Interview: Joshua James

Playwright Adam Szymkowicz has a blog where among other things he interviews fellow playwrights. The other day, Adam interviewed Joshua James, playwright, screenwriter, and I’m happy to say, my friend. Here are a few excerpts:

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’ve recently completed a screenplay called A BLACK HEART, an action thriller, which is being handled by Bunce Media and Captivate Entertainment. I’m thrilled, I’m very proud of the script and they’re great people to work with.

Currently I’m working on a new screenplay, another action thriller, don’t know if I can describe it as of yet because I’m still in rough draft mode and discovering things, but I’m really having fun with it.

Q: How do you approach writing a film as opposed to writing a play?

A: Hmm, Well, this could be tricky to answer, heheheh … bear in mind I consider myself still a student and still learning about both … but I guess I’d say that when you prepare to write a film you need to know who your audience is for it beforehand, at least the genre of films that I write.

With a play, you can just write what you think might be cool and if other people dig it, then they try to find an audience for it (at least, that’s how theatre used to be, when I started as a playwright) … the business of film is such that, it’s kind of hard to do that (though not impossible), especially with the costs involved in making a movie. It’s smart to know exactly what audience you’re aiming for when writing a film, I think.

I’d say that the other thing is that there is also a very specific set of expectations with regard to screenplays, especially with certain genres … with a play, I can write as much or as little as I want, no second act, no other characters, it doesn’t even have to be logical, the only thing that will matter is whether or not someone will be willing to sit through it … in other words, zero expectations beyond DON’T BE BORING, with a play.

With a film of course it’s important that it not be boring, but it’s also very different, there’s a very specific set of expectations not only from the people who buy and make movies, but from the millions of people who watch them every day … you know?

I mean, movies permeate all our lives in a very different way from theatre, nearly everyone you know sees multiple movies per week, on DVD or on TV or in the cinema … Even someone not in the profession, it’s not usual for them to see three to five movies a week. Whereas most of us may see one play a week, if that, a truck driver in Iowa will see many more movies than that in a week, just for fun.

That kind of familiarity creates a set of expectations that a writer has to acknowledge and deal with, in one fashion or another, and it gets even more complicated when you talk about genres and the like.

The expectations for what a movie is, and can be, or should be, while in screenplay form, is a matter of significant consideration for those who make movies, which is understandable because movies cost millions of dollars to make. Even indie films have their own expectations for what they’re meant to be.

I know some writers find those expectations limiting, but what is exciting is when someone is somehow able to transcend those expectations, that’s kind of what I love about movies. I don’t find them limiting, it’s a form that can be very freeing, in its way.

I guess I consider film scripts to be very much like haikus, but rather than working with three lines consisting of five, seven and five syllables, you’re working with three acts consisting of 25, 55, and 25 pages apiece … and the goal, like in a haiku, is to be as emotionally complex and moving in as few words as possible. That’s what’s really awesome about movies, when you think about it [emphasis added].

Plays can do that as well, of course. But they also don’t have to, and that’s kind of what’s awesome about plays. They can be, quite literally, anything you want them to be.

That is a really interesting take on screenwriting in comparison to writing plays, looking at a screenplay like a haiku, allowing the writer to find a sense of freedom within the structure.

How about you? Do you experience screenplay structure as restrictive? Or do you manage to find the freedom to create within that structure?

And those of you who also write plays, what are your thoughts in comparing the task of a screenwriter to that of a playwright?

BTW, I’ve read Josh’s script “A Black Heart” and I would be shocked if it doesn’t get set up. A really strong action thriller in the vein of Taken with powerfully drawn characters. Perhaps the latter a result of Josh’s background writing plays?

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