|
Your new movie Break
Even - in a few words is it about?
Four
thrill-seeking friends find $50m dollars of hidden illegal cash and go on
the run with the DEA and a crime-lord on their tail.
What can you
tell us about your script's approach to action cinema? And is this a genre
at all dear to you?
Action
is where I started with screenwriting back in 2012. It’s where my heart
lies. However, I’m all about real stunts with the actors as involved as
much as possible. Break
Even was a great opportunity to write sequences
that punch above their weight. I had to get inventive and talk some stuff
through with the director Shane Stanley [Shane
Stanley interview -
click here], and I was surprised by how much he
felt we could do. We actually ended up going above what we thought we
could get away with and even bought and modified the speedboat Fair
Warning so we knew we wouldn’t be putting someone’s pride and joy
at risk.
What were your sources of inspiration when writing Break
Even?
Funnily
enough, a lot of the inspiration was drawn from a spec script of mine that
Shane fell in love with called For Your Dreams which follows two
sisters on the run across Texas and Nevada in a muscle being forced to run
drugs. Shane came to me to talk about making it more marketable to the
mainstream, to put it on the water and set more of it in the city. I said
I’d go one better than that and write a whole new script for him because
I’d read his book and wanted to work with him so much. Shane then threw
in a load of suggestions from his own life experiences and we worked with
that until we had this sort of Fast and Furious on the water vibe.
Of the four leads in Break
Even, whom could you identify with the most, actually, and why?
I’m
big on theme in my storywriting, and Break
Even has a strong one under the
surface. It pivots around the theme of second chances and how our past
defines us. All of the leads provide a different view on this; Jaq has
written herself off as ever being normal due to her upbringing, Sebastien
feels nobody can escape their past, Rosie desperately wants to hit the reset
button to survive, and Dash is in the early process of rebuilding a new
life. Since they all give different angles on the same core topic, I
identify with them all equally because they pull from different chapters
of my own life experience. Now
how did the project fall together in the first place?
Basically
Shane and I are on the same wavelength. We finish each other’s
sentences. We know what each other are going to suggest the second we
bring something up. You can’t put two people like us in the same room
and not have us walk out the door with a bunch of ideas and the energy to
make them happen. Shane stumbled across me via some of my blogs and liked
what I had to say. That caused him to wonder what my scripts were like, and
thankfully I had them all on my website ready to read. He played it very
smart though. He sent me his book to read first which told me everything I
needed to know about how he likes
to work. When I came back raving about his ethos and leadership mentality,
he knew it was the right time to hit me about collaborating. Break
Even was inevitable and we’ve spoken nearly daily since first connecting,
that “room” being Skype since I’m in the UK and he’s in the US.
What
can you tell us about Break
Even's director Shane Stanley [Shane
Stanley interview - click here], and what was your collaboration
like?
 |
Shane’s
the kind of guy who can have a million and one fires to put out during a
shoot while he’s doing five people’s jobs and still notice if an
assistant on the other side of the set needs cheering up because they’re
having a tough day. He’s genuinely like that. I’ve been with him when
he’s helped load grip trucks at 3am after everyone else has left and
handed out bottled water between takes in the desert. He’s also incredibly
decent. One of the most decent people I’ve met and his long-standing
reputation is built on that. There’s people who wouldn’t cross the
road to follow some directors but people will follow Shane through the
wilderness. I was going through a really rough time when we connected and
was carrying some baggage from having a bully of a boss in my past. I had
a lot of fear about collaborating and needed kindness and decency. Writing
for Shane was actually more fun than writing specs alone because he had so
much respect for my words and craft. I thought our early meetings were
going to be full of notes and issues but it was just typo corrections and
praise.
|
|
Break
Even was the first time we worked together but it’s been a blur
since. While that comes out in North America, we have our next project
already shooting. We weren’t going to let Covid hold us back. It’s not
been easy but we’ve found a way to do it. What’s been great is I’ve
gone from writer to producer in the process, setting up my own production
company Rebelle Rouser to really solidify my commitment to a new
genre I want to bring to the world: Nexploitation - good old-fashioned
hedonistic entertainment mixed with modern progressive values. Were
you actually involved involved in the actual shoot in any way, and if so,
what can you tell us about it? Shane
insisted that I come out to the shoot because that’s the fun part.
Besides, we’d not met in person until that point. That meant I was flown
out to LA (my first time in the city) and got to see every aspect of the
production, and I mean every aspect too. It was a wild ride and up to me
in terms of how involved I wanted to get. I think I fell asleep in front
of Shane three or four times due to a combination of jet-lag and
exhaustion but I couldn’t get enough. I spent a lot of time shadowing
Shane and Neil Chisolm, our co-producer and head of transpo, and
experienced bit of everything. As a result, Neil has become one of my
dearest friends too. I mean the guy took me to Trejo’s Tacos in central
Hollywood in a Ford Raptor we’d borrowed from the Top Gun: Maverick
production - how can you not become best buds with a dude like that? Any future projects you'd
like to talk about?
The
hot one right now is the film we have in production Double Threat
which stars Danielle C. Ryan, Matthew Lawrence, Dawn Olivieri and Kevin
Joy. It’s an action-comedy which follows a forensic accountant whose
journey across the country to scatter his late brother’s ashes turns
precarious when he crosses paths with a young woman with an unpredictable
psychological condition and a sketchy past. They’re pursued by a mob
enforcer and the mob boss’s son who argue about honour and tradition
while in hot pursuit. The theme is about baggage and different ways we
deal with it all wrapped up in something that has a satirical edge to it.
The super-cool thing is Danielle C. Ryan, is an actor capable of some
remarkable stunts, so the film showcases that. It’s been a dream come
true for me to work with someone with that skillset. What got you into scriptwriting in
the first place, and did you recieve any formal training on the subject? I’m
open about the fact that I got into screenwriting and writing in general
after a mental breakdown and life-crisis in 2012. Before then, due to my
difficulties with spelling, grammar, and proof-reading, the idea of me
becoming a writer was laughable, but I just had to get these daydreams out
of my head. If I already wasn’t passionate enough, I then learned that
some people don’t really have an active imagination as such and being
born with a vivid one was a gift that creatives need to share with the
world. I’m 100% self-taught, learning the craft mainly by trial and
error while reading books on filmmaking, writing, and art. I’ve never
felt so devoted to anything in my life.
What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Break
Even? There’s
honestly not a lot there but a lot of effort behind what little there is.
I spent around five years only writing short scripts and giving those away
to aspiring filmmakers for free. I must have optioned in the range of
thirty but only saw maybe three get made. I felt like I never really got a
break with that but the reality is I’m not a great short script writer
because I don’t want to write the kind of short films that currently get
picked for festivals. I did manage to get a few accolades with the writing
scene, the most significant being having one of my scripts selected as a
notable project by Amazon Studios back in 2013. That said, I was still
pretty much a complete unknown when I connected with Shane. How would you describe yourself as a
writer? I’m
very upfront and transparent that I’m here to write pulpy movies with
female leads. I want to take the b-movie genre and push it with higher
quality storytelling and gritty action. I am obsessed with the
fundamentals of storytelling in that it should provide a form of life-affirming medicine to those
it speaks to. A good story should teach you
something even though you may not realise it and what you learn should
make you feel more comfortable with life and the human condition as a
result. I’m also fast and easy-going, not precious about
my words, and appreciative of the business and other artist’s needs.
I’m here to help directors, actors, and the whole crew go on their own
journey of creative exploration. Screenwriters, writers, filmmakers, whoever else
who inspire you? I
am blatantly inspired by the work (and attitude) of Tarantino but also
Tony Scott and Oliver Stone. What can I say? I’m a product of the 90s
backlot rebel movement. People say you shouldn’t try to imitate people
like that but I double-down on it knowing my own voice is strong enough to
shine through. I also love to watch B-movies from the 70s and 80s,
and almost always find inspiration in them. They were so ambitious and
often walked a fine line between shlock and arthouse. I watch a film like
A Boy and His Dog or Psychomania, and I’m thinking about how to make a
modern version of them while still holding the same thematic aspects.
Your favourite movies?
This
changes all the time but I’d say Akira,
Breakdown, High Plains Drifter,
The Hitcher, and Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry are five you don’t see people
often list but hold a very special place in my heart. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
|
|
 |
 |
Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
(commissions earned) |
The links below
will take you
just there!!!
|
|
 |
|
I
genuinely mean it when I state “I don’t care if it’s Tarantino or Twilight, I’ll find the love in anything.” I’ll argue the cultural
merits of the Twilight franchise all day long even though those films are
juxtaposed to the kind that appeal directly to me. There’s a huge
difference between a badly executed movie and one that’s not trying to
appeal to your demographic. The last film I remember really strongly
wanting to end as quickly as possible was The Favourite because I was
watching it in the movie theatre and couldn’t escape. I still loved the
Duchess of Marlborough’s shooting outfit though, which I personally feel is
an iconic piece of movie costuming. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else? You
can check out more info on Break
Even via www.breakevenmovie.com,
and
pretty much everything about me can be found via www.cjwalley.com
where
there are links to my social media accounts. Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? When
I’m not writing/producing, I am running my script hosting website
www.scriptrevolution.com, which is free, has been going four years, has
over 8,000 members, and is getting some success stories for people. It’s
ideal for anyone trying to break into indie film on a budget because
I’ve been building it organically around all the things I’m learning
and proving works. Writers can also find my Turn & Burn Screenwriting
Guide
there too. Rockstar members who pay a tiny subscription fee can not only
get various discounts, they can come join in Zoom sessions with Shane and
I were we answer people’s questions and chat for sessions lasting as
long as six hours sometimes.
Thanks
for the interview!
|
amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
