Douglas May
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​Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
I live in Woodland Hills in Los Angeles. 
 
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?
I was overcoming a sudden and tragic loss of someone whom I thought would be a life-partner and was going to grief therapy.  During one of my early sessions, the therapist suggested narrative therapy as a way for me to write down my thoughts and try to find some positivity in my desperate situation.  I began writing dialogues that I recalled with my lost love, which started to take story form.  In an odd way, it was a way to still connect with her, speak to her, and have her in my life during those empty days and nights.  A friend was taking a screenwriting class and suggested that I go, just for fun. I began adapting the story I had begun piecing together to script form, adding in many other elements, including lots of fictional characters and situations, and a main character based on someone who would later become my wife.  In time, the story developed into a full-blown 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?
It took about seven or eight months to write the script.  I have since altered and adapted it, but overall, the main story took about that long to craft together, with the help of the screenwriting class as my guide.  The instructor used the Save the Cat formula, and the structure was a great help in tracking story events, logic, and progress. 
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
I’m actually a copywriter and professor, and I also worked as professional actor for years.  I’ve always loved to write, and dreamed of writing movie stories since I was very young.  I would love for this script to be an entry to full-time screenwriting and filmmaking.  I have a lot of other stories bouncing around in my head which I think could make for exciting, compelling entertainment.  
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
My dad was an actor, so I was weaned on old movies when I was a kid.  I was inspired early on by such great films as King Kong, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Double Indemnity, and Vertigo.  Movies created during the Golden Age of Hollywood by extremely talented writers, directors, and stars were the basis of my introduction to the film world, and the tradition carried forth from that period by such masters as Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Ridley Scott, and James Cameron has always further sparked my interest in filmmaking.      
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
That’s a tough one!  I watched everything from The Adventures of Robin Hood to War of the Worlds to In Cold Blood when I was a kid, and I studied the techniques and styles of all of the movies I would watch to try to discern what made them so fascinating to watch.  Sometimes it was the allure of the stars; other times, it was the writing, direction, or other aspects of the stories that would draw you in.  Godfather II would have to be one of my all-time favorites, and for TV Show, maybe, All in the Family.
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
I think mostly, write something that means a lot to you…something that moves you, inspires you, and releases powerful aspects of your personality and experience — even comedic writing can hit those targets.  Don’t be afraid to put your work out there.  It’s probably one of the bravest things to do, but you’ll never know what you have until you do. 
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
I have a few unfinished scripts that I need to get back to.  One is a World War II epic that may have some possibilities…I’ll have to see where it goes.

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