Winning Writer 2016
Bear Clifton - (Azuza, CA) is
our Write of Passage Winning Writer for 2016.
That means he wrote the best 12-page screenplay in one week (168 hours)
with an advisor called a Development Executive (DE). Katarzyna Kochany (Somewhere in Canada) is
the winning DE. Both are interviewed
below.
Prizes include $1,000 cash
($750 to the writer, $250 to the DE), introductions to Hollywood Pros,
including Brian Bird ("Not Easily Broken" and “When Calls The Heart”).
Any WP script may be
produced for the 168 Film Festival's Write of Passage Spotlight. Writers
and mentors (DE's) receive screen credit if their film is made. To inquire about the license for a WP Script, write us at writeofpassage@168project.com.
Some quotes from this interview:
“I’ve been a pastor the last 25 years, up until this
summer when I decided to do something wild and crazy.” -- Bear Clifton
“God has put inside each of us a yearning to know the
love and acceptance of our dads, which ultimately is meant to draw us to
himself.” -- Bear Clifton
"Ultimately, I write best
by writing. You don’t wait for the juices to flow. You make them flow."
-- Bear
Clifton
“It has been interesting to watch the US election
campaign with so many Americans threatening to move to Canada if their
candidate isn’t elected. Around the same time, many Canadian creators have been
threatening to move to the US. There is
a lot of fear that recent regulatory changes will make it next to impossible
for Canadian writers, directors and actors to find steady work in Canada. So
while Americans are applying for Canadian work visas, Canadians are applying
for US work visas. ”
-- D.E. Katarzyna Kochany (Canadian)
Writer Bear Clifton is first up (BC) and then D.E. Katarzyna Kochany (KK). The
interviewer is John David Ware (JDW). We asked some probing questions and got
probing answers.
JDW: Tell us about
yourself. What do you do for work?
BC: I’ve
been a pastor the last 25 years, up until this summer when I decided to do
something wild and crazy. This past July, my wife and I sold our house, I
stepped down from the church in Connecticut which I have led for the last 20
years and we moved to LA, without jobs, and without a forwarding address so
that we could be near our daughter and only child Hannah. And so that I could
take most of the next year to write full time. I’ve preached walking by faith
my whole life. God finally decided to call me out on it.
JDW: That is crazy. How’s it going
so far?
BC:
We’re three months into our little adventure. I’m about to finish up a book I’ve
been working on like forever.
JDW: How did you learn about WP
&168?
BC:
Through a Bible study of Christian artists called Tinseltown that meets at both
Fox and CBS studios.
JDW: Yes,
we like Tinseltown. The founder/leader,
Gary Swanson is on our board. That study started in my apartment with Gary,
Franklin B. Dog (my dearly deceased pitt bull and me!). What was your inspiration for this year’s best
screenplay, “Turbo Jam Boosters?”
BC: I grew up in a pretty big family. I was the oldest of 4 kids, and we
were always messing around with each other. Scientific experimentation,
psychological warfare, you know all the normal stuff.
JDW: How did this year’s theme hit
you?
BC:
I loved it. You’re tapping into one of the deepest parts of our humanity. God
has put inside each of us a yearning to know the love and acceptance of our dads,
which ultimately is meant to draw us to himself. The entire show “Lost” was
built around father-wounds. And movies like “Field of Dreams” – I’ve seen that
like a thousand times by now, and still to this day when Kevin Costner calls
out to his father at the end, “Dad, wanna have a catch?” I become a blubbering
mess.
JDW:
Hope you don’t mind, I’m taking this off my bucket list “Watch Field of Dreams
with Bear.” Here’s the theme and verse
assigned to all writers this year:
2016
Theme and Verse: “The Love of the Father”
Few are blessed with a childhood that resembles a Norman Rockwell painting, yet
our view of Almighty God is indelibly colored by our experiences with dear old
dad. WP VERSE: Proverbs 3:12 For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a
father the son in whom he delights. (NKJV)
JDW: How do you see the verse
in your story?
BC:
Well, that’s the lesson that 12-year old Josh needs to learn. That the reason
Dad tightens the screws on him is because he loves him.
JDW: This
story is a lot of fun. Where did it come
from?
BC:
My original story was actually going to be a serious drama about Josh’s father
who messes up with money and gets into a real crisis. The interaction with his
son Josh was going to be a flash-forward at the end of the story. But, suddenly
I had this scene come into mind of Josh playing “Star Trek” in a tree house
with his buds. And the next thing you know, the whole thing just sort of played
out in my brain. I got back from the run and wrote it out in a few hours. Just
like that, the project went from serious drama to “The Wonder Years.” I’m glad
though, because I’ve been working on some projects with some pretty serious
subject matter, and so doing this ended up being very cathartic.
JDW:
How are you planning to shape the story going forward? Any plans to make the film?
BC:
I’d love to see more happen with it. I’m
open to that.
JDW: Tell us about your family
and where you live. How has your environment and family shaped your
writing? What obstacles have you had to
overcome in life? How have they helped your writing?
BC: Now that’s a probing
question! I grew up in the Midwest. My grandmother was a poet, and my mom loved
to write, so I guess it makes sense that I started making up stories very early
on. In fifth grade, a mouse got caught in our dryer – I wrote a 20 page story
about it. In the seventh grade, we got buried in a 21” Chicago snowstorm. I
wrote a 150 page screenplay about a 40-foot snowstorm that buries a small town
and the madness which follows. In the seventh
grade. We’re talking serious brain damage here. Incidentally, I revisited
that same story last year and wrote a new screenplay which was a top-ten
semi-finalist in a national screenwriting contest. I think it’s got legs. Three
months into my first pastorate, an arsonist paid a visit to our little country
church in rural Minnesota, and he came within a whisker of burning it down. God
used that terrible event to bring a dying church back to life, but even more
miraculously, to save a young woman who had been on the fire department who had
been sexually abused as a child. I wrote out a 300 page novel telling that
story which I’m developing.
JDW: Tell us about your pursuit
of the arts?
BC:
My motto, displayed across the banner of my website (shameless plug: it’s
blclifton.com) is Faith without art is
dead. Art is one of the most powerful bridges I know to link faith in Jesus
to culture. I experienced this first-hand in college. After a few years of
backsliding in high school, I was watching the original 1959 “Ben-Hur” one day
in the student lounge. Simply watching that movie so stirred my heart, that I
gave my life back to Jesus that very night and never looked back. (Incidentally, later in seminary while studying first-century
Christianity, I wrote a 400 page novel and a 150 page screenplay as a sequel to
“Ben-Hur”). What’s interesting about that (old) version of “Ben-Hur” is that
its spiritual power lies in its subtlety. When Jesus told a parable, he just
allowed his words, his art, to hang in the air. And said, “He who has ears, let
him ear.” There’s something powerful in that.
JDW: How did you Mentor/Development
Executive, help shape your story?
BC: Katarzyna was
absolutely awesome to work with. Rewriting is the name of the game of writing,
which means collaboration is a must. You need an outside pair of eyes looking
in on your work if you want to write your very best. In addition to having an
eagle eye for the basics – typos, formatting, language – Kat was great in
helping intuit where I wanted to go with the story, and helping it stay on the
rails. Not easy when you’ve only got 12 pages. For example, in the first draft,
the story began to veer into a lesson about lying, and I even had a different
title to match that theme (a title I happened to really love.) But it just was
too much, and Kat helped me to trim the fat. It was a real joy working with
her.
JDW: Tell us about your writing process.
BC: Running, racquetball
and long walks are when I work on story outlines or stretches of dialogue. I’ve
got Scrivener and Final Draft on my computer, but honestly, I seldom use the
organizing tools they provide. Loose sheets of paper jammed in a file folder
become my whiteboard. Ultimately, I write best by writing. You don’t wait for
the juices to flow. You make them flow. I’ve got to sit down in that chair,
fasten the seat belt and stay there, usually in two to three hour blocks at a
time. I’m not like Grisham who wrote his first novels stitching together
30-minute writing blocks while commuting on the train. My first 30 minutes I’m
usually picking out navel lint. But as long as I sit there, and stare at that
screen, hands at the ready, the magic starts to happen.
JDW: What are your plans for the
future?
BC:
I don’t know what God has in store for me in this
next chapter of my life and ministry, but I hope – knock on wood – that I can
have time to write out the stories burning inside of me. And to come alongside
of other Christian artists to encourage them to stay true to Jesus as they use
their gifts.
Interview with Winning
Development Executive Katarzyna
Kochany
JDW:
Where are you from and what do you do?
KK: I’m a filmmaker based in the Greater Toronto
Area. In addition to filmmaking, I also
have a background in training and instructional design, which certainly comes
in handy on set. A call sheet is a lot
like a lesson plan, and directing is a lot like delivering training to
adults. To get the best out of people,
you have to create an environment of mutual respect. Teaching also gave me the discipline of time
management. In a corporate classroom,
there is no overtime - you have to get your day, you have to make your numbers,
and you are accountable for measurable results.
I loved that challenge as a trainer and I love it as a director.
JDW: You are frequent participant in
WOP and 168. What have you learned? Do you still find it useful?
KK: I first became involved as a writer in WOP,
and made it to the semi-finals. That
script didn’t win but it went on to have a live reading at a festival in Canada
that isn’t shy about showcasing work that is edgy and provocative – the exact opposite of what I had written. One of the actors came up to me after the
reading and confessed that he hadn’t had time to read the script at home. Reading it for the event, he had to stop
because he was holding back tears. The
story had caught him off-guard. It
mirrored his relationship with his own father, and everything he had wanted to
say to his own dad. I didn’t think it
was my best work, so it was interesting to see how deeply it moved someone
despite its imperfections.
Since then I have served as
a programmer for 168 Film Festival, and this is my second year as a Development
Executive. I enjoy the time-lock of this
competition. It is immensely satisfying
to shepherd these stories from pitch to completed screenplay in 168 hours.
Because of the nature of
this competition, I find the stories often lift my spirits, make me reflect, or
challenge me to think about things differently.
JDW: Tell us about your writing
philosophy and process.
KK: My writing process usually involves peanut
butter or tuna - but not together.
Until you asked me this
question, I never really thought about my writing philosophy. I started writing so I would have something
to direct that would be family friendly and have a glimmer of hope. I do enjoy collaborating on stories. This is
what I especially enjoy about the world of television – nothing is precious,
rewrites are many, and everyone is racing together towards that finish
line.
JDW: What do you see as some
differences between telling stories in the Canada vs. in the USA?
KK: Canada has a much smaller population than
the US. There are more people living in
California than the entire country of Canada.
We often question our identity.
What is a Canadian story? What
does it mean to be Canadian? What is the
donut of the month at Tim Horton’s?
JDW: It’s always the same
for me, a cruller.
KK: It has been interesting
to watch the US election campaign with so many Americans threatening to move to
Canada if their candidate isn’t elected.
Around the same time, many Canadian creators have been threatening to
move to the US. There is a lot of fear
that recent regulatory changes will make it next to impossible for Canadian
writers, directors and actors to find steady work in Canada. So while Americans are applying for Canadian
work visas, Canadians are applying for US work visas. My own experience has been that I’ve received
far more recognition in the US than in Canada.
It’s funny how the grass is greener on the other side.
It’s been said that the US
is a melting pot, whereas Canada is more like a salad. There is some truth to that. Recently Toronto was named the most diverse
city in the world. How can that not affect the stories that we
tell?
JDW: How is the tolerance for things of
Christ in the media?
KK: Generally speaking, the US tends to be more
conservative than Canada. As an example,
there was a popular teen TV show filmed in Canada that would sometimes make two
versions of an episode – one for the Canadian market and one for the US
market. Story-wise, the Canadian version
would go places the US version wouldn’t.
At the same time, there
are a number of faith-based scripted TV shows that still get aired in Canada,
even years after they’ve completed filming.
Nobody watches TV to get
depressed but people want authenticity.
Life’s ups and downs do not always have a happy ending. Giving advice like, “just have faith” or “you
just need to pray more” or “if you really believed you wouldn’t feel
discouraged” can sound dismissive and arrogant.
When you’re hurting, you’re hurting.
When you feel like God has betrayed you, then that’s how you feel – and
the Bible is full of stories like that.
It’s a very human emotion. You can’t bully someone into genuinely
embracing faith any more than you can bully them into truly abandoning
faith. What you can do is tell an honest
story.
What I appreciate about
168 Film and Write Of Passage is that the criteria are clearly spelled out and
the project must be grounded in the verse, yet there is no requirement to make
a religious film. Some of the most
poignant projects I’ve seen come out of this competition were not
religious. They were just honest
stories.
JDW: Wow, I like the way you said
that. It’s going on my feelgood page.
JDW: What have you learned? What would
you tell young writers about your experiences?
KK: The best advice I’ve gotten on writing is
this, “Allow yourself to write badly. A
bad script can be fixed, an unwritten script cannot.”
As
DE for Write Of Passage, time and again I see that the writers who turn in the
best scripts are the writers who put it the time. Their first draft or their outline may not be
working but they keep rewriting until it clicks.
JDW: What are your plans for the
future?
KK: I’m always looking for people to collaborate,
either locally or remotely.
I have a couple of comedy
projects in post-production. Coming from
a don’t-talk-about-your-feelings Eastern European culture, I’m intrigued by
emotion-driven stories on opposite ends of the spectrum - from gritty
understated westerns like Longmire, to Hallmark TV shows and movies. Making a Christmas TV movie is still on my
bucket list. I recently directed an
ACTRA co-op short that is a step in that direction, and I look forward to more
opportunities to work with great writers and actors.
