WL GORMAN

ALSO ON SITE

1. What is your screenplay about?

Zenik is about a young boy from a small town. After the death of his mother, he runs away from a severely abusive father. When he arrives in the big city, he is rescued from potential harm and taken in by a disparate group of "organized street people" who teach him how to survive on the streets. And ... oh yeah ... the police are looking for Zenik.

2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay?

In the summer of 1970, while a student, I worked in the middle of the British Columbia Rockies on a rail gang. On that gang, I met many derelicts and homeless men who told me stories about themselves that were sometimes funny, often sad, but always interesting. I have wanted to write about them since that summer. In looking for a protagonist to interact with these characters, I wanted to step outside of the group. That is when I found Zenik, a young boy whose youth and inexperience allows him to accept these derelict people without being judgmental.

3. How long have you been writing screenplays?

For about a year

4. What is you all-time favorite film? (name only one)

A really tough question; but, if only one, then it would have to be Doctor Strangelove. Great director, wonderfully comedic acting, a timely issue, and terrific tongue-in-cheek, black-comedy writing.

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

Another tough question because of the great wealth of creative people in the industry. But here goes ... Sarah Polley. When you see Away From Her, you just know that someone is at the helm of that film who understands people and knows how to portray them honestly and compellingly. (As well, she does it all ... acts, directs and WRITES).

6. How many screenplays have you written?

I have finished Zenik and am now working on a second one.

7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years?

I would like to have at least two-to-three screenplays produced (to avoid the "one-hit-wonder" label) and would like to be a member of a team of writers on a television series for the experience of writing with creative people.

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

Once I have an idea that I like and that I think has good legs, I will use every available hour to get the first draft written. I find that, once I start writing in earnest, the ideas start to flow and it's my job to try to keep up. After the first draft, I will put the script away for a little while, and then if I like it when I re-visit it, I will start to work on revising it.

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

My wife, our dogs, rock 'n roll music, warped comedy, reading, and good films.

10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest?

The website had an edgy-friendly feel to it and it sounded like a place where perhaps I could get my work read (and hopefully noticed) by someone in the industry.

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

Don't spend any time worrying about possible rejection and about not having an "in". If you think you have an interesting story to tell, and if you know you have some writing ability, and if you like to write dialogue for characters, then simply do it. When you take out the first draft of your screenplay after letting it sit for a while, if it makes you smile, then polish it as best you can, then enter it into a competition like WILDsound. The worst that will happen is that you will get a "thank you for entering".

WL GORMAN

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