ROBERT JAMES KERR
Winner Best Screenplay Summer 2024: "23 Days"
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Corvallis, Oregon, USA Your script or media entry stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your project ? The script is about the 23 Days following the fatal airplane crash of the Wichita State football team on Oct.2, 1970. The fatalities numbered 31 including the vast majority of the first team offense and defense. I was a freshman at Wichita State at the time. I’ve been thinking about the story ever since then. Finally had the opportunity to write this script. 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 script development was a little over one year. As it is inspired by a true story, the research was essential. Following the completion of the research, I wrote the “Pitch” and then drafted an outline. From there it was writing drafts, sending it to my review team and my source from the WSU players who lived through the experience. Finally running the script by my editor and then submitting for the copyright. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer or filmmaker? To write and sell scripts about the underdog sports stories that have been ignored, forgotten or otherwise failed to see the light of the national media. Which film directors or screenwriters inspire you? Why? I am inspired by Mike Rich screenwriter. He inspires me because he tells great stories about sports and focuses on the underdog stories. I was fortunate enough to interview him some 20 years ago and was part of a seminar he facilitated at Oregon State. What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show? All-time favorite movie is Lawrence of Arabia. Whenever it is broadcast I watch. My all-time favorite television show is Star Trek: The Next Generation. Captain Picard is a more effective leader and greater intellect than Captain Kirk. What advice do you have for others hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have? I started the journey by taking classes. Started by enrolling in a Writers Room class from my local Parks and Rec. Learned a lot but not focused on screenwriting. Found Hal Croasman at Screenwriter U and have been taking classes with him for three plus years. Has a result my first script was a Quarterfinalist at Palm Springs International Diversity Screenwriting competition and at the Los Angles International Screenwriting Competition. That’s the process. I write every day even if it is only for an hour. The creative process is exciting to me. The only hiatus I take is when the script is going through the review process. Even then I am always mining for the next project. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? I have a script, “With All Their Might” inspired by the true story of a women’s rowing team at the dawn of Title IX. They are the first crew in the history of their university. An interesting element is their coach just won the World Championship. The script is full of drama, humor and the determination of young women striving to be rowing champions on the plains of Kansas. I’m just finishing up the research aspects of a script about a “Special Needs crew working to become the first Dragon Boat crew in the USA. Where can the world find you? (Website, IMDB, etc.) My email is [email protected]. This is the best way to reach me has I check my emails six to seven times between the hours of 8am and 5pm Pacific Standard Time. You can also find me at LinkedIn . |
