Interview (Part 2): Sallie West (2014 Nicholl Winner)

Sallie West wrote the original screenplay “Moonflower” which won the 2014 Nicholl Fellowship in screenwriting. I had a great conversation with Sallie about her background, the writing of her award-winning screenplay, and how she approaches the writing craft. This week: That interview in 5 parts.

Today in Part 2, Sallie shares what the inspiration for “Moonflower” was:

Scott: How many months do you think it took you to get the script to the point where you had the draft you submitted to the Nicholl?

Sallie: In total, a year and a half, but part of that time I spent learning the craft and reading other screenplays.

I had no idea if it was any good. With the Nicholl competition, I would’ve been happy to score in the top 50th percentile. [laughs] That would’ve been a success to me. I was really surprised that it did as well as it did.

Scott: Then you got in touch with me? We had a call on the phone.

Sallie: Yes. You had recommended some readers, because I wanted someone to go in there and look for problems. I’m used to having my writing reviewed by people. It doesn’t cause offense, it’s always a good thing. I incorporated one or two small changes and sent it off to Nicholl.

Scott: You must have known about me through the blog, right?

Sallie: I did. I found you on the Internet doing my early screenplay research.

Scott: It’s amazing all the resources that are available online now.

Sallie: But I tell you, I was stunned that you lived in Chapel Hill. That really blew me away, I had lived there for 20 years.

Scott: [laughs] I know, it’s funny. I tell people I’m more connected in Hollywood now than I ever was when I lived there.

Sallie: [laughs]

Scott: Let’s talk about your script, “Moonflower,” which I really enjoyed. It’s equal parts dramatic, funny, romantic, bittersweet.

Sallie: Thank you. Those are all nice words.

Scott: The plot summary I found, I guess it was on the Academy site:

“Although temporally separated, a luthier and a cellist find the means to enhance one another’s virtuosity and engage in a rather outré September passion.”

Sallie: I took some grief for that. I didn’t know what a logline was or its purpose. I wrote a bad one! I would manage something better now, hopefully.

Scott: What was the inspiration for “Moonflower”?

Sallie: I knew I wanted to write about things I love. One was classical music. I wanted to write something requiring research that was of interest. I had taken piano lessons, but I didn’t know anything about the cello, and the topic interested me.

I wanted to spin it into something romantic and beautiful and funny. When you’re crafting a plot, you need to invent barriers to move the action forward. So I came up with this age (temporal) barrier and Muriel’s social anxiety disorder. The idea that two people fall in love, but in separate decades, was wonderful to explore.

Scott: Given your background with science writing and technical writing, I would imagine it’s a lot of research. So I’m guessing you must have enjoyed immersing yourself in the world of cellos.

Sallie: I did. That’s what made it pleasurable. That was the payoff. The screenplay I’m writing for my Nicholl Fellowship year requires a lot of research as well.

Scott: Did that extend also to the craft of being a luthier?

Sallie: I bought books and watched videos. I did enough research to make it work at the screenplay level.

Scott: I’ll say this. One absolutely essential thing you need to do in a screenplay is gain the confidence of the reader that the writer understands the story universe they’re trafficking in. You’ve got the classical music thing. You’ve got the luthier thing. The cello thing. I have a musical background myself and I completely bought in.

Sallie: Wow. That’s the nicest thing you could say. It was very important to make it credible. Even though I really didn’t know much about cellos, I learned a bit about it, and I appreciate the work that goes into making one.

The Stradivarius mythology was of interest to me, especially since empirical research now shows that there is no difference in the sound of Strads and well made contemporary instruments. The myth that has been propagating for three centuries in the end has to do with study bias, not sound!

Scott: I definitely read that.

Sallie: That’s a recent event. It only came out within the past five or so years.

Tomorrow in Part 3, Sallie talks about the Protagonist of her script “Moonflower”.

For Part 1, go here.