LEE TIDBALLSearch WILDsound  11 Questions with LEE TIDBALL. A WILDsound SPRING 2009 Feature Screenplay Finalist 1. What is your screenplay about? PRINCESS REBORN is about Ginah, a very normal-appearing mother of two and teacher, who is actually an alien princess and ex-superhero in hiding. All through her "superheroing" life, she longed for "normalcy," and she now finally has it. But there are "issues." Her 12 year-old daughter Lari is manifesting strange superpowers of her own and has no idea where they come from, but she's always been suspicious of her mom's phantom past and wonders if her own secrets might have something to do with Mom's. But even worse, Ginah discovers that an old alien nemesis from her past, Daniel Jin-Soon, is now back on Earth, has plotted a takeover of the US in order to steal nuclear missiles, and, if successful, will not only dominate Earth, but her father's home planet of Tylo as well. Ginah struggles to regain superpowers left unused for years, but can't before Daniel kidnaps Lari and sends her husband Richard and 10 year-old son John over a cliff in an apparently fatal crash. Irregardless, Ginah must now find a way to resurrect her former self and stop Daniel and his ghoulish henchmen. It seems impossible, but, with the help of unlikely friends and family members also hiding secrets, she is ultimately triumphant. 2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay? PRINCESS REBORN is actually an extrapolation of my self-published novel HIDDEN TALENTS; Ginah's Journals, Journal #2, a story about Ginah when she was in 7th grade and how she first discovered who her father was (an alien king) and what she had inherited from him; both super powers and super enemies. I once saw a call on Inktip.com (2003 I think) for a script about a middle-aged superhero with kids, and that's what inspired me to extrapolate my book all the way out until Ginah herself was a parent after a long life of sweat and sacrifice as a superhero, and also leading her father's armies on his planet. I wrote a first draft of the script, then queried the producer who made the request. He said it sounded like a great story--but he was looking for a MALE superhero. Oh well... I still thought I had a great story, so I've continues to work on it ever since. 3. How long have you been writing screenplays? I began writing my first screenplays (disasters as the were) back in the fall of 2002 after my best friend and writing buddy started doing it. Since then, we've given ourselves our own "MFA in screenwriting" through reading, listening, lots of trial and error, and buckets and buckets of sweat and tears (both of sadness, frustration, and joy). 4. What film have you seen the most in your lifetime? This is almost impossible to answer since I watch soooo many movies (at least one in the theater each weekend, many more at home), but there's a few I keep coming back to more than most; Gladiator and Forrest Gump, the ultimate historical epics; The Long Kiss Goodnight, Face/Off, The Rock, quintessential action thrillers; Serendipity, Sleepless in Seattle, Kate & Leopold, amazing romantic comedies; Pirates of the Caribbean Black Pearl, Star Wars A New Hope, Harry Potter Prisoner of Askaban, prototype tentpoles; School of Rock, Shrek in family comedy; What's Up Doc, The Gods Must Be Crazy, broad comedy like it should be, etc. Like I said, impossible to say just one :). 5. What artist in the industry would you love to work with? Steven Spielberg practically created the big-budget, four-quadrant tentpole type of film that I love to write, and I'd be honored beyond speech if he was to take interest in one of my projects. Also George Lucas, the Donners, Jerry Bruckheimer, Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio, stars like Hugh Jackman, Hilary Swank, Brenden Fraser, Morgan Freeman, up-and-coming kid stars like Annasophia Robb, Miranda Cosgrove, Dakota Fanning, Abigail and Spencer Breslin, Saoirse Ronan, Josh Hutcherson, etc. etc. 6. Who was your hero growing up? Growing up, I wanted to write books like Tolkien and James Michener, sing like Neil Diamond, perform in Andrew Lloyd Weber musicals, and make movies like Lucas and Spielberg, but they weren't what I'd call heroes. Heroes would have been Jesus and my Christian friends at the time...
7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years? Successfully writing and helping to produce my stories for the big screen, novels, etc., and promoting them to my favorite audience--schoolkids!
8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing? I develop a seed idea into a high concept, outline, profile characters, outline some more, create scenes for that outline, and finally write the screenplay. Hal Coasmun's ProSeries writing course really helped me in becoming more systematic and less random in my approach. And I try hard NOT to have to be perfect all the time :).
9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about? KIDS! My "day job" is teaching 6th graders--what can I say! My students are my biggest fans and a constant source of energy and inspiration. Though I'll retire from teaching when writing really kicks in, I'll always want to stay plugged into my "audience" somehow and continue to serve them through my stories. I also enjoy staying in shape, history, a lot of sports, coaching, acting, live theater, directing children's theater, and travel. 10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest? It's a new contest for me, it's a new market (Canada, East Coast, Michigan, etc.), and it's got one of the coolest prizes anywhere; a professional table read in front of a live audience of industry people. How can you beat an actual performance of your story?! 11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers? First, get good--and the best way to do that is by LISTENING to good constructive criticism rather than hiding from it. Then, be persistent. Realize that it's a highly subjective industry where rejection is as common as bad air in LA, but if you stick with it, you've always, always got a chance for success. The only sure way to fail is to quit.
Lee Tidball
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