WRITER PROFILE
It’s always great to get together with a large group of writers and investors and keep up to date on what’s new, the screenplay contest, any recent deals, new dealmaker contacts, agents or managers that are looking and simply encouraging everyone to keep going after every dream in this difficult industry. For the hard working writer 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.
Tesla A Child of Light
Written by Thomas Lee Howell
What motivated you to become a writer?
I was an early reader. I published my first poem in a newspaper at age 9. Tomball Tribune in Texas. I also read my first science fiction time travel novel by Evan Hunter. Find The Feathered Serpent. That story was the perfect escapism for an introverted boy. I met Ed McBain (Evan) as an adult and was able to thank him for inspiring me.
In 1999 AFTER 22 years ‘on the road’, I was severely injured and had to stop touring with my space rock band Dark Star. I was composer/singer/lyricist. I had been writing the novels Prison Planet and Hegira since 1978 while traveling when I had 2 dreams about the basic premise to the eventual book/film series.
I helped build The Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Ms. A majority of Prison Planet was written while working there. My series is ocean related with domes, aliens, and saucers.
In the year 2000: Emmy Award Winner Lee Levinson trained me to adapt books to screenplays. We converted my first novel Prison Planet. I wrote the second book Hegira and used his advice to create my ‘Hegira’ Series’:
8 feature screenplays/16 one-hour episodes
Written/developed between 1999 -2019.
I have completed 35 books/90 screenplays /5 series.
I am a disabled/legally blind/father of 3 humans.
Starting on a blank page is not easy- where does your creativity come from?
Life experience. A word or phrase can trigger a thought. Ben Bova told me to let it flow and edit later. He said writing is 90% editing until your work options or sells. I am a retired painter. You have to know when to let a piece dry.
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?
I was an Indie film maker and had decided that method was the ONLY way to see my work and that of others on screen. AI 3 D is taking over. Non-union screenwriters rarely have a chance to option or sell their hard work among the THOUSANDS of entries.
What is your dream for this project and what other ancillary revenue do you think it could generate?
It has always been my plan and goal to support my family with income earned from something I do creatively. I spent over 40 years as a pro musician.
Tesla A Child of Light could generate BILLIONS of dollars in related merchandise. I researched Nikola’s life for 2 years while writing this material. I cover experiments nobody talks about including the UFO, ESP, autism, an earthquake machine, reverse levitation, battle with Edison, alien contact, a death ray that flattened Tunguska Forest, OSI (men in black), and more.
How has your experience been with screenwriting contests for this project so far?
I entered ONE contest. This one about 6 months ago. It won 27th out of the top 100. I went back to find out what I may have missed and found 1 doubled line in the entire script. I repaired that small glitch and wondered if having adult Nikola doing voice-overs telling his story AS IT happened on screen, may have shied them away. Or Tesla going home to Venus at the end. It’s science fiction. Having read my script again– I love it.
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 spent 2 years studying Tesla’s career then followed his life from birth until after his death to tell HIS side of what happened. I also studied Thomas Edison to be accurate about their ‘battle of the currents’. There is NOTHING similar to this project because it is science fiction.
Do you have any website links for your writing, credits, background, etc. that you would like to share?
THOMAS LEE HOWELL 2024 also known as Tom Lazer.
First job as paperboy at age 6.
Sold All Occasion cards door to door same year.
Go Cart racer age 7 also learned to scuba dive.
Began boxing age 8 in backyard ring.
Began singing in Church Choir with 6 siblings
Wrestling trained by Paul Bosch age 9.
Read my first science fiction novel by Evan Hunter.
Started Tae Kwon Do/Jet Kune Do age 11.
Began playing drums in Odds and Ends Band.
Began studying jazz drumming.
SAW my first UFO at Lake Houston.
IQ rated at 146. Promoted from 7 grade to the 10th.
Captain of the JUDO team in High School.
Left home at age 14.
Military school age 16 trained for Vietnam but a bad knee saved me from going overseas.
Age 18-19 I hitchhiked around America writing songs
and settled in North Texas. Married and had a son
when I was almost 20.
I met Willie Nelson and Leon Russell who advised me
to play music and have a career.
March 23, 1977: I cut my first record Spectre,
backed by Sounds of the Sun. I started Dark Star
Productions, the record label and named my space
rock band Dark Star. I took the stage identity Tom
Lazer. Thousands of fans knew me as Tom Lazer.
I went back to using Howell when my father passed
away out of respect for him. We toured America for decades. Holland. Norway and London in ’93.
I am looking for a legitimate agent or manager for my literary work. 30 books/90 screenplays/5 series.