Interview (Part 6): Vigil Chime (2017 Nicholl Winner)

My 6-part talk with the writer of the script “Bring Back Girl”.

Today in Part 6, Vigil provides advice for writers trying to break into the business:

Scott: What about rewriting?

Vigil: Not this story. Not this.

Scott: Not this one. But other stories, have you had to do rewrites? How do you approach that?

Vigil: In my younger days. In the younger days, I used to. My rewrites are propelled by if I give it to a reader and they read it and they’re like, “Oh, I don’t understand what happened here.” That would propel me to answer that question. Then I’ll go and attack it.

In the early days, I used to have, oh my God, versions upon versions of a story. But here’s what happened when I started shooting. I started limiting my rewrites based on I’m shooting now. All of a sudden, I just knew the choices I wanted to make. I just knew, “No, not as many rewrites,” once I started shooting film. I just understood what I needed and what I wanted to do and where we’re going and the choices I made. Because the choices are motivated by, can we get this thing?

Not much rewriting now, I’m happy to say. Not really. At the Writers Lab, the Meryl Streep thing, as I said to you, was a workshop. There were some notes which I was given which make sense, some notes. I said, “OK. I’m going to go sprinkle version two with some of those notes.”

Version two, I’m going to sprinkle it with some things my readers did not understand about the African…They did not understand that Boubakah, having only three daughters with no sons is huge in that setting. Because such a man would continue to impregnate his wife or wives until he had a son.

But that’s not what Boubakah is doing. Some readers at the workshop said, “What? I didn’t know that that makes him a particularly awesome dude.” When I heard that I said, “OK, let me just go and put just a line, just something in there that, when the American is watching it, they’re like, ‘Wow, man, this dude is not looking for sons?’” No, he’s not looking for sons at all. He’s fine.

Scott: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

Vigil: Great question. I have wanted to be a filmmaker since I graduated. I graduated in ’96. Now, I left school thinking I was going to be a screenwriter strictly.

But when I started shooting films, producing, directing, I really liked that. In fact, writing became secondary to my desire of producing and directing.

I want to write my films. My films excite me more than anybody else’s films. I love the things I write. Immediately after I write them, I want to go shoot them. In five years because of the Nicholl and hopefully because of the Nicholl, I really just want to be…I am a Nigerian female director, writer. I want to be the preeminent voice in that place.

I want my films, let’s say, to make money. I want to be respected in this field. I just want to be someone that the world knows as, “Wow, Vigil’s next film is this, and it does the things it’s supposed to do.”

I don’t believe that movies should not make money. I want my movies when they are done to have people go see them. Obviously, this is what every filmmaker wants. We all want our movies to make money.

I like action films. I don’t like boring films. [laughs] I want movies that people rush to go see. If in the United States, I want people to go see this girl Khalilah because the movie is done well, and in a location that we don’t really get to see on the big screen.

Remember, I’ve written other films that do not take place at all in Nigeria. It’s just that this one I thought I was going to go do myself. I can afford to shoot in Nigeria because the rate of return is just incredible. But even at that, we couldn’t raise the money to make this film.

I have written stories that take place in the United States. I’ve written stories that take place in Europe. I would love like this one, Bring Back Girl, to throw me onto the map so that the next time I ask, “Can somebody give me money so I can go make my next film?” They will not say no. Oh, her first film did this. Of course, we can give her money to do the second one, and so on and so forth.

In five years, honestly, I want to be…the word “renowned” sounds a little too much, but I want to be someone that makes movies that resonate with folks to the point that they want to go see it.

Of course, if people want to hire me to write for them, that’s great. Or Vigil, come and direct this. Yes, of course. I want to do that as well. As well as somebody says, “Come and adapt a book, come and take this idea and write it for us.” Of course, I want to do that as well.

Scott: Last question. What advice can you offer aspiring screenwriters about learning the craft and breaking into Hollywood?

Vigil: I broke into Hollywood, if that is what I have indeed done, just by fluke. Here is the thing that I will say to people. I suppose, ultimately, we are all trying to get to Hollywood, but I did not have Hollywood in mind. What I was trying to do was…I could do this until the day I die. I love what I do.

First, you have to love what you do. You have to consider that you may never break in. If you may never break in, do you still love what you do? On that level, you have to love what you do because I’m not thinking of Hollywood.

As I was continuing to write, I was a temp, working law firms, I’m a teacher now. I didn’t have Hollywood in mind. I just love writing. I love it very much. If you can love it, then it doesn’t really matter what happens.

Let’s be clear, many people are not going to break in. If I did not break in, I still love what I do. I know I have fulfilled a purpose on earth. I just love what I do and then I broke in. [laughs] I broke in. This is like the icing on a wonderful cake already.

I will say this also. The takeaway is this because I had a takeaway. I just wrote what I loved. It wasn’t trying to be anything. I love this story, I wrote this story. It’s one of the simplest stories I’ve ever written. I’m shocked that it resonated with Nicholl people. I was like wait a second, “You guys like this? This is so simple, such a [laughs] simple story to me.”

My takeaway in that is this. In terms of writing, really write what moves you. What moves your heart. You’re not writing for anybody, you write for yourself first at the minimal. You just write for yourself. I choose later the things I write. I don’t really do artsy film very well. Not anymore.

I do things that because when I go to the theater, I know the kind of films that I love to watch. I’m not trying to do things that only three people are going to come to. No. I’m not doing those stories. Those stories I don’t do them. I write things that would move lots of folks. My stories have to have heart. Quite honestly, this was a very, very simple story I’ve done. It’s just that it has a lot of heart.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Part 4, here.

Part 5, here.

Vigil is repped by Elevate Entertainment.

For my interviews with 27 other Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting writers, go here.