JEFFERY EVANS
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Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
I currently live in Salem, Oregon, USA
 
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 a student in a 1960s SF Bay Area special education program when several of us were told that we would be mainstreamed into “regular” classrooms for the next academic year. It was a time of great uncertainty for us.
I didn’t write it as a novel because that would have required too much detail about the personalities and backgrounds of my classmates. A script allowed me to obscure the identities who served as inspiration for the story while preserving the storyline. Concomitantly, a short story would have been too limiting in that it would not have revealed enough about the personalities involved in the story.
 
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 me three years to write and rewrite the story and twenty-five years of pestering by friends who wanted me to write it. Initially, I used index cards to write down salient points and a cork board to organize my thoughts. All of that was abandoned when my script butcher … er … consultant began his butchering … er … gentle commentary.
 
 What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
To get produced, get rich, and spend my senior years as an international revolutionary.
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
Aaron Sorkin is probably the most brilliant screenwriter when it comes to writing dialogue.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
Drama: The West Wing and Newsroom
Comedy: What’s Up Doc?
Science Fiction: Battlestar Galactica (2000s version)
Rom Com: Anything with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
Action/Adventure: Top Gun: Maverick
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
  1. Find someone who knows more than you, check your ego at the door, and let them butcher the crap out of your script.
  2. Be prepared to “Kill your darlings.”
  3. Accept that there is no such thing as writer’s block. Being stuck is how the universe tells you to leave it alone for a while.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
I have a list of 45 projects.