Part 2 of this Filmmakers Notebook Q&A with Screenwriter Justin W. Hedges, a family man with a full time day job in Arizona who with talent and tenacity has achieved success in an amazingly short period of time.
Do you belong to a local writers group or have some other affiliation where you can share your ideas or have your scripts read at table reads?
There’s a chapter of the Independent Feature Project here in Phoenix, and I attend weekly Wednesday night table reads that they organize. The rules of a table read, one that works well IMO anyway, are everyone brings ten pages of a script (current, old, complete, incomplete, doesn’t matter), assign characters and a narrator, read, then critique out loud.
The key to a successful table read group like this is open, constructive, and POLITE feedback. “Your script sucks” doesn’t help, and neither does telling someone their script is the cat’s meow when it wasn’t. You can be critical and still be polite and constructive. The flip side of that coin is you have to be OPEN to the feedback of others, both the positive AND the negative. Go into it with a closed mind and you’ll gain nothing but a wasted evening.
Another helpful thing about table reads is that you don’t know your script until you’ve heard it read out loud. It’s a totally different experience than reading it to yourself. Problematic dialogue, scenes that are too long or confusing, all kinds of things jump out at you when you hear it out loud. Reading ‘in character’ isn’t necessary. You don’t have to adapt accents or inject proper emotion into it (i.e. acting not required), just read the words and critique afterwards. You’ll open your eyes to a whole new world of ways to improve your writing.
If you don’t have a group like this in your neck of the woods, start one! It’s just a group of like-minded people looking to help each other improve. You don’t need an organization like the IFP to put it together for you.
Now that you have optioned two screenplays, what is the most valuable lesson you’ve learned that you’ll apply in the future?
If you put yourself out there, good things will happen.
Too many people, myself included in the past, allow a fear of failure to keep us from getting in the game to begin with. I may have two options on my resume, but I also have a multitude of polite (and not-so-polite) passes. Every single one, every rejection, was worth the two successes, successes that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t tried in the first place.
Where do those two projects stand at the moment?
“The Brickhouse” was my first option and appears to be trapped in development Hell. It’s a common story in filmmaking: initial interest, even excitement, can die out. Attachments get lost to other projects, financing falls through, etc. I don’t know exactly what happened in this case, but it doesn’t matter. An option is still a success, whether the movie gets made or not. An option tells the next producer or director you meet that someone making decisions liked my work enough to want to lock down its rights. I call it Hollywood street cred.
Producer Paul Barrett is shopping around the second option, “Brutal Planet”. We’re also exploring the possibility of adaptation as a graphic novel. The possibilities on this project are very promising, and Paul is a highly motivated producer. I expect good things on this one.
Are you using or have you considered hiring a script doctor for any of your screenplays?
I haven’t yet, but I will be from here on out. I’ve paid for the judge’s feedback in a few contests I’ve entered and found most (not all) of them valuable sources of input for improving scripts. This is what a script doctor does, and I think it’s worth it (at the right price). Creative Screenwriting magazine and other resources maintain lists of highly rated script consultants out there, and Danny Manus, a BOSI newsletter contributor, is usually in the Top 15. I’ll be using his service in the future: No Bullscript Consulting.
Do you have any aspirations to produce or direct or is your long term goal to continue as a writer?
I wouldn’t rule out anything at this point. Writing will be my ticket into Hollywood (or already has been depending on your perspective), but I definitely see producing in my future. Directing? Not so sure, wasn’t thrilled with my first go at directing a short (unfinished, no video to link to) but that doesn’t mean things won’t change. The more hats you wear, the more control you have, and I like that thought. More money would be nice, too. 
What’s next for you in terms of screenplays and projects?
I have many scripts either in progress or in the immediate queue following those: a Biblical apocalypse movie set in the tone of “Zombieland” and “The Hangover” (which has some filmmakers interested); a horror-revenge script called “Reckoning” (which also has interest around it); two sci-fi thrillers; a straight-up slacker comedy; and I’m currently lobbying for the opportunity to write a creature feature script for a guy who wants to make a SyFy Channel Saturday night movie about a monster he created! I have no idea if I’ll get that spec job, but he’s at least open to listening to my ideas, and it’s an opportunity I again made happen through Social Media. It’s going to be a busy 2011.
Be sure to keep up with updates about Jason’s projects by following him on Twitter @JustinWHedges and reading his blog called The 3 a.m. Screenwriter at http://blog.justinhedges.com/.
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