JOSEPH COCKRELL
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Laguna Beach, CA Your script or media entry stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your project ? Before the Fence is deeply personal. At the start of my journalism career in the late 1990s, we had to cover the aftermath of Matthew Shepard's murder. Like the protagonist in the series, I was a young journalist finding my footing in the fast-moving world of TV news. And like him, I was a closeted gay man. I was also the same age as Matthew Shepard. Covering a hate crime that shocked the nation was a surreal and emotionally complex experience. I was documenting the grief, anger, and courage of the LGBTQ+ community while privately carrying many of the same fears and questions that defined that moment in history. Journalism teaches reporters to remain objective: to observe, document, and tell the story without becoming part of it. But the Shepard case made that separation impossible. While the characters and the events of the series are fictionalized, the emotional core comes directly from lived experience. The story explores what it meant to navigate professional ambition, personal identity, and cultural pressure during a time when being openly gay could end a career, and when a young man tied to a fence in Wyoming reminded the world what silence actually costs. How long did it take you to write your script...and what was your development process? The journey of writing Before The Fence has been a decades-long process of reconciling my professional history with my personal identity. While the architectural phase and actual drafting took about three months, the story itself has been germinating since I was a young journalist in the late 1990s. I spent years reflecting on the Matthew Shepard case and how it impacted me emotionally and mentally. I chose a screenplay format to frame historical events through fictional characters, allowing me to explore the emotional core of the era without the constraints of a memoir. This fictional lens highlights how the "red light"; of a television camera can function exactly like a closet door: a tool for both visibility and self-erasure. My process was driven by a mix of archival research and visceral memory. I organized the series into episodes spanning 1995 to 2000, moving through three distinct chapters of the protagonist’s coming of age in the tumultuous late 1990s. I utilized my own personal experience to bring the kinetic pressure of a 1990s newsroom, from the mechanical countdown to air to the specific "morals clauses"; in talent contracts. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer or filmmaker? Right now my greatest ambition is to see this show produced, but I’ll start with landing an agent for representation. Which film directors or screenwriters inspire you? Why? My work is heavily influenced by creators who balance high-stakes professional environments with the intimate, often painful, realities of LGBTQ+ identity. Ron Nyswaner is a strong inspiration for his work on Philadelphia and Fellow Travelers. I am drawn to how he depicts characters navigating "powerful institutions" during eras when visibility could upend a life and derail a career. Dustin Lance Black and his work on Milk inspire me to explore the "human cost of silence" and the intense personal toll of being a public face within a rigid professional system. Tony Kushner and his work on Angels in America influence my approach to placing a protagonist at the heart of a "historical crucible" where public events force an intimate personal reckoning. Jacob Tierney is an inspiration, particularly for his work on Heated Rivalry. I deeply admire his refusal to compromise his artistic vision. I am drawn to Michael Lannan’s work on Looking and his ability to capture the quiet, authentic textures of gay life. On a larger thematic scale, Russell T. Davies and his masterpiece It’s A Sin serve as a blueprint for how to handle historical weight with grace and fury. Much like Davies, I view the late 1990s not just as distant history, but as a "sharp mirror' to the battles of today. This sense of urgency is also reflected in the work of Ryan Murphy, whose powerful storytelling has paved the way for morally serious LGBTQ+ narratives on a premium scale. Beyond that, Aaron Sorkin, specifically his work on The Newsroom. I share Sorkin's conviction that journalism is not merely a profession, but a profound moral responsibility. I am inspired by the kinetic, high-pressure environment of his newsrooms, though I use that setting to explore an internal reckoning. While Sorkin looks outward at the political world, Before The Fence turns that lens inward to examine the cost of being the person behind the camera. In my series, the "ghostly" objectivity demanded by the job becomes a tool for self-erasure. Visually and structurally, I look to directors like Steven Spielberg for his narrative sweep and Jonah Markowitz for his immense visual storytelling power. |
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What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
At the risk of revealing how big of a nerd I am, Star Trek: The Next Generation is my all- time favorite TV show. (Heated Rivalry has become a close second). I grew up on STNG. I can sit and watch it for hours even though I’ve seen every episode many, many times Who doesn’t love Patrick Stewart? Growing up as a closeted gay kid in rural Iowa, I found in the series a vital escape from a world that was often defined by judgment. The show offered a vision of future humanity where dogma and religion did not dictate a person’s worth. The series excelled at using the framework of science fiction to wrestle with serious societal issues. It provided a safe space to imagine a reality where the cages of identity and secrecy were no longer necessary for survival. The show was a testament to the hope that humanity can evolve beyond its prejudices. That belief remains the emotional core of my current work as I explore the human cost of silence. What advice do you have for others hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have? Get professional perspective feedback and keep refining. The most important step I took was seeking out industry professionals to read early versions of the pilot. Their coverage was invaluable because it provided an objective lens on a story that was deeply personal to me. While the script is rooted in my own experiences, professional feedback helped me translate those memories into a structured, limited series. Refining the work is where the script truly finds its voice. It took me about three months to architect and write the series, but the development is ongoing. I am still refining episodes even now to ensure the historical details and character arcs are as tight as possible. Contest success is the result of this relentless polishing. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? Before The Fence is taking up most of my attention right now. Where can the world find you? (Website, IMDB, etc.) https://blcklst.com/profile/Joseph-Cockrell https://filmfreeway.com/projects/4199503 |
