Interview [Part 6]: Frank DeJohn and David Hedges [2013 Nicholl Winners]

Frank DeJohn and David Hedges are one of five recipients of the 2013 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting for their historical drama screenplay “Legion”. It’s a terrific story set in the latter days of the Roman Empire and garnered a lot of attention for the duo including being hired by A&E to write “The One”, described as a “coming-of-age story of exploring Jesus’ early life and formative years as he comes to learn he is the Son of God and is destined for greatness.”

Frank and David have had an unusual path to Hollywood success, so I was pleased to be able to interview them at length about their respective backgrounds, their script “Legion,” and their approach to the craft of screenwriting.

Today in Part 6, David and Frank offer some advice for aspiring writers:

Scott: Let’s talk about that. What is your writing process?

David: Usually, we’ll get together and talk ideas. Nothing’s off the table, no idea too insane. We’ll riff, and let that settle and see what we have. If we feel like we’re making progress, we’ll go from there in the outlining process, and pass that back and forth for a while. Once we start writing, we can’t sit in the same room together and work. I don’t know if anybody does that.

Frank: I don’t know how they could, but some people do, I guess.

David: I drive Frank nuts if I’m in the room and he’s trying to write. Just the way I walk drives him crazy. He can tell if it’s a different pace when I walk.

[laughter]

David: What works for us is we give the other person absolute overwrite privileges. In other words, if I hand Frank five pages I’ve written, he can rewrite anything in there. The only restriction is that it has to be better.

Frank: That’s the key. The way we did it with “Legion” was one guy would take the opening sequences and the other guy would jump ahead in the story and write on. Then we’d pass it back and forth.

David: The cool thing about that is, at the end, people ask, “Who wrote that scene”? Or, “Who wrote that line?” There are always lines that you remember you wrote, because you remember when you thought of them, but much of the time I have no idea.

Scott: Let’s talk about that. Screenwriting is really scene writing. What do you think about when you are writing a scene? Do you have specific goals in mind?

Frank: Sure. Every time. How does the scene advance the story overall? What’s that conflict?

David: I have to know where I’m going to go in a scene so I can come in at the last moment, and get out as soon as possible.

Scott: Dave was talking about when you are in the middle of writing a crappy scene. Which brings to mind this question. What do you hate most about writing?

Frank: What do I hate most about writing? [laughs] I’ll tell you. The thing that I hate most is the thing that I love the most. You find yourself stuck. You know what the scene goal is from the outline but you can’t access it. Eventually you crack it and write the scene and it works. Overcoming what appears to be a block is huge boast.

Scott: How about you, David? Anything in particular about writing that you hate?

David: I think the thing I hate about writing is you have this piece of mashed, bleached wood pulp that you’re going to make these black marks on. Someone is supposed to pick that up, and become involved in these marks you’ve made.

It’s insane when you think about it! The idea of trying to connect another human being that way, it’s so difficult. That to me is what every time I start a project, I’m always like, “How am I going to translate what I am seeing in my head, and make somebody understand?”

The wonderful thing about writing is that I just love dialogue. I’m a Shakespeare nut, and when I have a scene where a character really has something to say, I’m happy.

It starts with awful moments, a blank computer screen. You stare at it, you type. Everything you write sounds awful, like it’s been done before. Every single writer goes through that.

Scott: So you’ve achieved this wonderful breakthrough. Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years? In an ideal world, what are you both doing?

Frank: We’d like to see LEGION up on the screen of course. I’m very excited at getting a shot at writing assignments.

David: We’ve been dealing with this quite a bit lately, because the minute you get that phone call, everything does change. You don’t get to write when you feel like it anymore. The question becomes, “Can you be a professional writer?”

We are making that transition. We are focused on trying to get good at that, to the point where anyone can come to us with an idea, and we can say, “Yes, we can do that. We’ll make it better, and get it back to you in short order.”

Scott: Finally, what advice can you offer to aspiring screenwriters about wanting to craft and breaking into Hollywood?

Frank: Don’t quit; don’t ever give up. Get your work out there any way you can; contests, pitch fests, query letters. Keep writing. The next script you write may be the one that opens the doors.

Scott: David, do you have any advice for aspiring screenwriters?

David: Yeah, run like hell! Just kidding.

[laughter]

David: I would say the same thing: never, ever give up. Be willing to evolve and get better.

Frank: And don’t listen to the people who say you are wasting your time because “the odds are against you.”

David: Hey, Frank, remember that time you pitched “Legion” to that producer? You know Frank, he’s a very passionate person. So he’s pitching this story. It’s a really good pitch. At the end she says, “Why would we care about Romans, the bad guys?”

[laughter]

David: For some reason, I’ve never forgotten that. It was like all that work we put into writing about people trying to live the last days of their lives, and you want to make a connection, you want people to care. You have this thing you want to say, and then [laughs] you are completely bashed, because it’s about Romans.

It’s so symbolic of what all aspiring screenwriters are up against, and it is amazing in a week to have it completely flip flop.

Now we are writing a television movie for A&E/Lifetime about the lost years of Jesus. Thinkfactory is producing and they have been a lot of fun to work with.

A month ago we got notes back from A&E on our outline, and Alex Maggioni (she’s one of the producers) calls and says, “Arturo loves the outline, but he doesn’t like the opening scene. Can you cut it?” I said, “Done.” Silence. Alex asks, “Do you want to talk about it?” I said, “Not really.” And she just bursts out laughing. I think she thought we were going to throw a tantrum and she was going to have to sweet-talk us into cutting it.

So we don’t have any horror stories about “real” writing work. So far it’s been a good time, working with very smart people who are quite funny.

The first time I see my name on the screen I think I will fall on the floor. It’s been a long journey!

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Part 4, here.

Part 5, here.

David and Frank are repped by UTA and BenderSpink.

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