(This is what the biz does to your hair color.)
(This is what the biz does to your hair color.)
William Pace
"Back in the day," I received my Master of Fine Arts in Film Production from New York University's acclaimed Graduate Film and TV prgram. My thesis film, ECHO CANYON, won the Cinemax National Short Film Search and was then televised nationally on the USA Cable Network.
On the (very cold!) set of ECHO CANYON.
Since then I've written several produced scripts and also wrote and directed the award winning independent feature film CHARMING BILLY, a dark and intense dramatic story that imagines the unimaginable: what could cause an "ordinary man-next-door" to snap, climb a rural water tower with a rifle and open fire on the world below.
The script to CHARMING BILLY (which is not based on the book of the same name by Alice McDermott) was a three time finalist at the Sundance Screenwriting Lab. Lead actor Michael Hayden won the Best Actor award at the Los Angeles AFI International Film Festival "for his bracing, courageous perf as Billy," as the VARIETY review exclaimed.
CHARMING BILLY is distributed by Wellspring Media, a distributor of such foreign classics as Akira Kurosawa's RAN and the recent RUSSIAN ARK, American indies as MY DINNER WITH ANDRE and CLEAN, SHAVEN, plus many more.
I have also co-written three more produced screenplays:
*BLADES a "dead-on parody of JAWS," was theatrically distributed, broadcast on both HBO and Cinemax networks and is now available on home video
What can I say? This was my first ever paid screenwriting job and is the best damn possessed lawn mower movie/parody of JAWS ever made! John McCarthy in his book SPLATTER MOVIE GUIDE, VOL. II (now there's a reference you don't see cited everyday!) said it "produces quite a few laughs and actually generates some tension and suspense." Thomas R. Rondinella and I were hired to co-write this fresh out of NYU film school and we were just thrilled to be making a movie. He got to direct it while I helped produce, and although it has its flaws (the first 30 minutes move too slow, the lead actor is too stiff...), once it kicks in, it's pretty fun ... if a bit twisted. And you know, your first always has a special place in your heart.
*ALL'S FAIR is a comedy (and I use that term loosely) starring George Segal, Sally Kellerman and Robert Carradine, theatrically distributed, broadcast on both HBO and Cinemax networks and is now available on home video.
This is a classic evil Hollywood story. My co-writer, Thomas R. Rondinella, and I were the original screenwriters but we were rewritten by 5 other writers, then denied any screen credit at all. We went through Writers Guild arbitration to get our names on the moive, won an injunction against the producer, who then promptly slapped a $10,000,000 lawsuit against us to try and scare us off, but then dropped it when the arbitrators decided we indeed did deserve credit ... only to have our names then put on what turned out to be a terrible movie! I swear, we had nothing to do with the fat female referee and the wimpy boyfriend Warren!
*A GIRLS' GUIDE TO SEX is a "relentlessly perky" (according to VARIETY) romantic comedy that is not a porno film, I swear. It was broadcast on the USA Cable Network but is not yet available of video. Despite what her IMDB bio states, this was Catherine Dent's first film. She now plays a much different role on the award winning TV series THE SHIELD. It was also the film that "introduced" vivacious actress Bridget True, probably best known as the spunky African-American witch in the film THE CRAFT.
So we have the script once again and are returning it to the way it was and freshening it up some to take back out. And already the previous producer is sniffing around again wanting to option it.
You gotta love this business!
Like every working screenwriter, I've also been hired to write scripts that, unfortunately, never got made (THE TREEHOUSE, FOR A FEW HOURS MORE...) and have had one spec script (WINTER BLOOD) that has been repeatedly optioned over and over without moving to the next step. While it's frustrating to have that hard work not make it to the screen, that's part of the screenwriting game. You have to learn to glean the best you can from each experience and move on. As President Truman said, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
The last couple of years I've been focusing on writing for hire for others, but recently I finished a short film I produced and directed, "A Relaxing Day". I didn't write this one because it was based on the one-act play "The Actress" by Pulitzer-nominated playwright Therese Rebeck and her talented work didn't need my fingers messing in its pie. "A Relaxing Day" is currently out to film festivals and when we get selected for any, I'll be sure to post info on that here.
And oh yes, of course I'll be helping lots of other writers by consulting with them on their scripts. In that capacity my fifteen years as a screenwriting instructor at The New School in New York City comes in handy by giving me experience, knowledge and a good "desk-side manner." I hope your script is one that I get the opportunity to help on.I'm also honored to be included in Warren Allen Smith's book CELEBRITIES IN HELL! Obviously Mr. Smith is a bit premature on both counts, but I hope to eventually make him a thoroughly honest man.
