Jerry Mathes

Screenplay Winner
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"The Jeweler's Daughter"

Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
I live in Redlands, California
 
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?
My initial inspiration came from hearing a story from a friend who mused about portable wealth and perhaps that’s why the Jew became involved in the diamond business – to be ready to be on the run, which had happened to his family after the invasion of Poland in 1939. There was also a British secret mission to get industrial diamonds out of Amsterdam ahead the Nazi invasion that got me thinking. Finally, there were the stories coming from these old women in Europe who had joined the Resistance as teenagers, and I wanted to explore that origin story. These women went from being high school girls to women who lured German soldiers into the woods to kill them among other things. What a transformation.
I wrote it as a script because that’s how I visualized it and saw it playing out in my head. The story needs the visual and aural elements to be told effectively.
 
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 a few weeks. For a script like this, I read and research a lot and take notes. As I do, the story starts to take shape in my head. I don’t outline or use index cards, but I do start writing it out long hand on a legal pad before going to the computer.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
I want to see my scripts produced so I can share my stories with the public and hopefully entertain them as well as reveal something to them they might not have known and see the world a little differently. 
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
Nicholas Pileggi, Callie Khouri, Guillermo Arriaga, Robert Towne, Francis Ford Coppola, among others. But these writers are good at structuring scripts in interesting ways. They can also take what might seem like a mundane moment and elevate it to something grand which resonates with the audience. They pay attention to the small details that are the connective tissue of story. And they tell great stories.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
Apocalypse Now Redux

What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
The art of writing is rewriting, so revise, revise, revise. Also, remember that minor characters are the protagonists in their own stories, and they should feel like it even if briefly.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? 
I’m a PEN American Writing for Justice Fellow and writing a nonfiction narrative/memoir about justice-involved veterans and addiction. Last March a short script I’d written for Rehabilitation Through the Arts was produced tailored specifically towards men in prison to get them to think about the obstacles they will face on the outside. After production, I felt the need to expand upon the subject in a feature following a veteran released from custody into a halfway house and his struggle with readjusting to society.

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