FRANK CANINO
11 Questions with FRANK CANINO. FALL 2009 Short Screenplay Finalist 1. What is your screenplay about? ALEKSANDAR LEAVING is a visual fantasia about the power and powerlessness of art – to get us through life — and even into the next life maybe. 2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay?
I always wanted to write a completely off-the-wall screenplay with unlimited parameters. A director/friend of mine at Toronto Film School asked me write a short film as a showcase for a class of student and faculty actors – to be shot mostly in the studio that would challenge his cast. Just at that time I read an article about a Polish poet , Aleksandar Wat, who had a troubled life, and I wondered what might have happened to him at the moment of his dying. Bang! The script came very quickly after that. 3. How long have you been writing screenplays? Seriously since 2005 when Platinum Films asked me to co-write a feature film, LOOKING FOR ANGELINA, inspired by a play I wrote. But I had written several short pieces and feature-lengths previously when I got involved with the NFB Video Workshop. 4. What film have you watched the most in your lifetime? SEVENTH SEAL is my standard answer and I’ll stick by it. 5. What artist in the industry would you love to work with? He’s dead — Krzysztof Kieslowski [THE DECALOGUE, THREE COLORS, etc].... because he was so simple and ruthlessly honest in depicting the human condition. We can’t afford that luxury — if we ever did in the West. For a live one, I’ll take Spike Jonze or Tim Burton for their wonderful imagination. 6. Who was your hero growing up?
Three full-length and about a half-dozen short pieces. 7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years? Writing for film, stage and TV; I love and need the different challenges and possibilities. 8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing?
NO, try to do something every day — with limited success. Need deadlines and threats ..... even the occasional 9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about? Poetry, theatre, fiction, classical and 20th century music, and dance of all kinds. 10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest? ALEKSANDAR didn’t get to camera so I’m desperately searching for a director who’s willing to take it on. Any volunteers? 11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers? My motto still is: "Don’t let the bastards grind you down!"
FRANK CANINO
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CREATIVE IDEAS
