About Me - Page 2

Eventually, all of my hard work culminated in the creation of my very first screenplay. The one bit of advice that every writer will always give to an aspiring professional is to write what you know. Perhaps a bit cliché but sound advice, nevertheless.

My first script was for an episode of my favorite show in the world, Cartoon Network's Johnny Bravo, entitled "How Johnny Almost Didn't Quite Save Christmas."

It received positive reviews amongst my circle of friends but that didn't matter because, the moment I put the last word down on the page, I received news that the series was canceled. At first, it felt as if all of my hard work had been for naught but, looking back, I now realize that it was an invaluable learning experience.

Above all else, I learned that, to be a successful writer, you have to be thinking 10 steps ahead of the game. If you don't, you're thinking 20 steps behind the people that are.

At the time, I knew that I wanted to write animation, so, I sat down and tried to figure out what the most popular animated series on television was. With about six airings a day on Cartoon Network, and a movie currently in theatrical release, it felt obvious that the most popular series was made of sugar, spice, and Chemical X. That's right, it was the Powerpuff Girls. Once I had the property in mind, I instantly began plotting.

Back in the day, there was a commercial featuring the Powerpuff Girls saving the Superfriends version of Aquaman and Wonder Woman. After the rescue, the Paradise Island Princess made a very innocent comment acknowledging the fact that The Girls were developing nicely… as superheroes, to which Bubbles gleefully responded "One day we'll be as developed as you are."

After I stopped laughing, I began to wonder… What would the Powerpuff Girls be like after they developed? And, so, I began outlining the story for a script that could only be titled Powerpuff Women.
Yeah, the series was canceled before I finished the script.

It appeared as if I was having a run of bad luck… Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002), Batman Beyond, X-Men: Evolution, Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans… every single one – canceled.

At one point, I even began working on an animated Kim Possible film where Kim gets sent to the future. In her absence, Ron took it upon himself to fill her shoes. By the time that we see him in the future, we find that he has become the antithesis of everything that he was when Kim knew him last. He had completely abolished the villains of the world and decided that the only way to maintain peace was to rule with an iron fist. We also saw that the woman who replaced Kim in his life was none other than She-Go.

But, not being sure if my run of bad luck was just that, and each series would have been canceled anyway, or some divine intervention guiding my hand away from animation, I decided not to write the Kim Possible movie. If there was any chance that I was the reason for these shows being canceled, I couldn't touch another property that I enjoy.
I needed to focus my attention on something original… something that was mine.

Over the next few weeks, I began studying live-action screenwriting. It wasn't vastly different from animation, just a few alterations in cues. When the fall semester at the local college started, I even enrolled in a nine hour seminar just to make sure that I knew the ins and outs of Hollywood screenwriting.

I was the only person there that wasn't some kind of film major. I was also the only person there who knew the answers to all of the questions. When we broke for lunch, I went home. I would rather be working and, frankly, I didn't need someone to tell me the Symbolism behind the sled in Rosebud. If I couldn't figure that out on my own, I was in the wrong business.

I devoted the next few months of my life to filmmaking and even scripted my life story. It wasn't perfect, but I was happy with it.

Once I was finished and content with my results, I entered the PAGE 2005 International Screenwriting Competition… I didn't even place in the quarterfinals but, strangely enough, the judges were in love with it. They even went so far as to compare me to Kevin Smith, which I took to be a great honor. However, in a twist of cinematic irony, being comparable to the geek icon was also my downfall. You see, just like Kevin, I wrote an indie movie. Not an easily marketable, highly commercial Hollywood epic.

As elated as I was to know that I was progressing forward, and honing my skills, I still wasn't making the kind of headway that I needed to in order to feel successful.

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