1. How did you get into screenwriting?
Laura Clifton, one of the co-producers on Cherry Bomb, was working on a film called The New Guy filmed in and around Austin. They had just come back from shooting some scenes at a high school and she was talking about just how creepy this school was and that it would be a great location for a scary movie. So, Laura, my brother (Brandon) and I sat around and started brainstorming this little horror script. Every time we got together, we would further discuss characters and plot, but we never really took the time to put it all on paper. Finally, I got tired of talking about it and sat down to write it. I did some quick studying up on Screenplay formatting and just started hammering away. Within a few weeks, I had an extremely short 30 page first draft. It called it D-Hall. In school, that’s what we called Detention Hall. Not sure if that was a name that was held in schools all over or just a regional thing. The name then changed to Detention. I showed it off to some people and they thought it had some merit. Then, the ideas just started spilling out and I Just kept writing. The first script I ever optioned was a comedy screenplay called Instinct vs. Reason: No Subtitle Needed. Soon after Detention was optioned. And there’s a lot more to it than that, but I’ll stop there.
Here is a short based off of Instinct vs. Reason:
And here’s a conceptual teaser for Detention:
2. What inspired you to write Chery Bomb?
When I responded to an Ad from Kyle Day about starting a production company, I had a slate of mid-to-low budget scripts ready to go. We discussed some of them, but none of them seemed right. We talked about filming this low budget script I wrote called Twisted Addiction. Its a story of these serial killers who are traveling around the country filming their exploits as killers, but then run into this family of cannibals. The only problem was that it is in limbo, owned by another production company at this point, since I wrote it for them. We walked with them about a profit split in exchange for us filming it, but nothing came of it. Then Kyle and I started brainstorming ideas. We started with the films we loved. The John Carpenter films before Escape from LA, the early James Cameron stuff (mainly Terminator) and the Robert Rodriguez and Tarantino stuff. We also loved the theme of revenge. It could be boiled down to a simple, relatable emotion and was a nice conduit for a lot of brutal action.
While tossing around revenge ideas, we came up with a lot of ideas that, after a few seconds analyzing, we realized had already been done or weren’t compelling enough. Then, out of the blue, it came to be and I sent Kyle this email…
Girl is an exotic dancer. Group of patrons after a show meets her out back and takes advantage of her, beats the crap out of her. The girl’s brother, who has never really approved of what she did for a living, takes it in his own hands to avenge her. He tries to keep it from her what he’s doing, but eventually she finds out, then finds out she wants to help out. Then brother and sister go on this rampage avenging her…
And then it took off from there.
3. When writing, is there a particular genre that you favor over the others?
I love writing horror. Or at least, its the one I seem to get contracted to write the most. I’m still working to write one of those great, inspiring dramas, but am not there yet.
4. What do you do when you reach a point in a screenplay where you can’t thing of what should happen next?
I walk away. I don’t think about it or anything for a few weeks. The best thing for Writer’s block for me has always been taking a break, then looking at it with a fresh mind.
5. When writing, do you find that parts of your own personality invariably work their way into the characters you have created? If so, which character most resembles you? Nurse Jenny?
Well of course Nurse Jenny. But yeah, there’s parts of me in every character. Cherry is the part of me that wanted to find and hunt down the person who stole my radio out of my truck one time. I’m not trying to say that the offenses are ANYWHERE NEAR the same level, but still when you feel violated, you want to get retribution. Brandon (Cherry’s Brother) definitely comes a little out of my new fatherhood and wanting to protect my little girl. Then my voice always comes into their dialog. My brother saw the first short film I wrote that got produced and said how weird it was to see these other people saying things he could clearly tell I would say.
6. What do you think most differentiates Cherry Bomb from similar revenge films?
We always, in revenge films see the good side. The retribution, the glee from those who wronged you get theirs and inflicting pain. But we rarely see that other side. The doubt from the revenge seeker. The after effects of a revenge spree. I also tried to create a very flawed character that grew throughout the script. I never remember seeing Arnold grow in Commando.
7. As the other Executive Producer on Cherry Bomb, have you had any difficulties balancing your different writing/producing responsibilities?
Somewhat. We also started this journey right around the time my first child was born and balancing the role as father versus the things needed to help get this project from script to screen has been even more challenging than the Executive Producer-Writer balance. But its still tough. We’re trying to massage the script to make it fit within a certain shooting schedule and we’ve been butting heads with certain elements that I know as a writer are integral to making this story stand apart from other revenge flicks, but could prove to be very costly.
8. What’s your favorite part of the Cherry Bomb script and why?
That’s hard because I take great pride in every line of dialog, every action and every plot point. But, gun to my head, I would say my favorite part is writing the brother-sister aspects of the Cherry & Brandon relationship. They hint at this long troubled history that a lot of families have, but never give it all away to us. I got pressure to explain what happened that drove a stake through their family dividing Cherry & her family, but never wanted to. I hope that some aspects of the script will cause people to wonder about Cherry and where she came from (and coming back for the sequel to find out the answers to some of those). At one point we discussed making Cherry and Brandon ex-lovers instead of siblings, but that never felt right. I think writing the elements of a strained family love made for such great moments versus the typical love glances of jaded lovers.
9. What’s the most difficult part of writing a feature length script?
Just forcing yourself to sit and do it. Now making a quality screenplay requires a TON of studying the craft, structure, formatting, people in general and a lot else, but that part never seemed tedious to me. That growing and learning part, though it is a challenge, is a lot more fun and less difficult in my mind. Its fun plotting our characters, their journeys, their quirks and dialog. But it gets really painful when you have to forsake other activities to sit at the keyboard and make the magic. And wow, on paper that sounds way more pretentious than I hoped it would.
10. Any advice for those people that have always wanted to write a screenplay but simply don’t know where to begin?
You’ve got to start out by reading as many scripts as you can. Take in everything about them. Their structure, their formatting, their beats and their style. I would start with your favorite movies, the ones you know inside and out, and read those scripts. You can find scripts for just about any film on site like this one. Then, start studying the craft os writing a story. There are very defined elements to a good story. The bug resource for story with regards to screenwriting is “Story” by Robert McKee. Then, once you’ve planned and written your masterpiece, give it to some people you trust for their honest feedback. Then comes the hard part… taking their criticism and processing it without bias towards your writing. Its very hard once you’ve slaved over a script for weeks or months to have someone tell you its deeply flawed. But the only way for you to grow as a writer is to be able to take that criticism, analyze and it objectively determine if it is a valid critique and should be applied to your work. I still have trouble today when people tell me something needs to be fixed, but its something you have to be able to do to create the best work possible.
