When I can read my own work and get
wrapped up in another world, forgetting I created it. But that's hard
to achieve, because I'm incredibly critical of my own work. Often, I
end up asking, "who wrote this? It's terrible!"
My inspiration to write NEW GODS AND
OLD GLORY.......
Dick Cheney's smirk. Actually, the motivation erupted from the absurdity of
America's status quo and religiously following NPR. It came out of pure anger
for what has happened in Iraq. My passion for change, and for people who have
never met one another to create it, has grown exponentially... so has my
script since I submitted it back in March.
*****************************************************************
FilmMakers Magazine:
What inspired you to write?
Tim Viola: I watched my mother cry at 'Ordinary People' when
Mary Tyler Moore leaves the house for the last time. I saw my father
scream "Holy Shit!" when we learned who Kyser Soze really was in 'The
Usual Suspects'. I remember feeling this heart pounding thrill when
Captain Kirk fired his last volley of torpedoes at Khan in 'Star Trek
II'. I heard an entire audience sobbing behind me as James Cameron's
'Titanic' was flooding in front of us. These are 2-D images that were
filmed in some cold sound stage or in some seedy American street, and
yet people are riveted as if it's happening directly in front of them.
I want to move people like that and to be the one that forms the
situations for that happen.
FilmMakers Magazine: How did you prepare yourself to
write your first script?
Tim Viola:
I actually wrote my first feature script "Shadows" when I was 15 as a
freshman in high school. A friend and I spent an entire summer
learning about story design and character development before we wrote
a single page of formatted script. We read several science fiction
screenplays (Star Trek II, Star Wars, etc.) because that's what we
were interested in doing. I remember sneaking into my friend's
step-father's dot-com (which was this old, nicotine polluted Victorian
home) and completely destroyed the dry erase boards that housed all of
the coding. We carved the living daylights out of the white boards as
we mapped out the plot and drew storyboards. For me, preparation has
been about research, building moments (instead of scenes) and thinking
about what I want the piece to mean before I determine how I want it
to move. After I outline those elements, the structure starts to form
organically.
FilmMakers Magazine: Is
this your first script and how long did it take you to write NEW GODS
AND OLD GLORY?
Tim Viola:
This is actually my fifth. This script took me four months to write. I
have trained myself to write features. I have written a few shorts,
but this one was extremely challenging. I wanted to include so much
more.
FilmMakers Magazine: Do you have a set routine, place and time management for writing?
Tim Viola:
Routine? I wish! My day job would never allow it! I do seem to be able
to tap the right side of the noodle in the morning (even more so in
the shower) and at night. Mid-day is impossible. I just want to be out
in the fresh air or driving my Subaru as far away from my laptop as
possible.
FilmMakers Magazine: Do you believe screenplay contests
are important for aspiring screenwriters and why?
Tim Viola:
Absolutely. I don't think it's a secret that there really are two ways
into the industry. Either you work your way up through working on the
crew or you write, which could lead to directing jobs. Screenplay
contests allow us writers to give it a solid go, and by locking in a
deadline, procrastination is severely limited. Any other time, most
writers struggle with the scatterbrain effect. Having a contest also
gives you perspective on something you've practically been sleeping
with for months.
FilmMakers Magazine: What
influenced you to enter the
American Gem Short Script Competition?
Tim Viola:
Pure curiosity and
the infamous "what if..."
FilmMakers Magazine: What script would you urge aspiring writers to read and why?
Tim Viola:
Eric Roth's
"the Insider". Brilliant writing. The movie itself is also my favorite
film. Roth's style has more parallels with a novel than the typical
screenplay. There is such rich detail in his descriptions because he
knows exactly how it looks in his head.
FilmMakers Magazine:
Beside screenwriting what are you
passionate about and why?
Tim Viola:
Travel. Democracy.
Pinot Noir. Family. Old and new Philadelphia. New kinds of
food/restaurants and even taking 30 minute back road drives down
sharp-curved, steep roads. It gets my mind excited and I'm able to
clear my head of the daily grind and simply focus on the world. I'm by
no means a film fanatic- I don't watch several hundred films a year. I
think writers need to live life in order to create original work on
the screen.
FilmMakers Magazine: Who is your favorite Screenwriter
and Why?
Tim Viola:
Eric Roth and
Chris/Jonathan Nolan. Roth because of his descriptive, intelligent
writing. Chris and Jonathan for their realism and simplicity.
FilmMakers Magazine: Name
the director you would love to work with and why?
Tim Viola:
At the risk of
sounding like a walking, writing cliche... I want to direct my own
work. If you held one of those Jersey Shore cap guns to my head--
Michael Mann.
FilmMakers Magazine:
Name the actor you would love to work with and why?
Tim Viola:
Gary Oldman. Because
if I give him any character whose thirty plus, I have no doubt he
would disappear into the role I imagined with his own twist to bring
it to the next level. I think that's the beauty of screenwriting
versus other creative print. The screenplay is a launch pad for
something much more. After the pages are done, it's an actor's
performance, a director's vision, and an editor's eye that create the
final piece. It takes a village!
FilmMakers Magazine:
Any tips and things learned along
the way to pass on to others?
