A friend of mine had talked about WILDsound and really was pleased with how it was run and the feedback he received was useful and construction as well as encouraging. That worked for me. Initial feedback was also useful, some of it I agreed with, and some of it, I responded to, not to justify but hopefully to clarify my writing intentions. The good news, for me, was I didn’t wait for feedback but started rewriting. That seems to be the way to go.
– Andrew Boyle, on the WILDsound experience (review)
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Watch the Winning Short Screenplay TELL ME NOT TO
CAST LIST:
NARRATOR – Stephanie Seaton
Kyle – Ben Hur
Bill – Nathan Kohn
Matt – Derek Chan
Melodi – Angelica Alejandro
Suzanne – Becky Shrimpton
Ethnic Guy – Scott Dion Brown
Interview with writer Andrew Boyle:
Thank you for the opportunity to fill this out. It was enlightening and encouraging to me. Guess I needed to hear a little bit of my own voice.
regards,
Andrew Boyle
“Tell Me Not To”
1. What is your screenplay about?
A poignant discussion of loss, love and illness, “Tell Me Not To,”follows a man who is going through his life holding on to the pain caused by a former lover and conditions that cannot be fixed regardless of how badly you want them to.
2. Why should this script be made into a movie?
It’s important to me for inclusivity to be brought to the screen. That’s not just in the leads but the environment that surrounds them. To see characters that are complex and dealing with life, not necessarily in the “cookie cutter” fashion, but in a way that many people across this country are dealing with it. To me, I need to see these kind of stories as well, that allow me, and and I hope that audience to say “me, too”.
3. How long have you been writing stories?
I started writing in 1997. A lot of journaling. I first began developing poetry as a means to express what I couldn’t understand, what I was observing, and how to cope. The poetry was sporadic, but eventually accumulated some 80 poems over the years. I then began to develop short essays, some from dreams, some as an exercise to remember what I felt as if I was forgetting. Screenplays arrived a few years ago as the need to see more of myself on the screen, as in, “be the change I want to see”. I’m simply following through on that idea.
4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?
There’s a difference I feel between what movie I’ve seen the most and which ones have imprinted themselves on me. I say that, because, if I don’t have an answer to the question that means, or what I hear is, “I don’t qualify.”
The most seen movie for me is “Singin’ in the Rain.” I was raised on movie musicals and could not get enough of it. I still can’t. This and probably “The Sound of Music”.
“Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Japanese Story,” “It’s My Party,” and “To Kill A Mockingbird” deeply resonate with me for various reasons.
5. What artists would you love to work with?
Sam Shepard, Aaron Sorkin, The Coen Brothers, Christopher Nolan, Tilda Swinton, Pedro Almodovar, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Jill Soloway. And if there was still the chance, Jimmy Stewart.
6. How many stories/screenplays have you written?
To date, four essays, and four short film screenplays.
7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years?
Solely working as an artist developing, producing my work or that of others to continue to bring inclusivity into the everyday world that it is no longer in need of the word “inclusivity”.
To that end, produce/act in/ screen and find distribution for this first short I have written and am re writing. Further develop and translate my writing into other ventures and avenues to broaden my expression utilizing my skills.
Continue to provide/give back support to the writing/film making communities as a mentor.
8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing?
I write when I can, but usually designate when that will happen during the week. That way I don’t think about it until I’m there. When I initially sat down to write a screenplay I had so many critical voices in my head telling me “this is a waste of time”. So, rather than ignore them, I gave them space. Every writing session started with and continues to this day with three minutes of me free writing as to why “this is pointless” and “why I am not qualified” or some variation of my Fear. Once that is done I complete the rest of my session with out a yelp from them. I then “invite” ….whatever…. to join me. To show me what needs to be written. I ask “what is the story that needs to be told?” I don’t believe I own the stories. I’m the collaborator. Keeps my ego in check.
I always finish each writing session with “thank you.”
9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Health, diet, fitness and how the three come together. I also volunteer as a mentor for children in the Young Storytellers program here in Los Angeles. Time with children and their imaginations is …priceless.
10. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Show up when and where you can. But do show up. I won’t ever know how exactly the story will end or if I will ever finish it, but if I keep showing up for my writing sessions I will eventually get to the end.
WILDsound Festival 