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Screenwriters "Baywatch" is kaput. Hollywood's screenwriters are on the verge of striking. The timing couldn't be worse for introducing the newly formed Hawaii chapter of the American Screenwriters Association, right?
Hawaii chapter
focuses on the
bigger picture
New local chapter will give
isle writers a chance to strut
their Hollywood stuffBy Nadine Kam
Star-BulletinNot according to the association's national executive director John E. Johnson, who said, "This is actually very good timing. When there's a lot of work going on, people take it for granted.
"One of the things that happens sometimes is there tends to be a focus on the smaller picture, getting a film or a series like 'Baywatch' to come in. Then everyone's working and happy for a while.
"The bigger picture is to involve the community and help people of all ages become interested in screenwriting and helping them advance, because the more scripts that are out there, the more likely it is that one idea will break through, and then we can have production work done in the islands that truly represent the culture and people here."
Writer Keala Yuen was responsible for starting up the local chapter, which she has been planning since last fall with the encouragement of her mentor Richard Krevolin, an associate professor with the USC Cinema and Television Department.
CONTACTS
To reach Keala Yuen of the American Screenwriters Association Hawaii chapter, call 375-4079.
"He kept saying, 'You gotta do it. You gotta do it,' and I realized local writers need to have a place to meet, collaborate and critique each others' work.
"I'm interested in getting local writers to write local stories with characters that are real and believable," she said. "I think we have more to offer than palm trees, oceans and bikinis. Are we stupid? No!"
Johnson, whose office is in Beverly Hills and home is in Ohio, arrived in Honolulu at 9 a.m. Friday morning and was whisked by Yuen on a tour of sound stages and meetings with Mayor Jeremy Harris, production companies, musicians and screenwriters, before getting back on a plane to Los Angeles at 10 p.m.
His mission here was to rally the screenwriters and demystify the process of getting scripts seen for those intimidated by the Hollywood machine. According to Johnson, getting seen has never been easier, thanks to the proliferation of film festivals, screenwriting contests, the arrival of digital video and the Internet.
"The Hollywood system has not changed much over the years, but we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Robert Redford and the Sundance Film Festival for opening doors and creating more opportunities to see work being done outside the mainstream," Johnson said.
The American Screenwriters Association sponsors an annual conference, "Selling to Hollywood," and two competitions annually.
"Competitions can help people to break in," Johnson said. "They're professionally judged, and if you win or place well you'll get the attention of producers and agents. It's much easier than sending a letter or making cold calls."
The script for "Finding Forrester" was a 1998 Nicholl Fellowship Award winner -- one of the most prestigious of the screenwriting contests -- and has since made it onto the big screen.
Contests also exist to protect studios, he said.
"Hollywood is a very litigious society. There are always people who send in scripts or try to hand them to a director, actor or actress. They all say no. They have to, because if they look at it and something similar appears, that opens them up to all kinds of legal problems.
"If the script is entered in a competition, the writer has to sign a waiver saying, 'I wrote this.' Then it's understood by all parties, and if there's interest in the script, the contest organizers put people in touch. It's a wonderful conduit and takes down some of the walls built for studios' protection. They don't want to be sued and if you have a good script, they want to make a deal."
Johnson started his career 15 years ago as a playwright. He later became interested in films and now says he enjoys seeing other screenwriters succeed. Just don't expect the glamorous life.
"Writers are still at the bottom, the very bottom of the Hollywood totem pole," he said. "I don't know what it will take to change that."
Writers will coddle their work, as Yuen can attest. "It's like your baby," she said, pulling out colored index cards from her purse. Spreading the cards out in front of her, she says, "This is how it starts, with cards I carry around to record bits of personality.
"It's like a developing baby. First it drinks from a bottle, then a cup, then it stands up, walks and runs. Then it goes out into the big cruel world and much as you want to protect it, you have to let go. I don't know how else to explain it."
Johnson said writers get angry when their scripts are changed, but they must be aware that once a script is sold, it becomes "part of a much bigger project."
Script changes generally reflect, not disdain for the writer, Johnson said, but budgetary and time constraints.
"I think directors try to stay true to the story of the script. If you ask 20, about half will talk about the importance of the script. But there are a lot of pieces in the pie -- directors, producers, studios, big stars -- and they all will have their say."
As for the impending writer's strike, Johnson says he's 99 percent sure it will take place in May.
"Hollywood has been buying up every script in sight for the past six months. They wouldn't spend all that money if they thought it was going to work out, though it would be a nice surprise if they settle."
At issue are royalties, video rights, the Internet, and the role of technology, "which is not a bad thing if it gets us talking about where we're going," said Johnson, who says the film industry is only starting to feel growing pains comparable to what the music industry is going through with Napster.
"The technology available now is absolutely amazing. With digital video and a computer it's possible for writers to come up with 30 seconds of video to accompany their pitch," he said. "A lot of people in the business tend to be very visual. Tell them a story, and they may be interested, but show them a clip, and hey, they're sold."
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