TIMOTHY MICHAELS
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​Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Tennessee but I do enjoy Los Angeles. Don’t visit without a good tour guide though haha.
 
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?
Well, I just wanted to tell a simple story, a Fairy Tale. “Cascadia” is that story. I like the screenwriting format because it is more experiential, you describe what the audience sees and hears. I’ve always enjoyed storytelling. A good story can bring people together, or motivate them, or even make someone see the world in a way they had never thought about before. I guess you could say that about all art really, but storytelling is where my passion lies. All the basics I learned in high school English class. Themes, symbolism, and so on. Shucks, I’m still learning stuff today. And it’s never too late to start. I wrote for fun when I was younger and it’s only been in the past couple years I’ve jumped back in.
 
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?
Oh, it took a while. Cascadia started as a short, then grew to a half hour, then hour, and finally the feature length spectacle it is now. It could evolve into something more. A very good friend of mine once told me that writing a screenplay is like music. A symphony of emotions. The audience will come to feel love or sorrow. The mountaintops of happiness or the valleys of tension. The purity of joy and laughter or the wariness of suspense and unease. When all these things happen, when the equation balances out, the audience has gone on a safe journey from the comfort of their favorite reading space…. And all that begins with writing and rewriting and so on until it’s ready.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
Believe it or not, I just want to tell good stories. It really is that simple for me. I’m always trying to learn new ways to do that. Exploring different genres, really listening to another's voice. Applying that to what I already know. That’s what it’s all about.
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
You have to remember that I am from a different time and place haha, so I’m going to tell you straight as best I can: Preston Sturges, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, the Coen Brothers, George Lucas, John Singleton, Rob Reiner, Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Jim Henson, Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, Sophia Coppola, Levinson & Link, Glenn Gordon Caron, Lloyd Kaufman, Dan O’Bannon, John Carpenter, Brian De Palma, Oliver Stone, Wes Craven, Bob Gale, Franken & Davis, Robert Towne, Steve D’Souza, Steve Martin, Tim Burton, David Lynch, Alfred Hitchcock, Walter Hill, many more. And last on this list but definitely first in many ways - the man, the myth, the legend, the real life Wizard of Oz: John Waters.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
Moonlighting. That show was a big influence on an impressionable skull full of mush.
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
The Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards most definitely helped! It’s helped me hone my craft. Screenwriting is part science and part art. The team here have that down! I also can’t recommend Stage 32 enough for creatives of all stripes in all fields. And Stage 32 genuinely cares about the success of all of us in this business we call show.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
Shortly after becoming a Finalist I signed a representation and development deal with Majestic Worldwide Productions. Let me tell ya, they know their stuff and I am both honored and humbled to be working with such a great organization, but then again I’m a company man at heart. As far as my latest projects go, well, there’s Cascadia, my little GrungeRock FairyTale that I’m glad to see you all enjoyed. That one is very special to me. I’m currently working on rewrites for the first thing I ever wrote. A Science Fiction story about a bunch of college kids who work together to stop the apocalypse and save the world, save their friends. I also have a Work-In-Progress on the back burner. A Neo-Noir about a police detective that navigates a very cynical and complacent world who must face a horror from her past when it resurfaces. It’s not the type of story I usually tell, but it is one that might need to be told.
 
I just want to say that this was an absolute joy and I appreciate you for featuring me.

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