WORK EXAMPLES

1. Glory For Sale (The script!)

What was the most challenging aspect of this piece? : 

Adapting such a massive book, into a cohesive and straightforward documentary was a huge challenge. I needed to make it interesting, and cut out all of the fluff. The author had a tendency to go off on tangents, that made sense within the context of the book, but did not make sense for a visual medium. So distilling all of this information into a linear format, so you could watch it as a documentary, was very challenging.

What new skills did you acquire? :

Besides the massive amount of knowledge I have gained regarding football and football stadiums, I also learned how to keep track of a story that was over 500 pages long. I've never had to adapt from a book before. So I had a note/timeline system so I could keep track of when events were happening, in relation to other events. (since the story isn't told in chronological order.)


Is the work a success? : 

I believe so. It was a massive undertaking, but I feel like (and was told) that I did a good treatment, and was able to distill the essence of the story into a documentary script.


2. Glory For Sale (The Production Package!)

Preface to package.

What was the most challenging aspect of this piece? : 

Creating a sort of production package for a documentary is different than for a narrative. I decided to focus more on funding opportunities, and the markets the documentary would thrive in, rather than who the "star" would be.

All of this research was new and challenging to me.

What new skills did you acquire? :

I learned a lot more about the grant acquiring process, and the production "package" process. There is no real standard format, you're just aiming to create something that can convince someone else to give you money so you can film something.

confusing right?

Is the work a success? : 

I guess the only way to truly judge it as successful would be for it to sell... But that's a long shot. But I do think I successfully put together all the information needed to begin pre-production were the script ever to be bought.

3. The Gene Police (The Script!)

 

What was the most challenging aspect of this piece? : 

Adapting characters who already existed in two prior books was a challenge. I needed to be able to distill some of the information from prior novels, that I felt were important as introduction to the characters, while still starting at this point in the time line.

Also, writing in a way that meant you could take "commercial breaks" was tough. I needed to have a few good act breaks (even though the script isn't necessarily targeted towards network television.

What new skills did you acquire? :

Structurally, a television script is different than a feature script. You need to keep run-time, commercials, viewer interest, and cliff-hangers in mind. It's a much more targeted and "scientific" approach to writing. So practicing with a "formula" like that was new.

Is the work a success? : 

I think so! I like it. I think it's fun to read. I can't how too much here... the book isn't even technically out. But it was nice to work on fiction after working on non-fiction so long, I had fun and wrote a script, sounds like success to me.