Q&A: Screenwriter Marc Maurino (“Inside the Machine”), Part 4

Today we continue my interview with screenwriter Marc Maurino, who wrote and sold the spec script “Inside the Machine” to CBS Films in May 2011:

SM: Even though you sold the script [“Inside the Machine”], you continue to live a long way from Los Angeles. How do you rate that situation? What are the downsides? Upsides? Do you anticipate relocating to L.A. or can you imagine making a career as a filmmaker work living outside Hollywood?

MM: I rate that situation as…that’s just the way it is right now. I love where I live, my day job, my kids’ school, and my wife’s got a flourishing acting career. I’ve been to LA for two (separate) weeks for a round of generals and studio meetings and such. I do A LOT of calls — luckily, the whole town is still working for about three hours after I get home, so my reps’ assistants and I have gotten in the practice of ensuring that every call time is denoted PST/EST.

The downside is that most of the calls I do, I would be doing in person, and that is always a better way to interact with another human. From over the phone generals, to discussing material, to giving my take on something, to all-out pitching, I’d be better in the room, and I know it. That’s a career hit that I take in the jaw, knowing it’s a hit, but knowing that’s the situation for now.

In fact, I don’t think I’d all-out pitch on something unless I already knew the producer or knew that I was just trying to get to the next gatekeeper; when I’m talking to someone who can say “yes” and get me paid (as opposed to “yes” and get me in the room with his or her boss) I’ll fly to LA for that meeting. And I make that clear early on — anytime someone wants to hear from me in person, pick a day next week and I’ll fly out.

The upside is that I’m happy in my life, and I’ve really generally found that I’ve got more than enough work coming at me to consider that I don’t know how I would handle more if I got more by being in LA. But make no mistake: the industry is in LA, and if I could be there full time, I would.

And yes, I do anticipate moving out there. If a time comes when this career eclipses my day job, I would get an apartment out there and split my time, a few weeks per month out there writing and taking meetings, and a few weeks at home, writing and running around with the family. I can imagine making a career work from here alone, but I’m not looking to just “make a career work.”

I want to have a big career as a writer, and I want to transition to directing at some point, and again — the industry is in LA. That’s where everyone else is. It’s where I’ll be, at least part time, at some point. Luckily, I love LA; I find the city beautiful and vibrant and diverse, I love taco trucks, I love the ocean, I love the sun, and basically, I’m just jazzed on the whole place. Not spending a decade or two grinding it out and being poor out there probably helps a lot.

SM: Presumably your reps (UTA and Circle of Confusion) have sent you out on a round of meet-and-greets with producers and studio execs. What are your impressions of that whole experience? Any advice to help prepare future screenwriters for those type of meetings?

MM: I love generals. I self-deprecatingly joke that it’s like…go to LA? To hear how someone loved my writing, and then to talk about myself? And about writing? Um, yes, please!

I never get tired of meeting new people, learning about various companies and what their “sweet spots” are, and getting deeper insight into how the town runs.

The most important impression I have of the experience is that while the execs I’ve met have been almost uniformly smart, funny, and great to talk to, it’s my job to really clock those with whom I’m really connecting the most, and to make sure that I remember that for my reps when it comes time to consider who to send my next spec to, or even developing something on spec with someone.

Most of me is there as a writer trying to build relationships; part of me is there as a sociological anthropologist, observing the development executive in his or her natural habitat, interacting with the strange creature known as a writer…That sounds funny, but that is, in a way, how I approach everything in life, because I’m a writer. Most of me is there; a small part of me is observing, recording, and remembering for future character work.

Regarding advice, I wrote a fairly long and instructional overview of what they’re like for the Done Deal Pro message board, which you’re welcome to read here.

SM: What’s next for Marc Maurino? Where do you see yourself in 5–10 years?

MM: In five or ten years, I hope to have written a number of scripts which have made it to production. It cannot be overemphasized that writing is great, selling scripts is great, and getting hired for assignments is great, but I want to be a produced screenwriter. That’s the golden ring, and there are many successful and well-compensated writers who haven’t achieved that. So in five years, I’d love to have a poster of INSIDE THE MACHINE on my wall, as well as at least a few of whatever other scripts I write.

I’m also hopeful/confident that I’ll be directing in that time period. I am still firmly taking my team’s advice that the goal now is to break as a writer — get known around town, sell another script, book a job or two, see INSIDE made, etc. But as I do this, I’ve always got one part of my brain working on ideas that can potentially be my first feature (as a director), which may be done on the indie side.

And television is definitely somewhere in my future. I’m developing something right now with a prodco in New York, and any writer who likes character knows that television, especially cable, is dominating character driven stories right now.

The important thing is that I want to write stories that excite me; scripts that have characters who are flawed, struggling, trying to do the right thing but can’t get out of their own way. Stories that have heart, action, and drama. I want to write things that might have a little bit of cultural or emotional or intellectual resonance for people.

And finally, I just landed my first assignment for a great producer, which should be announced in the trades sometime soon. It’s an adaptation of a brilliant crime novel that I fell in love with, and I worked my tail off to craft a pitch which honored the source material and yet revisioned it for both film and the themes I’m personally interested in (family, redemption, etc.) So we closed that deal at the end of the year, and I’m already doing a ton of brainstorming, research, and getting deep into a treatment that lists all the sequences and details what we learn about all of the important elements therein — character, conflict, and narrative.

We have had this discussion — to live in LA or not — before. While it is certainly an advantage, and if you want to work in TV a requisite, it is possible — as Marc demonstrates — to live outside LA and work as a screenwriter.

Tomorrow: We wrap up my interview with Marc with a series of questions about the craft of screenwriting. You won’t want to miss that.

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