STEPHEN FLOYD
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Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
I’ve lived in Arizona for many years & in four other states. I like to travel a lot.
 
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 family background was in a rural setting like my screenplay «NOT IN THIS TOWN» and felt that the visual medium was the best way for others to experience denial in small-town life. A short story from me might sound like Flannery O’Connor or William Faulkner, so I strove for something original.
Living around a small, local environment can be eccentric, yet for me it was a wholesome life with organic food, livestock and lots of free time in Nature. When you move away to a city, you grow to love (or some folks hate) the differences. I’ve written several stage plays & screenplays about my hometown, focusing on events in the past that were fun or interesting – for example, my comedy «HOGSQUATCH» is based on feral hogs & Bigfoot sightings there.
 
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?
A year in the works. I start with memorable scenes on index cards, then an outline. Not all the cards made it into other screenplays, so the ones about opioids & sex comprised a pattern of denial and «NOT IN THIS TOWN» grew into a narrative. Other festivals tick boxes on a checklist, but I felt that Santa Barbara judges would read for content & recognize that the town itself was the main character here.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
To write a unique story like «ODE TO BILLIE JOE» which was a mystery song for many years before the movie explained it.
Or one like Hans Traxler’s fictional story «THE TRUTH ABOUT HÄNSEL AND GRETEL» which was a very convincing pseudo-historical work of art.
If my stories are worthy as movies, that would be even more wonderful! I want an audience engaged by the story, laughing sometimes at irony, and remembering a moral or theme that lifts them up.
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
Akira Kurosawa, Tarantino, Eric Roth, Tobias Lindholm, Ethan & Joel Coen, John Hughes, James Cameron – to name a few! Each has told a story that I connected with for a reason. Kurosawa’s are about justice & honor. Hughes reminds me of fun & drama in younger days. «NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN» could happen to anybody & «FARGO» is small-town stuff. «BORGEN» is fun for imagining multi-party politics here. They captured me with their created worlds.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
«BECKET» (1964) with Richard Burton & Peter O’Toole. «KUNG FU» and «TWILIGHT ZONE» and «THE X-FILES».
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Keep writing. Keep improving your craft. Seek out new content & play with it!
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
In 2015 my school Northern Arizona University’s Global Languages Dept. graced me with a scholarship for graduate study in Bilbao. «ELENO» is a stage play I wrote from that research in Spain’s National Historical Archives (Madrid), using notarial records from the Inquisition (1587-1589). Translations are mine.

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