Screenplays

I’ve written several screenplays of my own and helped with many more by other people.

Part of my younger years were spent in Los Angeles. Here a small company called Chotzen-Jenner Productions read one of my earlier works and on the strength of that soon enlisted me to help them find and develop material. After I discovered several good screenplays close to our goals, Yvonne Chotzen offered that I become a producer for the next project, provided we could find something both of us liked. She introduced me to the world of a script expert named Ken Rotcop, and I became a familiar face at his events for some years. These were more relaxed than common pitch events, letting other writers feel at ease when they pitched their works to me. As a result I also frequently agreed to give more feedback and suggestions than was customary in clinical settings. Meeting fellow producers there also gave me good social experiences and allowed me to witness what other executives were making or looking for.

Outside of these events I got requests to edit, tighten, or rewrite screenplays entirely, and I’ve long since lost count how many scenes and how much dialogue I’ve improved. It was fascinating to see how many resources studios and independent companies expended on material that could easily be replaced by work that was better out of the box. The average person has no notion of how many exceptional, original screenplays are never turned into movies.

During my time in Los Angeles I received additional interest in my own screenplay but felt reluctant to make changes that were too fundamental. Commercial scripts are often suitable for molding into different shapes, though it usually does feel necessary to preserve the spirit of a work. You got to keep the writer’s heart.

Before any of the projects could become films, I left Los Angeles for Oregon where my script work took a backseat to other things.