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CHRIS LASKOWSKI
From an early age, Chris Laskowski was enthralled by the magic of movies. When he was nine years old, he knew he wanted to be a film director, thanks in large part to the experience of watching "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" on the big screen. He started making short movies in his teens, and got his own big-screen "premiere" at age 19 at the Broadway Cinema in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario; he directed a 48-minute suspense thriller which was the centrepiece of the local film festival. Chris is a graduate of York University's Film Production program; his movies have won awards in international film festivals. His early influences included Steven Spielberg and James Cameron, and he is currently a fan of Robert Rodriguez and Guillermo Del Toro. He also loves the zany comedy of the Marx Brothers and the excitement of old-fashioned adventure epics such as Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk. Chris currently resides in Toronto, and has written or co-written six feature length screenplays. 11 Questions with Scott Clements, Chris Laskowski, Steve McKay. A WILDsound FALL 2008 Feature Screenplay Finalist 1. What is your screenplay about? On the eve of World War II, young Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer, Spencer Whitney, saves the King of England from an assassination attempt, but only after his Mountie father has been killed at the hands of a mysterious masked villain, known only as 'The Skull'. Spencer is given a handsome reward for his family's ultimate sacrifice, which he uses to transform himself into the masked superhero, 'The Scarlet Avenger'. When war finally comes, the Avenger joins Canada's fight against the Skull and the Nazis, who plot to destroy the free world with a powerful doomsday weapon. 2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay? 'Scarlet Avenger' creator, Scott C. Clements, has been life-long fan of 1930s and 40s action/adventure films. He wrote a prototype for the Avenger script when he was just 12 years old. At York University, he penned a 20-minute film version and co-directed it with fellow classmate, Chris M. Laskowski. When Scott was accepted into the Directors' Lab at The Canadian Film Centre, he was encouraged to develop it as a feature there. He again teamed up with Chris, as well as fellow York classmate (and Film Centre alumnus), Steve McKay, to write it. 3. How long have you been writing screenplays? Scott's been writing screenplays since he was 12 years old. Chris and Steve began working on scripts in mid high school. While still a student at York University, Steve was co-writer of the 1997 independent film, Hayseed, featuring 'Kids in the Hall' star, Scott Thompson. 4. What is you all-time favorite film? (name only one) Scott: Star Wars 5. What artist in the film industry would you love to work with? Scott: David Wu (editor) 6. How many screenplays have you written? Scott's written five feature screenplays. Chris has written six. Steve's written six and has had one produced. 7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years? Scott would like to be writing and directing entertaining genre films in the United Kingdom. Steve hopes to be living in New York and writing for animated/comedic films/TV shows. Chris doesn't give a crap where he's living, just so long as he's making films! 8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing? Each member of the team has his own writing process. When they teamed up to write Avenger, Scott came up with the raw concepts, Steve researched and developed those further, and Chris helped knit the whole thing together structurally. The screenplay was completed after about a month of intense three-way conversations about story and structure, about two months of concentrated solo writing, and a month of concentrated collaborative polishing. 9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about? All three writers are music freaks. Scott loves history. Chris is a karaoke-aholic. Steve is obsessed with bocce ball and being generally gregarious. 10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest? Scott had seen the site while surfing the net and was told about how great the festival was by a writer friend from L.A., who had won the contest and had her script read by a cast of professional actors. 11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers? It's rare for a group of co-writers to get along as well as Scott, Chris and Steve did, but if you're able to find that type of connection, do yourself a major favour and team up. It makes the writing process so much more fun! Chris Laskowski, Chris Laskowski, Chris Laskowski, Chris Laskowski,
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