50TH HIGH STREET
Written by Dave Collopy Ann Marie Henriquez
What motivated you to write this project?
Starting with a single scene I was laying in bed trying to sleep and I couldn’t get this conversation out of my head, that I had that day with my lawyer. I kept thinking I could have said this or that. I finally got up and wrote the whole back and forth the way I wish it would have occurred rather than the way it did occur. That scene was the acorn for the oak, 50 High Street.
50th High Street has a detailed world that you created- where does your creativity come from?
Dialog that plays over and over in my mind. It also comes from a century of movies that have come before 50 High Street. I also spent many years doing analog black and white photography but most of all I think you have to have an intuition about people, who they really are, and why they do what they do. But most of all their decisions must drive the story, not the other way around, much of 50 High Street wrote itself. I’m still not clear why a character said what they said or acted the way they acted but that’s what I love most about the writing process. It’s so unpredictable
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?
Yes and no, I write mostly with an ideal budget in mind but certain projects require a larger budget. Ann Marie and I are working on a historical biopic that would be expensive to produce and we don’t have the rights. But it’s a fantastic story. We are also working on a “Before Sunrise” clone that could be cheaply filmed on a cell phone. Subject matter usually dictates the kind of budget a story needs. What really keeps a budget from running away is the team of people who are on the same page and have the same vision. That goes a long way to prevent development hell. And it all starts with a great screenplay.
What is your dream for this project and what other ancillary revenue do you think it could generate?
My dream is to have it green lit and it also wouldn’t hurt my feelings if the final project won awards and accolades. The other dream I have is to land writing assignments on other people’s projects. Those are my immediate dreams. I would also like to leave something for posterity, to achieve immortality, and finally to die and go to movie heaven and have conversations with Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, Fritz Lang, and Henri-Georges Clouzot 🙂
How has your experience been with screenwriting contests for this project so far?
We’ve only just begun doing the contest circuit in the last couple months. 50 High Street is currently entered in four contest, five including yours. One thing about screen writing is that there is no final draft. The closest thing to a final draft is when the curtain goes up. For this reason I am enclosing the most recent draft which is even better than the previous draft.
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 50 High Street is not your typical cookie cutter script. I would also tell them that I am not comfortable bragging about myself, however, in this situation, I might mention off handedly that dialog happens to be my strength. Great dialogue creates great characters which create great performances that will attract great talent and recognizable artists who will be much more likely to attach themselves to the project.
Do you have any website links for your writing, credits, background, etc that you would like to share?
We have recently opened a small studio in New Orleans (Hollywood of the South) Dabbling in photography while trying to get connected with the community. Hoping to one day host our own table reads and writing workshops. But most of all we are focusing on creating more screenplays.
