Interview: Alan Roth (2013 Nicholl Winner) — Part 2

Alan Roth’s original screenplay “Jersey City Story” won him one of five 2013 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. I caught up with Alan recently for an interview. Our conversation turned out to be both insightful and inspirational

Today in Part 2, we dig into Alan’s experience taking this moment in his life and transforming it into a feature length screenplay revolving around the central character, an NBA star.

Scott: If I understand this correctly, you hadn’t really ever thought about writing a screenplay, per se, until you had this experience with your godson and his basketball player. This scene emerged in your mind like a movie. Was that the impetus, then, for you to start to explore screenwriting?

Alan: Yeah, it was. When I was finished with the script I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. I decided, finally, that I would send it to a screenplay competition, and then I’d have at least a feeling of accomplishment and closure.

I sent it along to one of the major screenwriting contests, and it finished second. It attracted some attention, and I got a manager.

I started to learn everything I could about the craft, and the industry.

I wrote another screenplay, and it was optioned. And then the first one, “Jersey City Story”, won the Nicholl.

Scott: When you say studying the craft, were you reading books? Attending seminars? Tracking blogs like John August’s?

Alan: Yes to John August’s blog. A story about that. In one of his podcasts, he’s asked what the best path is to breaking into screenwriting. His answer was along the lines of “it’s easy, have an uncle in the business, or win the Nicholl.” My wife heard that, and said, “Well, we don’t have an uncle in the business, so just win the Nicholl.”

Anyway, I started to learn how to work with the producer’s notes and handle calls and meetings. Finally, I reached a point where I thought to myself, “I can do this.”

Scott: You’re doing all of this as an avocation. You have another job. Were you still working with the family business or had you moved on to something else?

Alan: We were in the printing business and our clients were migrating to other forms of corporate communications. We transformed the company into a video production and multimedia company. The work that we started to produce for our clients took the form of marketing videos, TV commercials, employee videos, as well as print collateral work. We expanded our horizons.

The company that I am still a partner in today is an iteration of that family company.

The screenwriting has really started to take on a life of its own. That is a direction that I’m really committed to.

In the meantime, the notoriety that comes with winning the Nicholl has been a very positive factor in feeding the production company with new opportunities.

Scott: Let’s jump into the script “Jersey City Story.” Here’s a description of the plot: “A professional basketball player is reluctantly drawn back to his old Jersey City neighborhood when he receives a letter from a young boy who lives in his ‑ the basketball player’s ‑ old room in a public housing complex building.”

In the script there are five major characters, and all of them, it would seem, derive from that experience you had with your godson.

First is John Poe, the successful NBA star who plays for the then New Jersey Nets. How would you describe his character?

Alan: He was a bright, deeply sensitive boy who grew up in a very punishing environment. Basketball was a means to an end. He used it to escape the neighborhood. But some things you can’t leave behind. His early experience left him a bitter, angry and disillusioned adult.

He has no faith or trust in people. In fact, he’s a misanthrope. He’s lost his humanity.

But he’s someone who, through his own pain, could sense the pain and suffering in others.

Scott: It’s interesting because for the first 40 pages or so of this story, he’s almost relentlessly taciturn, even surly at times and really committed to his personal solitude. In fact, you said that he likes it alone. There’s a line where he says, “All I need is to be left alone. Alone is good.”

Yet, as you mentioned, he’s got some depth to his personality. We see these glimpses of other plays of his life. For example, he loves quotes. He has almost an encyclopedic knowledge of them, and that’s a trait that turns out to have a really intriguing payoff with a surprising revelation down the road.

Let’s talk about the thing about quotes. Where did that specific bit of business come from in your character development work?

Alan: That was a little bit of me in there. Growing up, I always loved reading quotes from the great writers. If I read one that was particularly relevant at the moment, I’d put it in my wallet, and refer to it as I coped with whatever life situation I might be dealing with at the time. Sometimes my wallet overflowed with scraps of paper with quotes written on them. Finally I found one that quote that took the place of all the others, and I carry it in my wallet to this day. You might say it’s serviceable for every situation.

In the script, great literary quotations are a device that convey Poe’s capacity for understanding and feeling. It works out well at the end of the story.

Scott: Poe is also a keen observer of other people.We see this with several of the characters, particularly when he notices people who are in, as you were talking about, pain.

We may have some stereotypes about professional athletes, but here’s this character who’s got these quotations, he’s very observant. It’s like you’re suggesting to the reader look, hang in there. This character’s got some depth to him. He’s going to emerge as a multidimensional character.

Is that what you were playing around with there with those first 40 pages where he was really very strikingly wanting to be alone and didn’t want to deal with people?

Alan: Right. He was nearly an unlikable character. He goes right up to the edge, but doesn’t quite step over the line. The audience roots for him to save himself.

In the first 40 or so pages, as isolated and as tough an exterior as he seems to have, there is the suggestion of vulnerability. It was a delicate balance.

Tomorrow in Part 3, Alan talks about four other key characters in “Jersey City Story”.

For Part 1, go here.

Please stop by comments to thank Alan for taking the time for the interview and post any follow-up questions you may have.

Alan is repped by Nate Miller and Dan Halsted at Manage-ment.

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