MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Alexia Murray

An interview with screenwriter Alexia Murray regarding the ENDAS Writing Competition.

A: "Coming Apart in Italia" is the title of the script, and I co-wrote it with Dyanne White, although she spent most of her time making tea and supplying the chocolate while I wrote... It won the best comedy section at ENDAS. It's a comedy (duh) about 3 forty-something moms that are trapped by the hell of a family vacation gone bad in Italy, and they jump ship and dump their kids on their husbands to embark on a road trip...where they all die. No, no! It's a comedy. That's not how it ends. Let's just say they embark on a road trip that changes their lives.

A: I was surfing moviebytes for interesting contests, and I came across ENDAS, I noticed it had great report cards/interviews. I was particularly interested because it is an international Italian contest, and since my screenplay takes place in Italy, I felt it would be a good contest to participate in.

A: The contest was adminstered impeccably by Silvio Nacucchi. Every deadline was met, every question answered curteously. Dyanne and I were given four-star accomodation in Genoa, Italy as well as a great welcome dinner with the other winners and some of the jurors. We were driven to the awards ceremony hosted at a spectacular villa called Villa Bombrini (also home to the Ligurian Film Commission) where we were interviewed by local media and gave our acceptance speeches. There we met the president of the Ligurian Film Commission, the American Consul and some Italian journalists. We also got a nifty plaque... that Dyanne has (darn!).

A: It took Dyanne and I about a year and a half to write the script... I had just had my second child, and a lot of the script was written (with one finger) while breastfeeding and during the baby's nap. I remember wishing my baby would take longer naps... what mother doesn't? Luckily we did write an outline before hand, that way we knew what we were doing (more or less). I'm sure the prolactin would have sent us off on a some hormonal tangent if we hadn't had an outline to follow. It seems like we've writen endless drafts... Maybe we were on draft 4 or 5 by the time we sent it to Endas. We're still tweaking and changing it... I don't think a screenplay is ever finished!

A: We used Screenwriter Moviemagic to write the script. I love that program, it makes everything so easy.

A: When I work on my own projects, I try to write every day, usually about 2 hours at a time...but would love to do more. I write for a TV series, and when we're on deadline we have to write a lot more or our story editor gets mean!

A: Yes, I do get writer's block. I write...probably badly, but I write.

A: Falling Apart is my third feature script. I write a kid's sitcom for Italian Public TV (RAI). This is my third season with them.

A: I don't live in LA. My sister does though... does that count? I don't have any plans to move there. But I didn't plan on moving to Rome, Italy, and here I am. Life is a wonderful and mysterious thing.

A: I'm working on a new script now. It's very exciting, but as I'm supersitious I won't reveal anything... maybe you'll read about it soon on another moviebytes interview though!

Posted Thursday, April 1, 2010