Interview: Patty Jones (2013 Nicholl Winner) — Part 4

I only have anecdotal evidence, but it seems to me the Nicholl Fellowship does not often select a comedy script as a winning entry. So when Joe Banks won in 2013, I was excited to reach out to its writer: Patty Jones. The script is funny. Very funny. And as would be expected, so is Patty.

Today in Part 4, Patty shares what is has been like winning the Nicholl Fellowship:

Scott: In the script, you describe Sam gets to experience a full‑on, full‑out Hollywood party. You’ve done the whole Nicholl so you’ve got to experience LA high‑life for yourself. What was that like, the whole Nicholl experience?

Patty: I don’t know. It was one big, alcohol-fueled blackout. I’m kidding. You know what? I have to say it was stressful a bit. I could feel the stress coming at the end.

It was great — the letters, the emails were great at the end of July, the end of August. To get the readers’ comments, that was the day before we got the finalist phone call. I thought, “This is nice. Someone’s read it besides me. [laughs] I might not be entirely delusional.”

Being in Canada felt a bit weird, and I wondered when they put the list out, when they announced the finalists, and I could see the word “Canada” beside my name I thought, Will there be a stigma, will there be a bias?

I know Canada is next door to the US and they do a ton of filming here, a ton, but not a lot of writers are writing in Hollywood from Vancouver. I was a bit worried. A lot of people, like Tony Gilroy, for instance, said, “You don’t have to be in LA,” but I thought, “Yeah, maybe that’s true when you’re a little more established, but in the beginning it seems like your face should be somewhere there and they should feel like you’re serious.” I worried about that for a little bit.

And when I was at the Nicholl alumni party, someone said to me, “You’re going to move to LA, right? Anyone I knew who won this thing and didn’t move to LA, I never heard from them ever again.” [laughs]

Scott: Are you thinking about looking to relocate to LA?

Patty: Yes, I am. I am planning to do that shortly. I was caught up, because I had some LA–based re-write work and I was hired on a TV show. I was in a writers’ room here in Vancouver for a good part of the New Year of 2014, but that show is now in limbo. So, yeah, actually being in LA might make it just a tad easier to get to meetings.

Scott: So you’re a finalist of the Nicholl. Now, you’re getting phone calls. Did you get representation at that point or was that later on?

Patty: I had our law firm, Ziffren Brittenham, from the board game. I got a manager and I’ve been focusing on what I’m doing.

Scott: Who’s your manager?

Patty: Daniel Vang at Benderspink, who’s really great.

Scott: I was going to ask whether you have an interest in writing TV. Given the fact that you’re so good with dialogue and character, I would think that that would be something you’d be terrific at.

Patty: Can you put that on the Internet?

Scott: I think we just did! [laughs] You want to write TV?

Patty: That was Daniel’s immediate thought. He thought the same thing about dialogue: “Write a pilot.” The interesting thing was the TV show I got hired on is not a comedy whatsoever. It’s a crime thriller with a family drama in the middle of it. I tried to talk them out of hiring me. [laughs] I recommend this highly as a career move. This is what people should do — try not to get hired. I said, “You know, I’m really comic.” Luckily for me, they said, “That’s OK. We’re looking for that voice. Your voice.”

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that the TV shows that resonate with me have weirdly been dramas. The idea was that I would write a comedy pilot, but now I’m thinking maybe something more black comedy.

Scott: You mentioned you’re interested in writer‑directors. Is that something you want to do. Maybe write and direct movie?

Patty: It’s interesting. Maybe because I’m the youngest child, I’m incapable of bossing other people. But I’m writing a fantasy-adventure right now — with what I think is a cool mix of comedy and drama and, of course, action — and I’ve never written this genre before. What I’m getting at is that I’ve been bending my brain to do this, but the great thing is that I love it. And I realized how much I can learn, and I’m thinking, “I can probably learn to direct, as well.” It’s certainly a thought, although I’m not very bossy. I’m way too malleable.

Scott: Let’s move into some craft questions. How do you come up with story ideas?

Patty: Well, some things pop wholly formed into your head and some things are a mashup. You probably would agree with that, that you mash things up and then suddenly it turns into something that’s your own.

Scott: Then, one morning, you wake up at seven o’clock and it’s there.

Patty: And you think, “I have a pounding hangover and here’s an idea.”

Scott: How about prep writing… brainstorming, character development, plotting and research, outlining all that? What’s your prep process if any?

Patty: It’s probably changed. “Joe Banks,” I didn’t really know the ending until the second draft. Then, I did have to outline that third act. It did not end that way nine hours before I entered the Nicholl. I made up that whole third act just before.

Scott: Wow.

Patty: In short story writing, I literally thought “process of discovery”. I’d be writing and I’d think, “Oh, that’s interesting. That’s how this is going to go. This is how this is ending,” which is lovely, but it can be time-consuming and it can maybe get you a bit knotted up.

In screenwriting I’ve always thought, “OK, you need to know your ending,” and I’m more a fan of outlining. Of course, with something like what I’m writing now, which is more of a tentpole-type scale, you pretty much have to outline.

Although, I’m always happy when I read an interview with somebody I admire, like the Coen brothers, where they do not outline and they talk about, “Well, we know what scenes are going to be happening a couple of scenes ahead.”

I thought, “Yeah, that I understand.” But yeah, “Joe Banks” was written without a destination, but on that nine‑hour second draft, I got a destination pretty quick.

Tomorrow in Part 5, Patty talks about the craft of screenwriting.

For Part 1 of the interview, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Patty is repped by Benderspink.

Twitter: @heypattyjones.