Jason Amelio

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1. What is your screenplay about?

It is about 3 friends who decide to sell weed in order to let one of their own have a chance at his dreams, and of course have some fun along the way. At it's heart Green Fees is about friends, love, golf, and doing just a little bit of growing up.

2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay?

There are two reasons really. The first happened while I was out golfing in heavy wind. I came up with a scene idea and started riffing on it to my brother and one of his friends. They were cracking up and so I just kept going with other scene ideas and at one point my brothers friend turned to me and said "I wish this was a real movie, I would see it" so I decided to write it just to see if I could do it. The second reason was Clerks 2. The whole film kind of made me want to kick myself in the ass and do something with myself. I had this idea for a script and went with it.

3. How long have you been writing screenplays?

This was my first screenplay. I have been writing songs my whole life and even did a few scripts for what was to be "old time radio" style plays for a band I was in at the time. But this was the first time I wrote anything at all for screen and by far longest thing I have written thus far.

4. What film have you watched the most in your lifetime?

Oh, this is going to look bad....I would have to say it's a tie between The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Lady and the Tramp with Uncle Buck coming in a close third.

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

Harold Ramis I mean Groundhogs Day, Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, and Stripes! Come on! 6. Who was your hero growing up?

Gene Simmons Say what you will about KISS but they guy has been able to spend his entire life putting on silly make up and entertaining millions of people. Next to Food Networks Guy Fiere who gets to drive around and eat for a living Gene has the best job on earth. 7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years?

Working for myself and trying to make people laugh. With any luck it will be a lot more people laughing in the future. My goal has and always will be the same. Give someone a movie, a song or anything you can to make them laugh a bit and forget about "real life" for a minute.

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

I wrote this while I was working as a security guard. So the only rule I put on my self was that I had to write while I was on the clock. It was almost like I was a working writer that way. Other then that I wrote the first out line and a rather long "beat sheet" by hand and then my first real draft moved to a laptop and was done any chance I got. I think that the beat sheet was by far the most important part of the whole thing. It let me really "see" what my script was going to be long before I wrote the first line of dialog.

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

Music!!! I have been in bands for most of the last 20 years. I am currently in a metal band called The Kill Junkies (and had the bad taste to plug the band in my script) music has given me the chance to meet and open up for a few of my heroes and is something I will be doing one way or another until I die. 10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest?

To be honest, depression. I was feeling down and killing time on the internet. Green Fees had been sitting doing nothing for well over a year and along came an email about the contest. I am glad it did because coming from a music background I had no idea what the "next step" was for a screen writer and had almost allowed myself to just accept that my friends were going to be the only ones who would ever read it. Since the moment I finished it all I have wanted was to hear the whole thing read out by actors. It was like writing a song that was never going to be played by a band. The chance to hear the script read out by real live actors, to "hear my song played" is what really influenced me to give it a shot.

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

Do as much as you can by hand. If you don't love what your writing enough to get some cramps in your hands doing it then why should any one else care?

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