Interview (Part 1): Eric Koenig
First-timers. Tyro scribes. There are several ways Hollywood development people refer to writers who break into the business via a spec script, but the one writers want to have hung on us is this: Fresh Voice. One such writer is Eric Koenig.
Matriarch — Eric Koenig (Paramount) — 11/12/14
The thriller follows two powerful female characters going head to head as a prison psychologist has 48 hours to convince a serial killer to disclose the location of her final victim before she is executed.
The script was Eric’s first deal in Hollywood, so as we wrapped up my series last week on spec script deals in 2014, I was happy to be able to connect with Eric and send him a series of question to which he responded.
Today in Part 1, Eric talks about his background, how he became interested in screenwriting and has gone about learning the craft, and the inspiration for his script “Matriarch”:
Scott: You currently serve in the United States Air Force. How did you get interested in screenwriting?
Eric: Because you mentioned the Air Force, I’d just like to quickly say that the military has been a wonderful career for me for 13 years now. When I was a young, nineteen year-old punk kid in dire need of some direction and discipline, the Air Force was more than happy to provide it (imagine that!). Later on, the Air Force put me through college and through dental school, so all my education has been paid for by the military and for that I’ll always be grateful.
That said, I first got interested in screenwriting when I was completing a one-year general dentistry residency in Las Vegas. The hours were long and the curriculum grueling (at least for me — some of my classmates seemed to have no problem) and I discovered I desperately needed a mental break — something to take my mind off of teeth and tongues over the weekends and during the evening when I’d come home.
The idea of writing a screenplay was completely foreign to me until I woke up one morning and remembered this pretty intense nightmare I had during the night. I jotted it down (remember, anything to keep me from reading my textbook on diseases of the periodontium). Then I turned it into a two-page story. Then expanded it to ten pages. Then I thought my little nightmare story would make a pretty cool movie so I Googled screenplays and read all about the craft and thought, “Eric, you can spend your Saturday studying the varied canal morphology of mandibular first premolars, or try writing a screenplay.” I bought a copy of Final Draft later that day and the rest is history.
Scott: How did you go about learning the craft?
Eric: Blogs and books. I’ve probably read every book published on screenwriting… at least twice. Ok, maybe not every book, but enough that at least a small patch of forest somewhere was destroyed in order to print them. There is also a HUGE amount of helpful information out there on the web. Both of these were easy to get my hands on and provided me with a great foundation from which to start. I’m always ashamed to admit that I haven’t read a larger number of screenplays, but the one’s I’ve read have helped immensely. If there was one thing I’d like to do more of (besides just writing, which has been the single best education), it would be read screenplays.
Scott: When we emailed each other, you mentioned that you’ve followed Go Into The Story for years. What are your favorite features of the blog?
Eric: Go Into The Story has been one of those instrumental blogs when it comes to me becoming a professional screenwriter. I’ve read it religiously for several years now and the wisdom I’ve gleaned from it has definitely helped me get to where I am today. Thanks, Scott! I truly mean that and believe thousands of other readers of GITS would agree with me.
I’ve probably read every single thing you’ve posted in the last two years, but I remember when I first discovered GITS that I was especially drawn to the series “The Business of Screenwriting” and “Everything You Wanted To Know About Specs.” The basics, from someone who’s a professional screenwriter. The information you provided in these was exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t go to film school. I didn’t know “the business.” I had no clue how Hollywood worked (not that I do now or ever will for that matter). I just had this burning desire to write a screenplay and absolutely devoured all the information these posts provided. While those really gave me a solid foundation for what to expect as a writer, I also enjoy “Screenwriting News” and “Saturday Hot Links.” In fact, I’d probably have several more screenplays finished if it weren’t for your Saturday Hot Links…
Scott: How do you balance your work and your writing?
Eric: Ahhh, this one’s tough. And no surprise, it’s gotten even tougher since Matriarch sold. There’s only so much time in the day and it’s never, ever enough. I think the biggest reason I’m able to juggle these two careers right now is because I don’t have a family — no wife or children. I’m not saying it can’t be done because I know people do it. As long as I’m on active duty, my military career is number one. Thankfully, dentistry — even in the military — is pretty much a Monday through Friday job. This leaves evenings and weekends to write, which I take full advantage of. I will often spend 10–12 hours on both Saturday and Sunday writing, because if I don’t, then it doesn’t get done (well, that and because I love writing!) Has my social life taken a hit for it? Without a doubt. Has it been worth it? Absolutely.
Scott: Here is a plot summary for the spec script “Matriarch” which you sold in 2014: “The thriller follows two powerful female characters going head to head as a prison psychologist has 48 hours to convince a serial killer to disclose the location of her final victim before she is executed.”
What was the inspiration for this story?
Eric: I wanted to write something very, very dark. Unicorns? Not so much (although there was that unicorn in The Cabin In The Woods). Serial killers? Now we’re talking! Silence of the Lambs was a big inspiration when I wrote Matriarch, although I tried to differentiate it enough that no one would read it and think it was just a cheesy rip-off. In fact, in early drafts several people told me that my serial killer antagonist, Margaret, was too similar to Dr. Lector, so I really tried to make her different and unique in her own sick and twisted way.
Scott: How many scripts had you written before taking on “Matriarch”?
Eric: I had written several different scripts in several different genres. I was experimenting, if you will. I’ve always been drawn to darker material and if I had to write in only one genre the rest of my career it would be thrillers, but early on it was fun to see what I was capable of — and what I wasn’t capable of. Here’s something very important I learned early on by writing those different scripts: I am NOT a comedy writer. In fact, I invented an entirely new genre — the non-rom/non-com. My masterpiece, that I was 100% convinced was going to be Judd Apatow’s next big project, was neither romantic, nor the slightest bit funny.
Thrillers. Yeah, that’s my genre.
Scott: How many drafts of “Matriarch” do you figure you wrote before it was ready to go to market?
Eric: Many. Maybe a dozen? Some drafts had smaller changes, while others had more significant ones. I would get notes from a variety of different sources and I’d think about them and eventually say to myself, “Yeah, I agree. It would make more sense or be an improvement if I changed this.” I absolutely refuse to say the old adage about re-writing, but man is it ever true.
BUT…. all that mattered to me is that with each new draft, the story got better, and I think it did. I changed the entire 3rd act at one point. Literally deleted the last 25 pages. That was tough, especially when I loved what was there. I thought what I had “was” the ending. That was the only way the story could be resolved. It just made sense. With everything I had so meticulously set-up, how else could this possible end? But then I really thought about it and sure enough something bigger, badder, and better came along and the script improved because of it.
Tomorrow in Part 2, Eric reflects on some unconventional creative choices he made with “Matriarch,” how the script got discovered, and some tips for aspiring screenwriters.
Eric is repped by Paradigm and Benderspink.