Screenwriting is an interesting art; it is a cousin to novel writing but different in crucial ways. You toil away for months on a document that is written to be read - but only by a relatively small cadre of insiders (producers, actors, cinematographers etc.) whom you are hoping will respond so well to your words on the page that they will commit to turning it into something else entirely. You are basically designing a sturdy cocoon from which, hopefully, a beautiful butterfly will one day emerge. If and when that happens, the butterfly will be scrutinized but rarely will anyone see the cocoon you so carefully constructed.

 

As a screenwriter who takes a lot of time and care to make my scripts as readable and compelling and poetic as possible, it has always bothered me that very few people outside the film crew will get to read that document. Some screenwriters are very utilitarian with their scripts - to them, it is merely a blueprint for the really important thing: the finished film. They (and I’m not naming any names here) are terse and technical in their writing, eager to get to the part where a camera is recording it all for prosperity. I am in the other camp - I see screenwriting as an art form in and of itself and I write as if a wide audience was going to be reading the thing. As if the screenplay itself was the final destination.

 

Having said that, I don’t glow with pride about every screenplay that I’ve put out into the world. When I was younger, there were certain films that I wrote for the money if I’m being honest. That doesn’t mean that I put no effort into them. I always put all of myself into anything that I sit down at my desk to write. It’s just that, if money is the main motivating factor that put me there at the desk, then that is never a good place to start. As I’ve gotten older and grown as a writer, I now know that passion and imagination are the only places where I should begin. And so, I now present to you a handful of screenplays I’ve written that I’m very proud of. Enjoy.