SAUL DENNIS
 SAUL DENNIS
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
New York City How did you discover The Palm Springs International Screenplay Awards and how did you decide to enter this contest among all the others? I received a promotional email about the contest after — if I remember correctly — entering another screenplay contest. Your script or media entry stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your project? In 2021, The New York Times ran a story about a retired Russian police detective and long-held passion about mysterious incident. Soon after WWII, a small group of college student hikers went missing in Siberia. The detective recalled how, at the time, he and his fellow officers seriously considered Yeti may have had something to do with it. I was struck by the matter-of-fact quality — the idea guys sitting around the stationhouse talking about “…how it could have been those darn Yeti…” Add my own passion about the Russian experience in WWII and, before you know it, you’ve got “Yeti or Not”. How long did it take you to write your script or produce your pitch deck/sizzle reel/trailer...and what was your development process? It probably took a year to get a truly complete first draft (keeping in mind my work as an advertising Creative Director.) Unlike my previous screenplays, I didn’t map-out every scene before starting. This was more like jazz. I sat down and started to write, taking dictation from the movie playing in my head. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer or filmmaker? To see the film playing in my head playing in a theater. Which film directors or screenwriters inspire you? Why? Like the question that follows, this is tough. If only I were an iota as talented as the people who created the screwball comedies, or Chinatown or The Godfather or The Wild Bunch or, well, you get the idea. What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show? Larwrence of Arabia? The Best Years of Our Lives? Hell or High Water? That’s just too tough a question. How do you approach competition entries, and what have you learned from participating in these contests? I haven’t entered enough to have an approach. Send what you believe in, I suppose. What advice do you have for others hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have? Please see above. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? I think there’s a great story about the courage and camaraderie of the Ukrainian postal workers delivering to communities along the front lines. There’s something about their heart-felt, heroic, yet human-scaled attempt to create a sense of normalcy in the midst of madness. It would be funny, fierce, tragic and inspiring. Where can the world find you? (Website, IMDB, etc.) I’m launching a new website in a few weeks, sauldennis.com. But really, just text: 917-957-4804. |
