EDWARD YBARRA
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PictureEdward Ybarra
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
I reside in San Diego, California – and vacation in Palm Springs at least twice a year.
 
Your script or media entry stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your project?
On my desk is a tarnished-with-age, 8 ½ inch brass key.  One side is stamped with the year 1926.  On the other side is an engraving of the San Francisco’s Golden Gate passage prior to the construction of the iconic bridge.  A 3-mast schooner is heading out to sea.  The key’s history and purpose is a mystery that has haunted me for years.  A visit to the Golden Gate Museum in San Francisco wasn’t helpful but the exhibits on the construction process of the bridge fascinated me.  It pushed me into that realm all writer’s eventually enter: ‘what if…’.  What if the Key had a secret purpose?  What if it opened a room deep inside one of the towers?  What if a body was inside that room?  Who was it?  Who put it there?  How did it get there and why?
Following a recent quote from JJ Abrams: “In the end, the story finds it’s way, but you have to be willing to follow it.” And boy, did I.
With so many memorable films set in San Francisco, it was nature for the Bay Area to be the setting for Puzzle Box.  And, once I decided that is where the story would unfold, the script literally exploded in my mind.  What if an antique dealer, say in Carmel was owned by a woman who stumbles on to the Key?  What if finding the Key put her life in danger?  Who would want the Key so badly they would kill to possess it?   Who would the woman turn to for help?  Wait…there was a Clint Eastwood film, ‘Magnum Force’ where Harry has a relationship with a beautiful Asian American neighbor?  What if the antique dealer is his Asian American daughter whose name is Kate Callahan (KC) but, what if KC has had no contact with her father for years due to his oft-violent police work?   But, if the forces of danger are closing in on her, what would she turn to??
At that point, the Story told me, ‘…a daughter turns to her father in time of need.  You must bring back Dirty Harry…’  So, I brought him back.  But now he’s retired and KC’s reclusive father.   
I couldn’t have a crime story set in San Francsico without having some scenes in China Town, on the Bridge itself or without a thrilling car chase.  That’s all in Puzzle Box.
 
How long did it take you to write your script or produce your pitch deck/sizzle reel/trailer...and what was your development process?
The actual writing of Puzzle Box has taken over 4 years.  It wasn’t originally titled Puzzle Box but as the story carried me, that is what it became.  
It has been submitted to various competitions. Often, when I can afford it, with the request for an evaluation.  It has been posted on sites like The Black List and Stage 32 and Inktip, again with requests for notes and evaluation.
When I’ve paid for an evaluation, I have always taken that feedback very seriously.  Having feedback from more than one reader from the same site has been very helpful.  It allows comparison.  Also, if two sets of eyes see the same thing, it often leads me to concentrate on the specific weakness they may make note of.   Yet at the same time, it is also gratifying to have matching positive feedback on what the story has executed well.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer or filmmaker?
From those who have read this (and other scripts of mine) and from some of whom have offered evaluations, they (and I) would love to see this script on the big screen.  They are dying to see it up there because, as they’ve said, it’s got that ‘One Huge Hook’ (Clint Eastwood).
 
Which film directors or screenwriters inspire you? Why?
Directors from my college courses have influenced me by their different methods of storytelling include John Ford, Michael Curtiz, Francois Truffaut, Eastwood and Speilberg.   As for screenwriters, I spent a year and a half in Western Colorado, near the Montrose home of Dalton Trumbo.  His writing, despite being blacklisted, is astonishing.  I’d like to revisit Main Street in Grand Junction just to see the bathtub statue of him doing his writing.  Another writer that captures my heart in a number of his films is Billy Wilder.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
There are times in my life that I NEED to watch Casablanca.  The performances are perfect.  The direction is perfect.  And, as many have noted, there is not a single word of that script that can be changed.  The script is perfect.
 
What advice do you have for others hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Keep entering and when you can afford to pay for evaluations, do so.  Compare them and read them carefully and with an open mind. Puzzle Box has even been tweaked based on its evaluation from Palm Springs Festival readers as I’m well aware that any script, until it is on the screen, is always a work in progress.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
Another of my completed scripts making the rounds and gaining momentum is a family fantasy title “JUST BELLE” – a comedic version of Tinkerbelle and her fairy friends as real human beings.  I’ve also received interest and have had discussion with an overseas production company about “THE CHAIR”, a single-location thriller that tackles violence against women and “THE GOOD SPORT”, set behind the scenes of major sports television, it’s a drama of a fall-from-grace tech fighting his way back into the business after finding out he has a daughter.   I also have a short script that was awarded Best Unproduced Screenplay December’s Hollywood Golden Age Festival titled “BEYOND AVALON”.
 
Where can the world find you? (Website, IMDB, etc.)
My writing, my work and my family occupies the majority of my time but I am on Instagram and LinkedIn.