THOMAS PACE
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Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Chicago, IL

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?
“Two Kinds of People,” is a story about the struggle to escape fate. It’s about adversity making strange bedfellows. It’s about good luck and bad luck and how sometimes it can be difficult to tell the difference.
I actually wrote a few chapters of this story when I though it might be a novel. But when I realized how the scope of this story was perfect for a makable independent film, I started on it as a 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?
In all honesty, this script was kind of a tough one for me. I had to chip away at it over a couple years. In that time the story and cast of characters evolved significantly.  I really had to be pragmatic in order to get to the root of what and who it was about.
I always start with an outline. For me, building the outline is the first way I get to know the story.
I know if I can’t get a good outline together I’m not ready to start writing the script.
Also, whenever I get stuck or lost while I’m writing, I try to just go back to the outline. It serves as something of a roadmap.

What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
I know it’s sound cliche but I just want to tell stories. I adore the idea of creating, out of nothing, characters and worlds that an audience can embrace and invest in. The way I’ve invested to stories my whole life.
I want to have a hand in bringing this alternative universe to life, and in a sense make it real.

Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
I think Arron Sorkin is the gold standard. The way he balances theme and plot. The way he delivers subtext within the text. If there someone I aspire to be like it would have to be him. I love Greta Gerwig is a generational talent. i thought the Barbie movie was absolutely genius.  Her husband, Noah Baumbach is great as well. I think John Logan is brilliant. Love Cameron Crowe.

What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
My top five film of all time films, in no particular order are, Jaws, Pan’s Labyrinth, Jo Jo Rabbit, La La Land, and Castaway.
Of course there are a hundred movies that I could gladly put on the short list of my favorites.

What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
The aspect of screenwriting that I think I struggle with most is judging the work too early. First drafts can be awkward and disjointed. More than a few times, reading my first draft has kind of taken the wind out of my sails and left me disheartened. Over time, I’ve learned that the first draft likely bears little resemblance to the final draft. Finishing the first draft is actually just the beginning, not the end.
For me, it’s really not until the third or fourth draft that I really feel like I have a clear understanding of what the story is really about and who the character really are.
So no matter how many times I cringe reading the first draft, I know that there’s no need to panic. You got to get through some of the bad stuff in order to get to the good stuff.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?​
I’ve just finished my first feature film!
“Get Over Yourself,” is a romantic comedy about young, tech entrepreneur Ian Bruce who, on the eve of selling his start-up company for millions, returns to his childhood home to care for his ailing mother.  At home he finds himself confronted with the same, unresolved, issues that sent him fleeing for the West Coast ten years earlier.
We just recently managed to get it “in the can,” and have high hopes as the festival circuit awaits and we look for distribution.

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