Interview (Part 2): Melissa Iqbal (2014 Nicholl Winner)

U.K.-based writers Melissa Iqbal wrote the original screenplay “The Death Engine” which won the 2014 Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting. Recently Melissa and I had a transatlantic phone call in which we covered a lot of territory in an excellent conversation.

Today in Part 2, Melissa reveals the inspiration for her script “The Death Engine” and how she went about the world-building process:

Scott: Let’s talk about “The Death Engine,” the script that won you a Nicholl Fellowship and that you hatched at the National Film and Television School. Here’s a summary of the plot.

“In a world where forever never ends, Lilly lives the perfect immortal life. But when she’s diagnosed with the quote‑unquote ‘melancholia,’ the incurable desire to die, she pays the Death Engine for the perfect death, but how can her assigned reaper do his job when he’s fallen in love with his client?”

Let’s start at the very beginning. Do you remember how that initial story conceit emerged?

Melissa: It definitely grew out of this idea of a world where people can live forever and I know I do tend to return to the idea of immortality, mostly because I like fables and Greek mythology. I also love stories about people who get what they want only to realize they don’t want it anymore, like a rise and fall.

“The Death Engine” was my graduation script and the spec I would take out into the industry, so I was also a little more conscious of trying to come up with something that would sort of define me as a writer to people who hadn’t read any of my work. In this respect I knew it would probably end up being something with a complex story universe, but with simple, relatable characters at the heart of it.

Scott: That’s an interesting observation that you’re drawn to stories that have a complex story universe, but the characters within that context have rather simple dynamics going on. In “The Death Engine,” you’ve got several major characters and subplots. Some really big ideas in play. A rather involved narrative scheme that a key point pivots from character to character. Yet, it all comes together and works as a story. How long did it take for you to work out, then write the script you submitted to the Nicholl competition?

Melissa: It must have been maybe two or three months of writing notes, building a picture of the world and working out the characters and basic thrust of the story. I then did a fairly detailed outline and wrote the first draft in one or two weeks, something like that. That whole process made me realize how important planning is for me. I don’t want to have every moment plotted or it would kill the fun of actually writing it, but I find I can be freer so long as I have a roadmap to stop me getting completely lost. It also helps me write quickly, so I can get a real sense of the script as a whole, it’s pacing and what that experience might be for an audience.

Scott: In terms of the writing process, what were some of the most challenging narrative components of the story?

Melissa: It was quite difficult getting the balance between all the genres right. There’s sci-fi, romance, some thriller elements and a family drama in there and I didn’t want the audience to be disappointed or confused about the film they were watching. And there’s still problems with it, so… still looking to improve it a bit more [laughs].

Scott: Speaking of that, how long did it take for you to complete script revisions?

Melissa: Probably another two or three months, I’d say. When I entered the Nicholl Fellowship I’d just finished draft five.

Scott: Let’s work our way through the story. I want to focus on three characters. The first is Lilly the character through whose perspective the story is primarily told.

She looks to be about 28 years old. But, as it turns out, she’s much older. How would you describe Lilly in terms of her psychological state at the beginning of the story?

Melissa: At the start, Lily is very close to having what is seen to be a perfect life in this future world. She’s purchased her immortality, ticked off all her bucket list adventures and now she has a husband, a successful career in the city, a house in the country. All that remains is to obtain a child license and have a baby. The only problem is she’s starting to suffer from the ‘melancholia’, a depression that comes about when someone has simply lived too long. Lily is now bored and disillusioned with living forever, which in this world is what everyone wants, so they can’t possibly understand what she’s going through. It’s as if she sees the cracks and no one else does, if that make sense.

Scott: Sure, it does. Because you’ve got this longevity product out there, and they have this sales catchphrase, “Forever never ends” which, on the face of it, that’s a wonderful thing, to live forever.

Yet, Lilly’s journey throughout the story is an exploration of the dark side of that, “Forever never ends” is like a prison.

Melissa: Yeah. Definitely. People want to live the perfect life and, more importantly, be seen to be living the perfect life, so in order for Lily to experience something new and exhilarating, something different from the norm, she has to go into this darker back‑alley world.

Scott: That’s right. Even at the very beginning, she’s already starting to live this kind of double life. She even wears a wig at some points. She’d visit these places called ‘risk clubs’. I’m curious, why did those clubs exist in the society in 2041?

Melissa: Strangely enough, the ‘risk clubs’ sort of came from reading, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. I liked the idea that he would disappear into the shadows of the city to experience all these taboo things in secret, most of which remain behind closed doors.

Scott: The appeal of risk is like you have an eternal life, in some ways, that dissolves fear of disillusion, right? And so, the appeal of these risk clubs is somehow reflective of the fact that that’s gone in a way.

Melissa: Yeah, I think so, but the desire to experience it is still there even though people are ashamed of it, like it’s a base instinct or something, so they manufacture it artificially and sell it as this black market commodity.

Scott: These clubs have rooms called ‘rabbit holes’ which, of course, evokes ‘Alice in Wonderland.’

Melissa: Yes. What I like about world building is creating a mythology or a sort of logical cultural evolution, so, once you get how the world operates in principle, using terminology like ‘rabbit holes’ or anything else that has roots in reality can begin to make sense without too much exposition.

Tomorrow in Part 3, Melissa reflects on some of the key characters in “The Death Engine”.

For Part 1, go here.

Melissa is repped by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates.

Twitter: @Azureix.