SHAWN YOUNG
 SHAWN YOUNG
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Burbank, CA How did you discover The Palm Springs International Screenplay Awards and how did you decide to enter this contest among all the others? I discovered it on Coverfly while looking for contests that could offer good, actionable feedback, and this one delivered. I spent too long entering a bunch of contests but not paying for feedback because of the cost. I finally wised up and I began entering fewer contests, focusing on those that could help me improve. Without the feedback I would simply be turning in the same script time after time. I wouldn’t know what was working and what needed more attention. Your script or media entry stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your project? Almost twenty years ago I played Jonathan Harker on stage in a production of Dracula. The woman playing my fiancee, Mina, in that production, would become my fiancee in real life just three short years later. I didn’t write a lot at that time but the ideas always came. I began to wonder what Jonathan and Mina’s kids would be like. How would they be different, having come from victims of such a monster? I imagined three siblings with abilities that made them special and cursed them at the same time. Being a fight choreographer for stage and small films, I knew there would be action, but at it’s heart it has always been a story about family, an extremely complicated family. It has changed so many times over the years as pieces of my family life, both heartbreaking and wonderful found their way into the story. Also a career change into critical care nursing shifted many of the supernatural elements of the story to those of a scientific nature. My love for family, vampires, frenetic action and for films and tv that cause tears of laughter to morph into tears of pain and back again have all inspired me on this journey. 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 first draft was written over 15 years ago and it was terrible. I knew the idea was good, but I did not yet have the skill to tell the story properly. That came with a lot of time and steady practice. Thankfully this story never let go of me. The project died and rose from the dead many times over the years. About five years ago I really started focusing on it. Complete overhaul after complete overhaul, the only things remaining from the original idea were the first generation siblings. My process involves a lot of imagination time without writing. Music has been key to so many scenes throughout the pilot and the breakdown of the entire story. Driving, listening to a wild variety of music and letting my imagination run wild. It was originally written as a feature with an outline for a trilogy. Feedback was unanimously the same, great bones and a great story, just too much story for a feature. So the most major overhaul of all, the feature became season 1. The first 18 pages became the 60 page pilot and it was just what it needed. There’s a lot of story to tell. A writer friend compares my process to that of a sculptor. I take a huge block of marble (my imagination throwing everything out all at once) and I whittle it down, cutting and carving until I get a sharp, concise story that moves people. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer or filmmaker? Ultimately I would want to be a show runner on a show that I truly loved, like this one. I am not naive enough to think that it would happen on this project but I would hope to at least be in the writer’s room if anything ever came of it. I know these people so well. Beyond this project, I want to write and direct. I want to work with intelligent, talented people that know so much more than I do so that I may learn from them, grow with them and make magic that will inspire younger generations to want to make their own. Which film directors or screenwriters inspire you? Why? Tarantino is an easy call. I enjoy writing a ton of dialogue the way he does, I’m just not yet skilled enough to pull it off so I cut, cut, cut. His visual style and his violence are incredibly entertaining. Edgar Wright also stands out. His use of music in films, especially Baby Driver, is simply fun and visceral. His mixing of genres is something I often think about and try to incorporate. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan need very little explanation. The science behind their science fiction is brilliant and awe inspiring and lends the perfect counterpoint to the emotional rollercoaster they end up taking you on. I could name so man more that evoke the spectrum of emotions from me upon watching any of their catalogue. I’m working for the chance to follow in their footsteps. |
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
Working for Blockbuster for almost 15 years I was asked this a lot. I would give a list of five films, in no particular order. The Lord of the Rings trilogy counts as one, the first Matrix, the Boondocks Saints, Young Frankenstein, and Serendipity. This list does need to be updated for the last 12 years but I stand by those as some of my favorites. The Marvel Universe has several of their early releases that are high on the list. As far as television, The Last of Us is up there. I believe it to be the best game to show adaptation that has ever been made. How do you approach competition entries, and what have you learned from participating in these contests? I have learned that you have to be strategic about the contests you choose and you have to know what you want from the contest. I now feel that if I don’t get feedback that it’s not quite worth it. Even if/when I start winning contests, I will always be open to ways to improve my script. Also, I always see what people have to say who have entered it previously, whether they are the winners or not. Is the feedback actionable or is it too vague to help or is it just empty praise? Praise is great, but praise alone doesn’t foster progress. What advice do you have for others hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist asyou have? Be open to feedback, be willing to pivot, and know your material well enough to know whether or not you need to. Feedback and notes can be tremendously helpful, but you must recognize what feedback will move you closer to your vision and what will not. Keep learning about the craft, keep writing and make sure you are having fun doing it. Otherwise, what’s the point? What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? I have a companion series that exists within the same universe as my finalist entry, The Harkers. It was two separate projects, a new take on the Frankenstein tale and a short story involving a very pissed off werewolf, that have melded into one TV show. The Monster and the Wolf. I also have a time travel series that I have been developing - In Due Time. I’m cowriting a horror film with a friend, Chirp. I’m working on a vampire love story feature (not like Twilight), as yet untitled. Lastly, I’m in the midst of unofficially adapting my favorite recent novel just for fun and to see if I can. Where can the world find you? (Website, IMDB, etc.) Instagram - @theshawnyoung |
