MovieBytes Interview:
Screenwriter Jonathan Miller

An interview with screenwriter Jonathan Miller regarding the Movie Script/Feature Writing Competition.

A: "Garbo's Last Stand" is set on the eve of World War II, with screen legend Greta Garbo embarking on a secret plot aboard an ocean liner bound for Nazi Germany to assassinate her biggest fan - Adolf Hitler. The script is inspired by true events that occured to a legendary associated press reporter by the name of Seth Moseley. Seth actually found Garbo in the men's room of an ocean liner, hiding from the press corps on one of her many transatlantic trips just prior to the war. She said later, that if the war didn't start when it did, "I would have gone and I would have taken a gun out of my purse and shot him (Hitler), because I'm the only person who would not have been searched." In the screenplay, Seth stows away aboard the same ocean liner, trying to get himself out of debt with a candid photo of the star, only to realize there are also Nazis aboard intent on bringing Garbo back to the fatherland to make her the mother of the Aryan race. But when war is suddenly declared, a stand off on the open sea becomes inevitable.

A: The Golden Brad Awards are highly regarded in the industry. They are one of the better and more respected contests out there. They have contacts with management and production companies that I wanted to be in business with and winning the contest was the best way to get their attention. In 2008, "Garbo's Last Stand" won Grand Prize in the AAA Contest, sponsored by Creative Screenwriting Magazine. Winning that contest gave me newfound confidence in my writing, and led to winning the 2009 Golden Brad for Drama. I'm hoping winning the Movie Script Contest will lead to a first sale, or, a writing assignment. Until then, I'll keep entering contests like the Golden Brad and AAA Contest, which have real pay-offs and keep me writing.

A: The folks at Movie Script Contest are top-notch professionals. They offer exposure on their site for a year after your win! That's worth money in the bank. And the Golden Brad statuette is awesome. It's the first one I've ever won, so it has a coveted space on my mantel. In short, they're very responsive and good people to know in show business.

A: From start to finish, it took me a total of three years to write "Garbo's Last Stand". That included numerous first page drafts, because I didn't originally know what the tone of the story should be. I did know I wanted it to be fairly realistic and adhere within the constraints of true historical events. I used the timeline of World War 2 to inform my outline for the script, then establish the timeline for the story which was a period of 72 hours. That in turn informed the narrative arc and everything that needed to occur before war broke out in Europe. All in all, it worked out nicely where I could build tension from one scene to the next, up to the inevitable (yet hopefully unpredictable for the reader) climax of the story.

A: I have Final Draft and use that. Prior to that, I built my own screenplay template in Word, which I had been using for years.

A: I do try and write every day, whether it's a new script or the adaptation of "Garbo's Last Stand" from screenplay to novel. That by far has been the most challenging project I've ever embarked on. But I have the help of an interested publisher, which makes it a lot easier. Her name is Charlotte Cook and she's been amazing to work with. We used the outline from the screenplay, and together are building a methodology for adapting a screenplay into prose. I'm learning so much and a lot of it ironically finds its way back into the screenplay. It's because of the adaptation process that "Garbo's Last Stand" won the Golden Brad for Drama. Because I made structural changes I wouldn't have seen if I hadn't been working with Charlotte on the novel. So it's a nice situation all around, because the experience of writing the novel has made me a stronger screenwriter. So, if there's ever another writer's strike in LA, I can put down the screenplay I'm working on and start a new novel. Or, better yet, adapt that screenplay into a novel and work on it. Best of both worlds!

A: I've never (knock on wood) had writer's block. I'll let you know if I do.

A: After graduating film school, I worked in cable documentaries as a researcher, then segment producer in LA. Researching stories is one of my favorite things to do and it's there where I got a lot of my ideas for writing original screenplays. I've written about eight orginal scripts, two of which have been winning contests on a regular basis. I've only written a couple spec TV scripts, because I'm much more suited to the feature-length format. Not that I'd turn down a chance to work in TV. I love sitcoms, dramas and event television. There's just been less of them since reality TV took a foothold. I've always wanted to be in a room with 12 other writers jamming out a sitcom or drama script, just to feel what it would be like to collaborate with that many people.

A: Right now, I live in San Francisco and fly down to LA whenever I'm lucky enough to get meetings. I lived in LA for six years and loved it and would again if the opportunity arose. By opportunity, I mean selling a screenplay or getting a writing assignment. But yes, I would love to live and work in LA again. Hollywood has always been my dream and it would be nice to be my reality as a working screenwriter.

A: I'm writing a new script, a romantic comedy which is new for me. And I'm also creating a workshop with the publisher Charlotte Cook to help other screenwriters adapt their winning screenplay into a novel. We'll be appearing at several venues in Northern California in 2010 for starters, then branch out and hopefully someday hit NY and LA. Being able to write both screenplays and novels gives a writer an incredible advantage in getting their original stories out there. And adapting an original screenplay into a novel has been a new and exciting process for me. My hope is that the novelization of "Garbo's Last Stand" will be published in 2011 or 2012 and attract the attention of Hollywood. Then maybe I can sell the screenplay that won the Golden Brad and AAA Grand Prizes, if it doesn't sell before then. That would be a dream come true.

Posted Friday, February 19, 2010