. Yes, you have to have "it" to an extent, but the rest of it is about hard work, dedication, sacrifice, determination and intelligence. Watch, read, write… repeat.. repeat…repeat. Yes, I went to grad school, but I also read every screenwriting book, watched hundreds of movies and then rewatched them to break them down story-wise, and I read hundreds of scripts, wrote dozens of my own, all while networking, interning, being on sets, and meeting people. Nothing can take the place of hard work. Nothing.

Here is the premise of "Evidence" as summarized in the press: "Police arrive at an abandoned gas station following a brutal massacre. The only evidence at the crime scene is the victims' personal electronic devices, including a camcorder, flip Cam, and two cell phones. With nothing else to go on, a detective must analyze the bits of 'found footage' to piece together the identity of the killer." How accurate is that description?

This is a very accurate description, but I just call it Usual Suspects meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre Cloverfield-style. Not sure if that is any more clear. It's basically a found-footage movie inside a crime-thriller movie. Two movies for the price of one!

There seems to be a sub-genre of "found footage" movies including Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity, Cloverfield, and another spec script that sold in 2010 "Killer." Did you consciously think that was a hot story area you could mine with "Evidence" or did you generate the story concept and decide to write it just because you liked the idea?

Evidence was born out of the fact that I was tired of sitting in my house writing script after script after script. I had always been good with ideas and had gotten repped at a few places, but I couldn't take that next step. No spec sale. No assignments. Not one dollar. So after writing 16 specs I decided to take matters into my own hands and was going to finance a movie myself so I could be writer/director and producer. So I had to think long and hard about what kind of movie I would make. I wanted to be very smart about it and decided on the genre of horror and then "found footage" because it could be done so cheap and had lots of upside. Then I tried to figure out a fresh take and a story that I thought would be cool and I came up with the multiple angles and the crime-thriller movie that surrounds the POV stuff. I finished the script after a few months and when I was done I knew it was good and it deserved more than my 50,000 credit card budget, so I decided to take it into the world and the rest… well, that was the easy part.

You're represented by APA and Jack Wagner at FilmEngine Entertainment. Were they involved in your script rewrite process, giving you feedback? If so, what areas did you focus on in rewrites to improve the script?

Evidence moved very fast. I have been in town for a while and had my share of agents/managers and I knew exactly what I was looking for this time around. I entered my script into the trackingb contest because me and Darren Whisker had a script do well there a few years ago, and that was a great experience, so I tried it again and was a finalist. Within a week Jake called me and we met up and talked about Evidence and a new spec that I had just finished that was a huge tentpole. He had passion and enthusiasm and I knew he was my guy. Soon after, we met with some other agents, but Boxerbaum killed it in the room and I knew he was the perfect fit and I couldn't be happier with my team. Evidence didn't have any rewrites at all with the guys. We just took it out fast. With the new spec, both Jake and Box had great notes and we did a few passes on it that made the story much stronger. We recently took the new script out and it's been getting a great response. Still crossing my fingers for a sale!

Now the fun part: Can you describe for us how the script ended up at Bold Films? Where were you when you heard your script had sold and what did that feel like when you received the news?

I was having a burger with Darren Whisker when my reps called. He spit up his milkshake and then we finished eating and I went home to do a rewrite on the new spec.

Press reports say that you are being given "first shot at directing." Do you see yourself continuing to write screenplays and direct them, or do you hope eventually to move strictly into directing?

The script went out very hot and we were getting interest almost immediately. I met with Bold before it sold and they really seemed to be passionate about getting the movie made which was huge, and of course it didn't hurt to be working with the guys at Marc Platt. So when they made an offer it felt like a no brainer. And now it looks like we'll be in production this summer. As for me directing, I put together a presentation and told them my vision for the movie, but I have no ego about the job, or to my script. My loyalty is to the movie. So if a more talented director with a great vision comes in, then I will do everything in my power to help him succeed if it means at the end of the day we make a better movie. To be honest, the more I think about it, the more I feel like writing/producing will be my ultimate path. Because that's what a producer does… they get things done. And that's what I came here for. Not to write movies, but to make movies.

A few questions about your creative process. How do you come up with story ideas? How important do you think the story concept is to the overall strength of a screenplay?

Story concept is like the foundation to a house. It has to be strong or everything else may come tumbling down. I've always been good with ideas and it just took me a long time to be able to execute them in professional way. If you want to write "Hollywood" movies then the biggest question you have to ask yourself when you come up with an idea is, can you really see this opening at your local theater next weekend? I mean, really? What does the trailer look like when it comes on TV? You have to be brutally honest with yourself and most people just aren't. Look, you can have a small idea and if you're an amazing writer you will get it read and get work. But for most of us who aren't Aaron Sorkin, you have to start with a great idea, something clean and fresh, and then you have to execute at a professional level. The days of getting by on concept alone are over. I think you need both. Concept and execution. But this stuff gets debated all the time and I have no idea if I'm right or wrong. It's just my personal opinion.

How much time do you spend in prep-writing (i.e., brainstorming, character development, plotting, research, outlining)? Which of the aspects of prep do you tend to devote the most time and focus to?

My process works like this. I come up with an idea and then I put on my "producer" hat. What's the budget, genre, tone? Where does it fit in the market place? Who would I cast in it? Who would direct? What's the trailer, poster? Who's my audience, etc, etc, etc? If I can answer all these questions clearly and I'm still pumped then I know I have something that I can dig into. That's when I put on my "writer" hat and forget the rest and start exploring the story and the characters. I have put myself inside a box and now I can really get creative. I constantly ask myself if I think what I'm doing is cool. Do I love this? Am I excited to see it on screen? The ball usually just starts rolling and I put together a pretty fast beat sheet. Then I do a treatment and get feedback on it asap. I love feedback. If I'm still feeling good, then I rewrite the treatment a few times before I go into a really detailed outline. Then I set it aside for a while and work on other stuff. If I come back to it after a week, read it, and still love it, I do some more rewrites and then kill the first draft. I do tend to write and rewrite as I go along, but I can pump out a first draft in under a week. Then I put on my "director" hat and really dig into the tiny details and make sure I know the answer to every possible question that might come up. What if an actor asked me this? What if the production design wanted to know about this, etc, etc? Only after I've worn all three hats, which means at least three drafts on my own, I get more feedback, take more time away and rewrite and rewrite and get more feedback until I honestly think it's as good as I can get it. Then I send it to the manager, get more feedback and rewrite. Then send it to the agent, get more feedback and rewrite. And then… I drink… and then we take it out. Easy, right?

Finally what advice can you offer to aspiring screenwriters about the craft?

This is of course the question that I get asked about the most. Here's my simple answer and I think it's something that you say all the time. Watch movies. Read scripts. Write. Write. Write. But here's the problem with most aspiring writers and I had this same issue. We think we're ready before we are. If you think you're ready to send out your script, you're not. If you think it's good enough, it's not. YOU ARE NOT READY. Spend less time worrying about agents, and gatekeepers, and all the other BS and just focus on the writing. Look, I have an MFA, I've written 18 specs, watched thousands of movies, read hundreds of scripts, and I just barely broke in this year. I mean, you see all these people who've got three specs and they complain about the system and Hollywood won't give them the time of day or some other crap, well here's the truth — 99% of the time it's the script. Period. If you're not getting noticed. No reps calling you back? It's the script. KEEP WRITING.

I truly believe that there are hundreds of ways to break in and every one of us must find our own path. The one that works for us. And at the end of the day it doesn't matter what advice I give to aspiring writers because most of them won't listen… I know I never did :)

There's a lot of takeaway in this interview. John has his own variation on my "Read scripts, Watch movies. Write pages" mantra. His emphasis on the absolute necessity of writing a great script is spot on. But there's one thing John says that I've never quite heard in just this fashion: When he develops and writes a story, he goes through a process of wearing three hats: Producer, Writer, Director. I think that's quite astute. It should not only help you in shaping and writing your script, it could have a residual effect of making your script more marketable because you've already been thinking like a potential producer, who can help sell the script, and director, who can get it greenlit, then made.

So thanks to Emily Blake for facilitating this interview. Here's a whole bunch of creative good karma going your way!

And of course thanks to John for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer these questions. I'm sure everyone in the GITS community joins me in congratulating John on his good fortune and wishes him the best of luck with his filmmaking career.

Speaking of which, you can follow John on his Hollywood journey via Twitter:

@JohnSwetnam


Exclusive GITS Q&A: John Swetnam ("Evidence") | Scott Myers


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