TOM W MEYERS
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 PictureTOM W MEYERS
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Originally, I’m from Toledo, Ohio, but I lived in Los Angeles for fifteen years. At the moment, I’m nomadic and tend to follow film gigs and writing projects.

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?
After being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 31, it amazed me how much the experience made me think of film noir. Low blood sugar feels like you’re drunk. High blood sugar feels like you’re hungover. For months, I wandered around like Dick Powell in Farewell, My Lovely. Every meal is an untrustworthy encounter, demanding suspicious interrogation. So, when my adjustment eventually evolved into fodder for my script, Sweet City, it felt like the best way to honor it would be through audacious visuals and Hitchcockian tension. Committing it to a script was an obvious choice.

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?
Before I knew the crux of my story, I knew I wanted to incorporate a conspiracy with insulin- maker, Eli Lilly, which meant the setting needed to be Indianapolis. I packed my things and moved there for a month, taking in the neighborhoods and experiencing the restaurants that my main character would visit as a food critic. It was a deeply satisfying way to develop this world. Still, despite that effort, it took about 18 months for the script to find its flow. The current iteration is a result of many endured false starts and frustrating road blocks.

What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? 
At this point, I think the ultimate ambition is to deliver home-grown, artisanal, human-made projects that offer a certain “je ne sais quoi” that artificial intelligence wouldn’t think to replicate.

Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
Luckily, I’m very easily inspired. The Coen Brothers, the Charles Brothers, Elaine May, Preston Sturges… These writers balance outrageous humor with earnest humanism, all by simply allowing their characters to lead with honest-to-god flaws.

What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
“Cheers” is my ultimate north star. No other television show embodies the spirit of found family, failure, and loserdom better than a show about a subterranean sports bar. Snobs, slobs, drunks, and rubes create an ecosystem of equalizing fraternity that we should all aspire to. It’s also just impossibly funny.

What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Write about the things that scare you. Fear is an excellent source of fixation, and fixation is a necessary element for any piece of writing. You’ll be surprised at just how much you have to say about the things you’re avoiding.

What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
This year, I wrapped post-production on my first feature—a wedding comedy called The Toast—which I also directed. It stars Jon Lovitz, alongside a cavalcade of hilarious and talented young actors. Apart from that, I’m writing an Ianuccian comedy set during the Revolutionary War that I hope to film next.