Interview: Chris Roessner (2012 Black List) — Part 4

Chris Roessner has made quite a journey to professional screenwriter. His debut screenplay “Sand Castle,” which made the Black List in 2012, is a compelling story that takes us into a world few have experienced: Post-invasion Iraq. It’s a world Chris knows well having served as a machine gunner during the 2003‑2004 invasion and occupation.

Chris was kind enough to spend some time talking with me about his background, the “Sand Castle” script and his approach to the craft of screenwriting. Today in Part 4, Chris wraps up his thoughts about “Sand Castle” and reflects on what it meant to him to make the Black List:

Scott: That even plays out to that little bit of a mystery that you’ve got going on. The title “Sand Castle,” what is that about? Well, they’re in Iraq, that’s got sand. This weird guy is obsessed with filling sand bags. But then in a flashback at the very end, you reveal a parallel between the aqueduct and the sand castle, a provocative scene where the dad gives young Matt a lesson, then walks away and leaves his life. How cognizant where you of that, the connection between the themes of “Sand Castle” to what Matt’s experiences were in Iraq?

Chris: Very early on we knew that innocence, and how holding on to it can suffocate you, would be a theme for which the sand castle image would serve as a metaphor. On a superficial level, however, the idea and the title came from conversations I had with film executives who would say to me, when I told them I was writing an Iraq war movie: ‘Don’t waste your time. No one is buying anything with ‘sand’ in it’. This blew my mind because it’s so absurd and myopic. So I was basically like, ‘fuck you guys. I’m putting sand in the title’.

But yes, from the very start the image of the sand castle was there and the Kidwell character being suffocated from his sand bags was there. We didn’t really know how much we could pull that thread, that metaphor through, or even if it’d survive the writing process, but we had a hope and a starting point.

Scott: You cracked me up when you said that you insisted on putting the word “sand” in the title as a response to the conventional wisdom types in Hollywood. Because in point of fact, there have been movies like “The Hurt Locker” and “Green Zone,” which have been critical successes, but they didn’t do very well at the box office. So here you are getting an MFA at the Peter Stark producing school. I’m thinking to myself, you’ve got your producer’s hat and your writer’s hat. Clearly what happened here, the writer told the producer, “Fuck you. I’m going to write this thing anyhow.” Right?

Chris: That’s true. But honestly, even with my producer hat on, I think this film has a spot in the marketplace. Look, I’m not delusional. I recognize this is a very difficult film to get made. I hope that it sees the light of day. We just started going out to directors. And I know it’s going to take someone to raise their hand and jump on the grenade, so to speak, and tackle some very difficult material. But I have reason to believe that when a director raises his or her hand there is interest in getting this movie made. Because there’s a place for these types of movies in the larger film conversation. You look at a movie like “Platoon.” That movie wasn’t even made until the eighties. It was made after “Coming Home.” It was made after “Apocalypse Now.” It was made after “Full Metal Jacket.”

It was made at a time when people said, “Why make another Vietnam War movie? We’ve exhausted everything that needs to be said about the Vietnam War.” Which is such an absurd thing to say.

How can you possibly exhaust every aspect of a war that was so defining of a generation? Now, here’s this war that’s been going on for 10 years. To say that there shouldn’t be a film made about it, or making a film about it is fiscally irresponsible, or to say, because there’s the “Hurt Locker” and because there’s “Stop Loss” and because “Zero Dark Thirty” exists, there’s no room for a personal account of the Iraq War, I just think is ludicrous.

I think there is a place for it. Whether or not it’s my movie I don’t know. I sure hope so. But I don’t care. If somebody else writes their version of the Iraq War and it gets made, then it would make perfect sense to me. Because every war gets its movie. Personally, I’m still waiting for the movie that defines my war.

Scott: You got a big creative seal of approval when you made the Black List in 2012. What was that experience like? Where were you when you found out you made the list?

Chris: I was in New York. My girlfriend is a television writer on a show called “The Americans.” So we moved out to New York so she could do that. I was in New York, had just gotten there and I had a meeting with a film executive from Scott Rudin. Franklin Leonard decided to release the Black List via Twitter this year, which is very nerve wracking. So I was sitting at a restaurant waiting for this executive to show up. I was like the third or fourth to last script mentioned. So I was 99% sure I didn’t make the cut. And then I saw my name pop up on the Twitter feed. I was like, “Holy crap.” And then two seconds later, the executive walks in, taps me on the shoulder and says, “Congratulations on the Black List,” because he was following along on his iPhone on Twitter as well. Then he bought me a bunch of wine and I got drunk.

Scott: Yeah. That was a great idea of doing it on Twitter this year. I think the entire screenwriting community was following it live online.

Chris: Yeah. It was wild. Like I said, I was so sure that I wasn’t on it. Even when I was following it on Twitter, I thought that my chances were relatively slim. Just because I can’t imagine a bunch of film executives emailing my script around saying, “Hey, you have to read this movie about the Iraq war?” It just didn’t seem very likely to me. But I was very excited and obviously felt very blessed when I saw my name there.

Scott: Has it made a difference, in terms of meetings, since you’ve made the Black List?

Chris: After the Black List I was going on about five or six meetings a day for three, four straight weeks. It was exhausting. So there’s no doubt that being on the Black List played a huge part in the amount of people who were willing to meet me or willing to read the script if they hadn’t already. It definitely made a difference, without a doubt.

Tomorrow in Part 5, Chris discusses some key aspects of the craft of screenwriting.

For Part 1, go here.

For Part 2, go here.

For Part 3, go here.

Please stop by comments to thank Chris and ask any questions you may have.

Chris is repped by CAA and Management 360.