Dean Friske

Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Sydney, Australia.
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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?
The boring answer is “Covid”. Everything was about to go into lock down and I figured “if I write something small with one person in all the rolls, then some filmmaking buddies and I can escape town and make it while we’re all not working”. Needless to say, we didn’t escape before everything was locked down. So what was meant to be a fun project with mates became a darkly comic meditation on sustaining a relationship when you’re literally living with someone in your face every second of every day. Like, Honey, I love you but, if someone hadn’t come up with a vaccine…
 
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?
I had a beginning and an ending. So I did what I always do – jam the in-between bits.
I write one sentence outlines for scenes. Sometime sequentially. Sometimes not. Then I let it gestate. Cull the crap (from “Oh my god this is a feature!” to “will this even make a 1st act?”). Then do it again until it feels like a story.  
 
The first draft took about a week, but the rewriting never stopped. I’m still tweaking it as I get it ready for production.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
I just want to make the world a better… okay. I think we can all agree my writing isn’t going to do that. It’s not going to cure cancer or end famines (unless they print said writing on a seed based paper that’s fed to animals who then fertilize the seeds with their poop). It might just entertain people though. Ultimately, I’d like a “full time” career writing feature films or limited series TV that lean dark but make you laugh. 
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
Martin McDonagh for his wit and verve. The way he attacks often complex and confronting subjects and still leaves you laughing is just brilliant. If you haven’t already, read his plays, especially Lieutenant of Inishmore. Genius.
 
Charlie Kaufmann – back in the day his scripts fused originality, social commentary and pure cinema in a way few have accomplished.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
At the minute it’s “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once”. Ambitious and perfectly executed. Again, for me, this is what cinema is all about – the perfect fusion of story, character and technique at a scale that is infinite yet intimate and wholly unique. 
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Start your own contest. Then enter it. If you don’t win and only place, you’re doing something wrong. Or…
Don’t write to win. Write to get feedback, develop your work and further refine your “voice”. Then re-wrote. Focus on the process, not the outcome. That’s what’s awesome like the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Festival. With their quality feedback and screenwriter focus, they help you focus on the process of getting good pages done, knowing that if you get that sorted, the accolades will come.   
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
Aside from a feature film script that’s nearing completion about a guy who loses his penis, I’m shooting “Mousse” later this year as a pilot for a limited series.

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