Janos J Szasz

ALSO ON SITE

1. What is your one page screenplay about?

It's about three men hanging over an abyss with a little time to talk things over.

One of them in particular, the man in the black suit, has a real attitude problem.

2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay/What influenced you to enter the WILDsound One Page Screenplay Contest?

I thought this would be a good way to start entering competitions. One page is not much, and it's fun writing them.I look forward to submitting longer scripts.

3. How long have you been writing screenplays?

Good question. My interest in script writing goes back to the late 1980's

I have been studying the topic and reading screenplays, analyzing movies as a hobby for many years.

On my shelf there are dozens of screenplay ideas in various stages of progress. Recently I have decided to enter competitions.

4. What is your all-time favorite MOVIE? (name only one)

MATRIX (the first movie)

5. What artist in the film industry would you love to work with?

I enjoy working with creative people. If the sparks are flying, I am happy.

6. How many screenplays have you written?

I am working on several scripts, but they are not ready for submission.

7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years?

Goals

1) Twelve full length movie scripts finished and submitted to contests or agents.

2) Five full length movies produced. Three of these could be low budget productions.Two of these could be high budget productions.

3) One film directed.

8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing?

When the idea comes I imagine the whole story as if I was watching it in on the big screen.

In the mean time I grab an A4 sized paper or even an old envelopeand just start writing down the ideas. I just jot down the general idea and describe the story in terms of ACT I, ACT II, ACT III, or just in terms of individual scenes. It is enough just to write keywords.

I find screen writing software like Final Draft very useful. I can focus on the story instead of the formating. To me writing is like sculpturing marble. The first few drafts look horrible. The next few start to show some sign of life. The last few drafts resemble the final version.

For the first few drafts I do not worry about anything except to get the structure and characters of the story established and to get the main themes and keywords typed in. At this stage grammarhas not relevance. The middle level sculpting is about getting sentences right.

The last few drafts are about getting each word just right.

9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I read a lot - I mean a lot - in Hungarian and English. I do traditional archery and have entered several competitions. I am considering taking mounted archery lessons. I have been on a few mounted archery training exercises before and enjoyed it very much.

Living in the city I do not have much time with horses though.I have have been practicing an indian meditation technique for many many years. I am a businessman and enjoy everything related to economics. I did software engineering years ago and still still enjoy designing software as a hobby. Mostly I enjoy designing things. I have had one patent application granted and there are several inventions on the drawing board.

10. Why should people vote for your screenplay?

To give an extremely creative guy the opportunity make itbig in the movie industry. This first one page script turned into film would be a huge stepping stone. Down the road the reward to everyone will be several fantastic uplifting movies that will shake the world.

11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Read a lot and write about topics you enjoy reading about.Speak at least two languages so you can enrich your stories with values from other cultures.

Note down on paper every script idea you have. File all the ideas. Look them over from time to time. If an idea keeps popping up over and over, write a screenplay around the idea. If you find that a particular idea makes you happy, write a screenplay around the idea.

Have some source of income besides writing. It will make screenwriting fun.

Janos J Szasz, Janos J Szasz