What motivated you to become a writer?

It’s a lifelong habit. I started writing science fiction stories in high school about what the future would be like. They would probably be considered dystopian in nature. I didn’t write about how wonderful the world would be. Since then I have been fascinated by the work of such writers as Hemingway, Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Isaac Bashevis Singer and Bernard Malamud. Writing a work of so-called “fiction” is not done to create some new artificial world, but to make sense of the one we’ve got.

Starting on a blank page is not easy- where does your creativity come from?

There seems to be some mechanism in my subconscious that takes events in my life (and other people’s lives) and turns them into coherent stories. Sometimes these story ideas come in a dream. Other times they flash in my head while walking down the street, not thinking about screenwriting at all. Dreams and writing (whether it is a journal or a novel) seem to be the mind’s way of dealing with day-to-day reality and processing the good and the bad.

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 am aware that factors other than the quality of the writing determine which movies get made and which do not. Perhaps I am just naïve but I tend to ignore what is currently trendy or marketable or what focus groups decide is “hot.” Fascinating characters are fascinating characters. A powerful story is a powerful story. One that will grab people as they read it (and eventually see it on the scene.) It’s up to me to use my skill to write the story and get their attention. That is my focus. Other considerations tend to fade away as irrelevant. Naïve…yes??

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

The script’s title is “Geeks: A Love Story.” It could be sub-titled “A Tale of the Silicon Valley.” It is an imaginative, hopefully humorous re-telling of events that have happened to me (and other American workers) who have been victimized by large corporations.

As for ancillary revenue, I think that moviegoers (especially those who work for high tech companies) would go crazy for this movie. You could sell comic books, posters, T-shirts and even action figures based on the “good guys” who work for the Virtual Technologies startup and the “bad guys” who work for the ruthless corporate giant Akoro Computers. There is even a Matrix-style final battle between the two groups in a virtual world.

The most gratifying aspect of this story is the triumph of David over Goliath. Rocky versus Apollo Creed. A startup with five employees working in a converted ice cream factory is victorious over a corporation with hundreds of thousands of employees.

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

“Geeks” has won several screenwriting contests and been a finalist in others. I learn from the reader’s comments and keep making it better and better.

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?

There have been a number of movies and television series about life in high-tech companies. Let’s face it…they were boring as hell.

The technology is secondary. The important part are the characters.

Like Shannon Blake, a twenty-five year old graphics programmer who plays guitar for a punk band. Or India Moonpeace, a seventy year old Santa Cruz hippie who came in from the cold. Or their enemy Geoffrey Sterling, CEO of Akoro. A steroid-injected, sociopathic combination of several Silicon Valley CEO’s.

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

I do not have website links at the moment. But I have my screenwriting resume available.