THOMAS HERRING 11 Questions with THOMAS HERRING. A WILDsound SUMMER 2009 One Screenplay Finalist 1. What is your screenplay about? A guy wants to impress his girlfriend by tattooing her name on his chest. While he's having it done, he sees her with another man. 2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay? I wanted to see if I could write a comedy with a beginning, middle and conclusion on one page. I also liked the idea of how far a person would go to impress someone and how it could end up so badly. 3. How long have you been writing screenplays? 6 years. I didn't enter competitions until 2005. 4. What film have you seen the most in your lifetime? Star Trek 2-4 and 6. I'm a sci-fi nut. I'll also watch a lot of old movies on television when I'm not buying DVD's. 5. What artist in the industry would you love to work with? There's a lot of them I'd love to work with but since I have to pick one, it would be Will Smith. 6. Who was your hero growing up? My dad would be my influence. I did used to pretend I was different sports figures and musicians but I never had a real hero. 7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years? Writing better scripts, directing and maybe work in animation. 8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing? My routine changes like the weather. I'll write ideas down on index cards and write form that or I'll just start writing as soon as I write fade in and see where it leads me. It's never the same for me. 9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about? I like traveling and seeing the sights, playing and writing music, artwork using airbrush or digital (fantasy and wildlife). 10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest? I liked the fact that you don't have to wait a year to enter a competition. Feedback is important so I'll know if I'm making any progress. I also came in first place with an earlier screenplay short last year and got to see it read on stage. That was an eye opener. 11. Influence people to vote for your one page script? It's a nice short comedy that can be shot in one location with few actors. People can relate to the protagonist and have a good laugh at the dating game. My name is Thomas Herring. I'm 50 years old but don't look it and live in Portland Oregon. I am an artist, musician and a writer but I make my living in the bindery department of a print shop. I collate covers for video rentals and ship them to various throughout the United States and Canada. I wrote my first science fiction manuscript called Loamprime tenyears ago that still remains unpublished. I switched to writingscreenplays about three years ago when I learned the turn around time was a lot shorter than writing manuscripts and that the pay was a lot better, assuming that I sold a screenplay. I am a member of the Willamette Writers Organization in Portland Oregon and have been for over five years. Cynthia Whitcomb who is the president of Willamette Writers and Bill Johnson gave me great encouragement in how to write. I was privileged to meet Mike Rich who wrote Finding Forrester and The Rookie. He gave me great tips on writing and not giving up when things get rough. I took the usual English courses in high school but never went to college to expand my writing. I've entered different competitions but did not placing well at first. I decided to read up on script writing from downloading scripts from websites and reading Cynthia's two books Writing Your Screenplay and Selling Your Screenplay. I also bought David Trottier's The Screenwriter's Bible. There is a wealth of information on formatting and breaking down the screenplay scene by scene. I also go to the Writers Conferences every August to learn how to not only write better scripts but also learn how to pitch ideas to producers, directors and agents. There's definitely more to the business than writing. Return from Thomas Herring to home page
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