HORROR Festival 1st Scene: When the Moon is Right, by Jacob Schmidt (interview)
1ST SCENE SCREENPLAY READINGS
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4m 24s
Sam and his mother move to a small town in Ohio. As he tries to navigate high school and adjust to his new home, he learns the town is plagued by unexplained murders that happen every full moon. After coming face to face with the beast responsible, it's up to Sam and an unlikely group of new friends to save the town from further bloodshed.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Sean Ballantyne
Jessica: Hannah Ehman
Alex/911 Operator: Steve Rizzo
Olivia: Julie Sheppard
Get to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
Sam and his mother move to a small town in Ohio. As he tries to navigate high school and adjust to his new home, he learns the town is plagued by unexplained murders that happen every full moon. After coming face to face with the beast responsible, it's up to Sam and an unlikely group of new friends to save the town from further bloodshed.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Horror
3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
"When the Moon is Right" has scares, laughs and a ton of heart. It's easy to digest without being dumbed down, plus the characters and the world they live in feel relatable, minus the werewolf of course. Hopefully horror fans will appreciate how the film pays homage to the monster movies that inspired it and the non-horror fans will appreciate the humor and the relationships built throughout the story.
4. How would you describe this script in two words?
scary fun
5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
Halloween (1978) or Stand by Me
6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
2 months of actual writing, but I had been kicking around the idea for a year or two before that.
7. How many stories have you written?
Dozens. Mostly short films, but I've got a few feature-lengths under my belt now.
8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
The first song that comes to mind is "tha crossroads by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony" so I guess that one haha. I love all types of music and artists though, so that's a tough question to answer.
9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
Just life in general I suppose. Finding time to write after work, my son had just been born and of course there were days where I would stare at a blank page, questioning if I have any talent whatsoever.
10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I love all things film. I've directed some short films that you can see on Youtube. "Caller #4" and "Hanging Around". I enjoy watching sports, working out and doing anything with my wife and son.
11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?
FilmFreeway has been great. I don't really have anything to compare it to, but I think it's really helpful site and makes finding and submitting to festivals really easy.
12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
The feedback was a major point of emphasis for me and the feedback I got from the Horror Underground team was even better and more insightful than I expected.
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