In My Latest Incarnation, I'm a Playwright

So about 18 months ago, I went to a night of ten-minute plays at an L.A. theatre, and got hooked on writing short plays.  Since then, I've written 54 short plays (!) and over 20 have been produced at least once.

Which is satisfying in a way that screenwriting never was.  Not that I've stopped screenwriting - I've written a TV movie that might get made, and rewritten another.

But there's a real joy in coming up with an idea for a short play, knocking out a draft, rewriting it, and then ultimately having it be done on stage somewhere.  There's not a ton of money in it at all, but I feel like I've found my passion.

https://www.facebook.com/scottmullenplaywright/

Time Flies When You're Having Fun... or Something

I can't believe it has been over two years since I posted here, which even then was long after the days when I first started this site, when I was posting just about every day.

I'm sure a lot of the links here are dead too, tombstones to blogs that once were, but are no more.  Oh well.

What to report?  Well, I had a movie made.  It's called THE SUMMONING, and it's airing on Saturday night, June 6, on a cable channel called TV One, which apparently half of America has buried on its cable systems somewhere, so look for it.

Otherwise, I'm still reading my ass off.  Though I do have other scripts with other producers, and I'm hoping to get some good news soon.  I've tasted the sweetness of getting a script into production, and I like it.

Also, I'm finally Twittering, at @mullen_scott - pithy thoughts in easier-to-digest chunks.  Follow me, and I'll follow you back.

Hey - I Wrote a Book

So first off, clearly I need to post more.  Apologies.  It's been a long two years, for many reasons.

Touching Blue is still in development at Amazon.  I did a couple of passes, and then they brought in another writer.  But last I heard, they are still throwing money at it, which is good.  If it's ever made, I get a big chunk of cash, which would be nice.

In the meantime, I wrote a couple of other scripts that are currently out getting eyeballs on them (hopefully).

And just for fun, I also wrote a book.  The link is here.

I was contacted by a publisher in New Hampshire, who had the idea of doing lightly novelized versions of unproduced screenplays.  So I novelized one of mine, which is literally just taking a screenplay and retyping it into prose form.

The only thing I added was a few "he says" and "she replies".  It's all in present-tense, and very lean.  It's meant to be read in about the time it takes to watch a movie - perfect to read on a plane flight.

It was an interesting experience, and I'm happy with the result.  And the result is sort of eye-opening - it's definitely miles more readable to the kind of non-industry people (like my parents) whose brain hurts when they try to read a screenplay.

And hey, I wrote a book.  It's on Amazon.  And it didn't cost me anything.

So now that's crossed off my bucket list.  And if you happen to pick up a copy, and say a few nice words about it on Amazon...   Thanks  :-)

Still In Development

Turns out that writing really is rewriting...  and no one is in any hurry, until they are.

I've had a number of meetings with my producers and especially my development people.  The rewrite is coming along, I'm working on a detailed treatment that they will hopefully approve, so I can dig into the rewrite.

The catch is that it's almost completely different.  Really.  Some of the character names are the same.  The fact that Blue feels pain when she is touched is the same.  Everything else is different.  Every single scene is completely different.

Still, I'm excited about the new direction of the story, which is going to make her a more active and hopefully interesting character.  Plus it feels like I'm on my way to....   something.

I feel like a writer.  For better or for worse.  Can't be a bad thing.

So There's A Movie Made From My Script -

Sort of. It's a feature length (95 min.) "test movie" that Amazon Studios made of my screenplay "Touching Blue", an animatic to serve as a way to have people experience the whole story in a visual sense, rather than having to read the script.

It's a development tool - it's not supposed to be the end-all, be-all of anything. In fact, I've already written a new draft - the one in the animatic is the one that won last June.

I have some quibbles about some of the voice work, and the music is often awful. But a lot of it is cool - and the closest I've come to actually having a script made. So that's nice.

Plus it's easy to just graze around, and skip ahead.

The movie is here

The trailer is here

The new draft is here

Things Are Getting Interesting

Someday, when I'm a working writer, I'll post on this blog more frequently. I promise.

Meanwhile, this just happened....

Which is very cool. Hopefully.

2012 is going to be an intriguing year.

Holy Crap, I Won Again

I am very humbled and sort of blown away to announce that one of my other scripts, "In the Silences", just won Best Script in the Amazon Studios' August contest.

Now I really need to write...