DENNIS HASELEY

Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Brooklyn, NY
 
Your script stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your story and why did you write a script instead of a short story or a novel?
Script was adapted from my novel.   The script uses a magical-realism sense of paintings as settings and characters that the protagonist is in dialog with, to solve a mystery.   Inspired by the idea of hidden trauma, that a picture holds not only a thousand words but a central memory.   The visual aspects of the story lend themselves well to a screenplay.
 
How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards...white board...or just start with FADE IN?
Script took at least a year.   Worked from my novel as an ‘outline’.   Consulted books on format, other scripts.  Many many revisions.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
To continue to write novels and screenplays, and to continue publishing and to see a screenplay produced.
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
William Goldman (whom I studied with).   Jed Mercurio.    Christopher McQuarrie.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
The Lives of Others
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Keep working and tame your inner critic.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
Working on a YA thriller that uses a concept of time-displacement; a screenplay adapted from my baseball novel about a pitcher who is the son of a traumatized veteran.  
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