Kindrey and Stephanie Laeser HunterSearch WILDsound  11 Questions with 2010 Screenplay Finalist Kindrey and Stephanie Laeser Hunter 1. What is your screenplay about? It’s a bit of a social commentary on politics and popular culture in the Western world. Jillian is elected to public office (sadly, not so far-fetched) and whips the women of America into beautified action, while Chris explores the world of the supernatural and what young women seem to find so damned attractive about it. 2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay? We found we were always coming across funny things we thought should be on Family Guy – when Kindrey once mistakenly called it a “Pulitzer Surprise”, we figured we’d better start writing stuff down. We ended up with a book full of silly ideas when – dum dum dum – the blessed Vancouver Olympics came. Trapped in our apartment in a hazy rage of service cuts and tourism hell, our best friend suggested we quit bitching and start writing.
3. How long have you been writing screenplays? We both made clueless attempts when we were teenagers – along with epic, deep-rooted-pain poetry – but it wasn’t until February 2010 that the screenplay magic began. 4. What is your favorite TV show of all-time? This is impossible to answer. We watch a lot of HBO, DVDs and cartoons – Weeds, United States of Tara, Big Love, Drawn Together, Family Guy, American Dad, The Simpsons, The Office, 30 Rock. Some really great sitcoms got cancelled: Arrested Development and The Class. Golden Girls is high on the list…but the only show we’re really committed to is Days of Our Lives, so what do we know? 5. What artist in the film industry would you love to work with? The Muppets. 6. Who was your hero growing up? No. Well…maybe He-Man. 7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years? Working as screenwriters! 8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing? We’ve been trying to hone a process, and we think we’ve got one down – but don’t hold us to it: together, we develop: the concept; the setting if it’s important; the characters if they don’t exist already; the story map and character arcs. Then Steph writes the first act, fleshing out the story map and producing craptastic dialogue. We go over the first act together, Kindrey taking notes; we go over the notes and make changes accordingly. Kindrey makes the dialogue funny/good, and we repeat these steps for act two, act three, and maybe an epilogue. And – BAM! – just like that, a work of totally mutable art, to be reworked two or three times for brevity, humour, theme and, of course, typos. 9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about? Steph’s passionate about connecting people to share learning and experience – she thinks people are pretty interesting. Kindrey pleads the Fifth. Do we have a Fifth in Canada? 10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest? The feedback and user reviews. We researched every contest we could find, and this was the only one that accepted submissions on an ongoing basis and offered feedback. Turns out the feedback’s great – lots of specific details and really helpful suggestions. 11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers? Don’t think it’s impossible ‘cause it’s not. Learn about storytelling and structure. Google is your friend!
Kindrey and Stephanie Laeser Hunter
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