MASSIMILIANO AITA
 MASSIMILIANO AITA
How did you discover The Palm Springs International Screenplay Awards and how did you decide to enter this contest among all the others?
I think it’s a different kind of contest where you can receive a feedback from professional writers and it doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree (I sometimes disagree). It’s important that a professional one reads your entire script. Where do you live (City, State, or Country)? I’m an Italian screenwriter Your script stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your story and why did you write a script instead of a short story or a novel? What inspires your overall journey into screenwriting? As I wrote this morning on Facebook, I started to write because of I was dying in 2024. A finished loved story make feel like there’s was no reason to go ahead with my life. But you know we are of a generation which parents were born during the Second World War; so it’s was not a choice to not survive. Writing was my way to survive. If you have produced a Pitch Deck, Sizzle Reel, or Trailer, what was that process like for you? Did you have professional help or has it been a DIY task? How long did it take to produce? No. I’ve still not produced one How do you decide which stories to tell, and what draws you to these particular themes? I listen to my heart and let that it drives me on. What is your typical writing routine? How do you structure your workday to stay productive? I wake up very soon in the morning (4.00-5.00 pm) and I usually write for a couple of hours. Then in the afternoon I go on for one or two hours. How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards...white board...or just start with FADE IN? Fade in at all. I have no a creative process or meanwhile I close my eyes and I see the last scene. Then I start to write and after ten or fifteen pages my characters become independent from my will. The start to move, to act, to speak in their way. How do you handle writer's block or moments of doubt (we all have them) during your creative process? During not. After any day of my life What tools or software do you find essential to your workflow as a screenwriter? Final Draft but not because is an industry standard. It has a lot of reports that help you to remove repetition or mistakes in the location, in the name of characters. How do you approach competition entries, and what have you learned from participating in these contests? Which contests have you entered...and how has your work been received overall? Have those contests been helpful to you in your writing? It’s not simple to answer to this question. First of all, let me say that I think there’s a fundamental mistake who organizes the contests make: accepting too many submissions. I mean if you have ten judges and the period between closing the entries and notifying the selection is two weeks you ask to the judges to work without any stops. It’s clear that they could lost something in the reading and choose not the best one scripts but the firs scripts. It's my opinion of course. What about the contest? Well, if I’ve to be totally honest I think that contests are bad when they says: winners, semifinalist or quarterfinalist (I know that’s your way to administrate the contest). I think that all the scripts officially selected should be presented to the industry. You know: in the last year we saw so bad scripts on the screen and so good scripts that don’t sell. Well, I guess an opportunity should be offer to anyone you select. |
Can you share a specific challenge you've faced in your screenwriting and how you overcame it?
Yes. I have just finished a script about the earthquake in my homeland, Friuli Venezia Giulia. I don’t want to talk about the quality of the script but it’s very difficult to write about something you lived in the real world and hurted the soul of so many people. You must have a great attention to not hurt them anymore. I talked with some friends and I tried to respect their pain – making them to read some scenes. If you are balancing your “writing time” with a “day job”...how are you managing that? I’m laughing. There’s not a managing because of I always have my script on my mind so I write everywhere. My last script was finished in a coffee shop Where do you see yourself in five years as a screenwriter? On stage to be awarded with my second Oscar. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer? Win the Oscar. The film and television industry is constantly evolving. How do you see the role of screenwriters changing, especially with the rise of streaming platforms and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence? Have you used A.I. in your writing; if so, how have you used it? I don’t write for streaming platforms and the film I’m going to produce never go on streaming platforms like Netflix or Prime Video. Which film or television writers inspire you? Why? Once upon a time in America. For me is the Masterpiece of movies. No other reaches its epical atmosphere What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show? Again Once Upon a Time in America. What advice do you have for aspiring screenwriters or filmmakers? Hold on. Go ahead everything happens to you, around you, don’t let the fire die. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? (links to your projects?) In March I’m starting the production of my first feature film Antigone 2024. In September I’m start the production of another feature film called The day after Napoleon. The next year Antigone will be on theatrical release. Where can the world find you online? (Social media links, etc.) https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557073866779; https://www.instagram.com/massimilianoaita/ Only one warning: are in Italian. |
