We talked to the LGBT world's up and coming screenwriters, the finalists for our very first NewDraft screenplay competition.

Malone by Gerry Robinson

 

Please introduce yourself:

 

My name is Gerry Robinson, I work for CBS News in their survey and polling unit and I'm based in New York City.

 

What initially attracted you to screenwriting?

 

I've been in love with movies since I saw Journey to the Center of the Earth when I was about 9. I went to New York University Film School where I discovered I could write.

 

How many screenplays have you written, and have any been produced?

 

I've written two screenplays neither of which has been produced although I do have a studio considering one of them.

 

Please describe your screenplay in 1-2 short sentences.

 

It's 1961. Hank Malone is a private detective kicked off the police force for being gay. He is hired by a drag queen to tail her lover and winds up involved in a municipal scandal with a handsome male hustler who may or may not be implicated in murder.

 

Where did the idea for your screenplay come from?

 

The screenplay was inspired by 40s film noir detective films like The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep as well as Chinatown.

 

The first LGBT film I ever saw was:

 

The Boys in the Band

 

My top three all-time favorite films are:

 

Nashville, The Godfather, Part II, The 400 Blows

 

The one LGBT film that has had the biggest impact on me is:

 

Queer as Folk on Showtime.

 

The last DVD I watched was:

AI by Steven Spielberg

 

‘70s Shuffle by Diane Edington

Please introduce yourself:

 

Personal Chef. Northampton, MA

 

What initially attracted you to screenwriting?

Along with a lifelong passion for movies, the French film, An Affair of Love, inspired me to want to write a better and more intense lesbian version of the story.  My first script turned out to be totally different from the French story.

 

How many screenplays have you written, and have any been produced?

 

Three. None yet produced.

 

Please describe your screenplay in 1-2 short sentences.

 

Straight femme FBI infiltrator meets lesbian, mafia bar manager-radical lesbian in ‘70s anarchist shakedown.  A lesbian hybrid of Donnie Brasco and Bound.

 

Where did the idea for your screenplay come from?

 

From my experiences in the NYC '70s subcultures of radical lesbians and a mafia owned dyke bar where I was a chef.

 

Who or what are some of the creative influences that have had the biggest impact on you?

 

At 9, I was in awe of Da Vinci.  At 10, exposure to Japanese esthetics. The power of movies, e.g., at 6, I was removed from the theater crying hysterically from the Bambi forest fire-mother deer scene.  In teens, Tennessee Williams' stage plays. Avant garde '60s theater. Laura Nyro.

 

The first film I have memories of watching as a child was:

 

Disney's Wind in the Willows

 

The first LGBT film I ever saw was: 

 

Persona-at least it had some undertones that moved me

The last DVD I watched was:

Lars and the Real Girl

Love Marriage by Soman Chainani

Please introduce yourself:

 

I've lived in New York City for eight years and currently make my living as a full-time writer/director.

 

What initially attracted you to screenwriting?

 

I came to screenwriting as a director. Certainly directing is in my blood - I remember forcing kids to act in my micromanaged skits during first grade recess. But I relish the writing phase of writing/directing - not only is it incredibly challenging, but it's also just the first step. Then comes a whole new gestation, and ultimately a whole new creation.

 

How many screenplays have you written, and have any been produced?

 

I came from the world of shorts, where I produced two short films – Davy and Stu and Kali Ma - whose success allowed me to write Love Marriage as my first feature script. I'm putting the finishing touches on a second, The Adventures of Cameron Carpenter, a sexy gay pop hybrid of Mean Girls and Moulin Rouge.

 

Please describe your screenplay in 1-2 short sentences.

 

In Love Marriage, two dueling weddings between brother and sister - one for love, one for money - tear apart an Indian family.

 

Where did the idea for your screenplay come from?

 

I am the middle child in my family, and after my brother had a huge Bollywood eight-day Indian wedding in Bombay, I remember thinking, 'What if I wanted a wedding just like this - a big gay Indian wedding?' A boy asking that question - that's where this movie starts.

 

The first film I have memories of watching as a child was:

 

Empire of the Sun

 

The first LGBT film I ever saw was:

 

The Living End

 

My top three all-time favorite films are:

 

All About Eve, Charade, Billy Elliot

Daydream by Rodney Evans

 

Please introduce yourself:

 

I am a full-time writer/director/producer based in Brooklyn, NY.

 

What initially attracted you to screenwriting?

 

I come from a documentary background and in general I started to become weary of the fact that it was possible to spend years following characters without any guarantee that there would be an engaging, dramatic film at the end of the process. Thus crafting a dramatic, compelling story on the page became more appealing to me and a shift to narrative storytelling happen in 1998.

 

How many screenplays have you written, and have any been produced?

 

I am the writer/director/producer of the feature Brother to Brother which took six years to make. It was a Centerpiece screening at NEWFEST in 2004 and was released theatrically in the U.S. in late 2004/early 2005.

 

Please describe your screenplay in 1-2 short sentences.

 

Day Dream is a drama that follows gay composer Billy Strayhorn on a quest for musical inspiration as he travels to New Orleans to investigate the life of Buddy Bolden, the forefather on modern jazz, who spent the last 24 years of his life in a mental institution.

 

Where did the idea for your screenplay come from?

 

The idea was sparked to by two books about the main characters, Lush Life by David Hajdu and Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje. Both books resonated with me emotionally in a similar way and led me onto a two year journey of doing original research into their lives. A lot of the material I reviewed were oral history interviews at the Hogan Jazz Archive at Tulane University in New Orleans.

 

The first film I have memories of watching as a child was:

 

Coming Home with my mom when I was seven.

 

The first LGBT film I ever saw was:

 

Some of the older kids in my neighborhood snuck me in to see Fame when I was 9 and that was the first time I remember seeing a gay character on screen and relating to his experience.