MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter James Ziolkowski

An interview with screenwriter James Ziolkowski regarding the Indie Gathering Writing Competition.

A: It's a comedy entitled, "Her Name was Tuesday".

It's the story of Henry Radcliffe, a warehouse worker who escapes the boring reality of his dead-end job by living five different lives with five different women. Henry eventually meets and falls for a beautiful blind girl named Tuesday who forces him to choose between her and the other women in his life.

The subplot involves Henry teaming up with his best friend and co-worker, Griff, to defend their championship in the annual company ping pong tournament. A tournament taken very seriously by it's competitors.

A: I placed First in the Horror Category at the INDIE GATHERING last year and it was a good experience, so I thought I'd take a shot at the Comedy Category this year. Maybe I'll have a Drama ready for them next year.

"Her Name was Tuesday" has done very well in most of the other contests I've entered it in. It placed First in GET THE INITIATIVE, was Runner-up at WATERFRONT, was a Top 20 Finalist in RED INKWORKS, and has some other Finalist and Honorable Mention finishes to it's credit. I have to be selective about the contests I enter because I can't afford to enter too many.

A: I was definitely satisfied. Any questions I e-mailed were answered immediately and all of the deadlines were met.

I received all the awards that were promised last year and I don't expect this year to be any different. Very professionally run contest.

A: No feedback is promised.

A: I've been contacted by several producers and directors over the past few years regarding "Her Name was Tuesday" and it's been a fairly frustrating ordeal. One producer backed out on me 4 days before the contract signing. It was a real buzz killer.

I'm hoping this latest contest win will help me attract the right producer/ manager/ agent.

A: I'm self-taught. I read every screenplay I could get my hands on from the local libraries to get familiar with format and the general structure of movie scripts.

I basically write screenplays for movies that I'd want to go see. Comedy, Horror, you name it. I like to write different genres because I think you're bound to get stale if you only write one genre all the time. It's probably also because I'm a bit of a split personality. But I'm not.

I recently completed my fifth feature script which technically could be labeled a Suspense/ Thriller. My other three scripts have done well in the limited number of competitions I've entered them in.

A: I've lived in the Chicagoland area for my entire life. I just can't picture myself going out for pizza and a few pitchers to watch the Cub game somewhere in Los Angeles. I also think I might be too claustrophobic to live in L.A.

If the opportunity presents itself, I would be interested in moving to Canada. A lot of quality films have come out of the Great White North, especially comedies. And I like that cool weather.

A: Unfortunately, what's next is....I wake up tomorrow, I go to work, and then I try to pay my bills and the rent.

I'm in the early stages of my next script and I plan to keep on writing until it's not fun anymore.

My ultimate goal is to someday see my work on the silver screen and if that day never comes, at least I can still take some comfort in knowing that I provided my friends and family with some entertaining reading material throughout the years.

Posted Wednesday, July 25, 2007