I couldn’t hear Wesley on the phone. I can never hear him on the phone. But, as usual, he had something for me to do, to do RIGHT NOW! I had to get over to Surry Hills to a place called Metro Screen for some talk or other. I looked at my half finished jigsaw and my reversed underwear. It would be the first time I’d left the house in four days. I leaped at the opportunity.
Dripping sweat from my bike ride I walk through a mysterious door into an enigmatic hallway. It opens up to a production studio full to the brim with eager hopefuls. I didn’t know then what they were hoping for but they had that rat like intensity of wanting something, that aggressiveness of being cooped up in a room with others who wanted the same thing.
I looked around for Wesley, and as usual at the other side of the room he was surrounded by a flock of young girls. They were trying to take photos with him. I bared my teeth at an equally maniacal writer who was blocking my entry into the room and found myself a tiny corner.
It’s a competition for ‘emerging’ Writer-Directors (the high security VIPs of the film asylum). Eleven people get roughly $4000 and all they have to put in is a draft script, and a synopsis, outline, character breakdowns, director’s statement (?), creative concept (double ?) etc. etc. As I’m backing out of my the room with my hands up protectively in front of me, they also mention that four of the eleven spots are for ‘people of diverse cultural and non-English speaking backgrounds’. Hey there!
So I get home and (two months later) start writing my second script ever. The world needed this. Who was I to deny the world? I decide to do a story from experience. Here’s what it is about:
Omission is a meditative study of a hard working immigrant family’s internal violence and quiet trauma. A stern father suspects that his mischievous son has stolen a hundred dollars from him. In front of his helpless wife he savagely beats and hog-ties his son. Later, his silent attempts to come to grips with his horrifying actions towards a person he deeply loves is explored.
Following is my submission to Metro Screen’s First Break (http://www.metroscreen.org.au) (Read a PDF version here). Please also read the post that contains the support materials for the script and the draft shot list. They received over 115 submissions. The results come out at the start of March.
Posted 5 months ago
