As the top writers on this year’s Hot 100 List we want to do as much as we can to continue the exposure and word of mouth in the investment circles of the industry. Another way we do this is with writer interviews that we send far and wide and showcase at all possible meetings and markets.

We want to encourage your writing spirit, motivate you and again give you the accolades you so deserve.

CHICAGOMANE
Written by Carl J Beene

What motivated you to write this project?

I grew up during the civil rights movement and I witnessed people who had experienced the racial terror and injustice they fled with barely their lives from Mississippi and other states in the Deep South. I also noticed the fear of returning to visit family members who remained in the hateful segregated south. I have seen many movies and read several books, as well as talked to lots of people who have survived the lawlessness of whites against blacks. I thought what it would be like if a powerful white man was terrorized and tortured by a black man up north during this period.  While at the same time I wanted to show the relationship and development of modern day blues and rock and the migration of blacks from the south to the north and the influence their music had on the world.

Chicagomane has a detailed world that you created- where does your creativity come from?

My creativity comes from living with and around people who came from an environment I bring to life in my project. I grew up in the Chicago area community where Emmitt Till grew up and I knew his family very well. I also recall the stories my parents told me about growing up in the segregated south.  I can vividly hear the southern drawl of their voices and hear clearly the pronunciation, the enunciation and inflections of the southern Negro of the 1950s. That is why I titled my project Chicagomane instead of Chicago Man. A man is a mane whether he is from Mississippi or Chicago.

Do you write projects knowing that so many other factors need to happen to get it to screen and does that come into your project creation?

No. I write simply to tell a story and to create characters that are very real, complicated, and hopefully, memorable.  When I write I am literally putting on paper the movie that has been filmed, directed and edited in my head for months.  I believe that if I can write a great movie script that is compelling and entertaining, I will eventually find a way to get the movie made.

What is your dream for this project and what other ancillary revenue do you think it could generate?

My dream for this project is that Chicagomane will be produced and filmed in the next two years, using a list of stars and will be nominated for the Academy Awards. I also intend to turn the Chicagomane character into a series of books similar to Ernest Mosley’s Easy Rawlins novels.

How has your experience been with screenwriting contests for this project so far?

My experience has been unbelievable. This is the first contest I have ever entered and I have been pleasantly surprised by the positive responses I have received so far. First the Hot 100 list, and now the Top 5! I have always believed that I am a good storyteller and I thank Capital Fund for recognizing my potential.

If you could stand in a room full of investor partners looking at many projects what would you like them to know about you and this project?

I would tell them that of all of the current projects before them I can bet with certainty that they will not find a script as innovative, provocative, historically accurate, intriguing and entertaining as mine. I would also tell them that I am probably much older than my competitors and that I have no time to waste because I have many more stories to tell. I know I have a good product and I believe that some way and somehow, Chicagomane will get made. I would rather it be done with them…but it will get done.

Do you have any website links for your writing, credits, background, etc that you would like to share?

Yes. I have published a 541 page novel on Amazon titled: The Mechanic’s Principles. You can go to my author page on Amazon and you will find a short bio and a summary of my novel published earlier this year. I have also written two stage plays: ‘Bout Love”, which recalls the life of a Korean War veteran who has come home to die among his friends and family, and “That Spring, That Year”, which tells the story of a typical black family a few days before and after the assassination of Martin Luther King.