RICH HYNES 11 Questions with RICH HYNES. FALL 2009 TV Screenplay Finalist 1. What is your teleplay about? COMPUTER GUY - Ummm… about 26 pages? Oh, you mean plot wise. Sorry. It’s about Stanley Robert Cane, a mild mannered, unimpressively built computer technician who gains superpowers after being attacked by a radioactive monkey. (Hey, it could happen!) He’s then transformed into a slightly less mild mannered, yet still unimpressively built technology themed superhero. NCIS - It’s about the best investigatory team in the whole Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Gibbs and the team uncover a large scale drug ring aboard an aircraft carrier. When the leader of the ring wants his merchandise back, he kidnaps Abby to force Gibbs into returning it. Bad idea. 2. Why did you decide to write this teleplay? COMPUTER GUY - Because it was there! No, wait… that’s not right. It wasn’t there until I wrote it. To meet chicks? No, can’t say that either. Okay. Having been a computer professional for many years and knowing the miraculous things your everyday computer professional is capable of, I just knew that the time was right for a real super powered computer professional. I wanted to watch his ongoing adventures and struggles and the inevitable league of technology based super villains that would surely rise to challenge him. NCIS - I was working on building up my writing portfolio and needed to write some spec scripts. When picking which show to spec, I kept coming across the advice to write what you know. You’re supposed to capture the voice of the show as well as the characters via their dialogue. I looked at the shows that were available and picked NCIS because I knew this show. It hooked me long ago with its consistently great stories told through interesting and well developed characters. I knew these people. I knew the tone and the style. All I had to do was send them on a mission and watch what happened. 3. How long have you been writing screenplays? (Sigh) It seems like forever. Let’s see. The first thing I ever really wrote was a ‘Married…With Children’ finale after feeling remarkably gypped when they just ended the beloved series. After eleven seasons, they just capped it with a regular old season finale instead of a grand series finale. I said to myself “Self, even you can do better then that!” And my self answered back: “You know, you talk a good game, but let’s see you put your money where your mouth is bucko!” So, not being able to back down from the challenge without suffering some serious, Freudian level damage, I wrote my first spec. So…since 1997 I guess. 4. What is your favorite TV show of all-time? Of all time? That’s just crazy talk. ‘All In The Family’, “Married… With Children’, ‘Battlestar Galactica’, ‘NCIS’, ‘Gilmore girls’ (Yeah, I said it!) ‘Better Off Ted’, ‘Eureka’, ‘Big Bang Theory’ …. Too many… great stories…great characters… my head hurts. 5. What artist in the industry would you love to work with? Mel Brooks 6. Who was your hero growing up? My heroes have always been cops, fireman and EMTs. Oh, and Batman. 7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years? Locked in a writers room for the 16th straight hour, jacked up on coffee and Soy Joy bars and arguing with the other writers over the correct wording of a fart joke. 8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing? Umm…no. I try to, but the only true constant is procrastination. I come up with my ‘What if?” starting point and then pursue it doggedly. Sometimes I just sit down and it comes flowing out. Sometimes it fights me every step of the way. Whatever the challenge of the day appears to be, I try and find a way around it. When all else fails I revert back to Word 1.0 (Pen and paper) something about the organic-ness of it helps me. But I do force myself to sit and write. Even if I only get out one sentence over the course of a ten hour sitting. Finally, when I find that right spot/method/state of mind, I just sit back, watch the show in my head and write it down. 9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about? Great stories, a good scotch and world peace. 10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest? It seemed like a contest that really appreciated the art of the script and thus, a good place to start putting myself “out there’. 11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers? Keep writing, keep writing, keep writing. Finished your fist script? Write a second. Finished your second? Write a feature. Features come easy? Write a book. If you’re a writer, you should be writing all the time. Even when you’re not writing. Try it all to find out what you’re good at and what you like to write and then run with it. And don’t listen to anyone else. You wanna be a writer? Good. You’re a writer. Go write.
Rich Hynes
|
CREATIVE IDEAS
