SILKA LUISA: SEALS & MENTORS (Week 2)

Screenwriter Silka Luisa talks about settling in, writing, procrastination, and working with Mentor Jeremy Pikser (Bullworth, War Inc.)

Aside from getting lost in the moors, this week has been a dream - a steady stream of gourmet meals, afternoon jogs and seal watching. In addition to being pampered, I also started a sci-fi script. I’ll be writing this script for the first 3 weeks, while I get notes from my mentors on a thriller that I’ve already written. After I’ve collected a few rounds of notes, I’ll revise the thriller in the final week. Starting new pages on the sci-fi script has been… interesting. Whenever I’m starting something new, distractions seem even more tempting. De-activating Facebook became necessary pretty early on. After a few days of settling in though, I’ve finally hit my stride and the pages are starting to flow much better.

My meeting with my first mentor Jeremy Pikser was one of the best notes sessions I’ve ever had. We met for breakfast, which carried into lunch. After first figuring out what I was trying to accomplish, he spent five hours giving me page-by-page notes. He posed specific questions and helped me figure out how to clarify certain scenes. This left me aware of the script’s problems, but also gave me an idea of some ways to fix them. In talking with the other writers, we all agreed that the attitude of the person giving you notes is what makes all the difference. Is the person helping you write your movie or are they implementing their own vision? Jeremy was all about helping me clarify what I am trying to say. He was incredibly generous with his notes, both in the time he spent with me and the time he took to read the script closely. Most importantly, he pointed out the potential of my script and encouraged me to keep fighting to achieve it. Even though there’s still work to be done, the session left me energized.

The acceptable period of settling in is officially over. Hopefully, productivity this week will be much higher. I promise myself less seal watching and more pages.