Film Courage: What is the most amount of time you’ve put into a screenplay and was it
worth it?
David Wappel, Screenwriter: The most amount of time I’ve put into a screenplay?
It’s tough because I haven’t measured exactly how much time I’ve worked on it
but I know that the longest from an idea to a finished draft was five years and that’s
just to the end of the screenplay.
That’s just it still sitting there.
No film has been made.
That is five years what is to me a finished draft sort of working on it sporadically sometimes
every day.
Other times it kind of sat dormant for a few months and I worked on other projects or whatever
but that’s the longest of anything I’ve ever done (five years).
Film Courage: Why did it take so long?
Maybe that’s not a long time?
David: I think it took awhile and it was written in sort of fits and starts because it was
one of the first projects I started once I started seriously writing so I didn’t know
yet…not necessarily that I didn’t know what I was doing because at times I still
don’t feel like know what I I’m doing when I write a screenplay but I didn’t know
a process that worked for me in terms of creating something.
So I just started writing.
I had a loose outline and I just started writing and I kept hitting dead end after dead end
or I would figure something out that didn’t feel like a dead end but it wasn’t interesting
to me.
It’s just wasn’t…nothing was happening.
So I essentially had to continuously start it over and over because I didn’t have a
process yet that I felt conformable with and I didn’t really know what I was interested
in writing about.
I had a story idea but I didn’t know why that was a story idea that interested me.
Moving forward it was always important to me that when I was writing something that
I always understood that before I really got into it why I am interested in that story
and why I am going to take that across the finish line.
That has been a really useful tool to help with other story ideas that I’ve had that
I think would be g great movies.
I think they are so cool but I am maybe not the one to write that so I shouldn’t go
after that yet.
But there is still something that might interest me so I’ll keep it in there and at some
point I go Oh, that’s what I’m interested in.
That’s the theme that comes out of that story that resonates with me and now I am
ready to start digging into that.
Film Courage: It sounds like that story has a lot of meaning for you (the initial idea)?
David: Now it does.
It didn’t at first because I didn’t have anything but once I discovered that I was
able to finish it and bring it across the finish line and understand that I was interested
in writing about.
Film Courage: Do you think you will have this made at some point or is it almost like…you
know how some people say this isn’t the story for me to make but it’s a great idea?
David: I think at this point it’s a story that I would love to see made but in terms
of where I am in my career right now it’s a very big project.
This was at a time when I was writing before considerations of my career.
What is the best story that I can write and get into the hands of producers I know and
have relationships with.
So this project just isn’t a good fit for the people I know right now so it’s still
just kind of sitting dormant.
It’s been out to a few people to read for feedback and thoughts but nothing has really
happened with it yet.
Question For The Viewers: What is the most amount of time you have put into writing a
screenplay and was it worth it?