WRITER PROFILE
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PIGS WITH PAWS
Written by Kevin Rexroat
What motivated you to become a writer?
I’ve always liked making people laugh, and that played into my desire to write – it’s like telling a joke, but having lots of time to finesse it and see what really works. The final product seems effortless, but a lot of work goes into getting the reaction. I enjoy getting to that place.
Starting on a blank page is not easy- where does your creativity come from?
The blank page doesn’t bother me, because I don’t open a blank doc until I have an idea. If I’ve got an idea, I can write, and ideas hit me all the time. PIGS WITH PAWS, my last comedy screenplay, came from two places. I was helping some students learn what the elements of a good logline are, and I came up with what I thought was a good one: PIGS WITH PAWS is a comedy about a Jewish geneticist who runs afoul of her congregation and international bacon brokers when she designs a kosher pig. I wrote it down and started thinking about characters. After a few days of thinking about it, I discovered a connection between that concept and a health issue that my family was having. The rest of the story came pretty quickly. So I keep my eyes open looking for stories.
The blank page doesn’t bother me, because I don’t open a blank doc until I have an idea. If I’ve got an idea, I can write, and ideas hit me all the time. PIGS WITH PAWS, my last comedy screenplay, came from two places. I was helping some students learn what the elements of a good logline are, and I came up with what I thought was a good one: PIGS WITH PAWS is a comedy about a Jewish geneticist who runs afoul of her congregation and international bacon brokers when she designs a kosher pig. I wrote it down and started thinking about characters. After a few days of thinking about it, I discovered a connection between that concept and a health issue that my family was having. The rest of the story came pretty quickly. So I keep my eyes open looking for stories.
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 try not to think of “buts” as I’m writing (“But no one’s making period pieces,” “But that requires a lot of CGI,” etc.), because a good story is a good story. *But* it’s always in the back of my head that if I write something set in WWII, any producer who reads it is going to be calculating costs. I’d rather not go into a meeting with a strike or two against me. Honestly, though, I can’t really think about the final outcome — so many people need to approve anything, even a small comedy like PIGS WITH PAWS, that I have no control over anything but the story. I try to make that as strong as I can.
What is your dream for this project and what other ancillary revenue do you think it could generate? Please include script title in reply.
I’d love to see PIGS WITH PAWS produced by a studio or streaming service. There’s enough depth to the story and the subplots that I think it could also be a successful miniseries.
How has your experience been with screenwriting contests for this project so far?
PIGS WITH PAWS was a finalist at the Oaxaca Film Festival.
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?
This is a story based on actual events, and I control the rights to it. It can be produced for a low budget, and it’s a four-quadrant film with a female lead.
Do you have any website links for your writing, credits, background, etc that you would like to share?
A few of my scripts are up at https://sway.office.com/F0dFcbX5Sc21hE5V?ref=Link. I’ve been hired to write or rewrite several features and a TV pilot (none produced), and I’ve had screenplays finish as high as the finals in competitions including Emerging Screenwriters, the Oaxaca Film Festival, Scriptapalooza, and Final Draft’s Big Break. I’ve adapted several fiction and non-fiction books by Chris Crutcher, Dave Bidini, and A.J. Hartley.