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Screenwriter Interviews
MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Christopher Canole
An interview with screenwriter Christopher Canole regarding the GIAA Festival Writing Competition.
Q: What's the title of the script you entered in this contest, and what's it about?A: "Barack-O-Lantern", a Political October surprise for a Right Wing Republican who wears a Barack Obama mask on Halloween as a political statement with eye opening results.
Q: What made you enter this particular contest? Have you entered any other contests with this script? If so, how did you do?A: With the name Canole how could I not enter the Guild of Italian American Actors film festival? Besides the great reputation of the festival, my publicist Leah D'Emilio now lives in New York City and loved attending for me. I wrote this five minute short in response to directors at film festivals asking if I had any shorts they could film. I was taken back when it resulted in: Moondance (Semifinalist), Queens (Finalist), Movie Script/Short (Quarterfinalist), Cinema City Fest (First Place), IFFF (First Place), Kids First! (Finalist) SkyFest (Honorable Mention) and Action On Film (Finalist)
Q: Were you satisfied with the administration of the contest? Did they meet their deadlines? Did you receive all the awards that were promised?A: Yes to all questions. And as a fellow award winner noted the medal is the size of an individual pizza!
Q: How long did it take you to write the script? Did you write an outline beforehand? How many drafts did you write?A: I wrote it the day after Halloween, edited it and sent it off to contests.
Q: What kind of software did you use to write the script, if any? What other kinds of writing software do you use?A: Moviemagic.
Q: Do you write every day? How many hours per day?A: Yes. I write one scene per day.
Q: Do you ever get writer's block? If so, how do you deal with that?A: Writing everyday really keeps you in shape from cramping up with writer's block. And when I am feeling a little insecure I just look up on my wall at the letter President Obama sent me praising my script, " Your words join a chorus of millions of Americans eager to lead our Nation towards a brighter future."
Q: What's your background? Have you written any other screenplays or television scripts?A: I am a Cal Arts masters degree graduate, union set photographer and actor who decided it was time to create my own stories. In the past three years I have written eleven screenplays: Bloodgroove (60?s college story), Drawn Together (political thriller), DVD Day (science fiction doomsday), Spring Snow (Mishima novel adaptation for my PhD in literature), Runaway Horses (Another Mishima), Z.I.A. (Family Zoo story), Counter-Clockwise (Science fiction romance), Felix the Flyer (sports biography), Pen Dragon (comic book fable), The Last Limo (post 9/11 American Odyssey) and Her Swastika Sword (sports biography).
Q: Do you live in Los Angeles? If not, do you have any plans to move there?A: Winning contest resulted in me becoming an associate member of the Writers Guild of America, so I travel to LA every other week for meetings, especially the Latino and American Indian committees. And the WGA library is beyond any research source in the country, right across the street from the Farmers Market to take meetings with future producers and directors.
Q: What's next? Are you working on a new script?A: I am writing a modern day adaptation of Jim Thorpe's story reset on an American Indian high school golf team titled "Links". The best part is the research since my Great, Great Grandmother was sister to Thorpe's Grandmother.
Posted Wednesday, October 21, 2009
