Screenplay Development... On A Greyhound Bus

Screenplay Development… On A Greyhound Bus

July 5th, 2010 | Posted by jasonmckinnon in Screenwriting

I’ve been taking a lot of Greyhound Bus rides lately.

The journey from Toronto to London usually takes about 2 hours or so. When I go home to Sudbury I have about 5 glorious hours aboard the bus.

I say glorious because I’ve learned over the last few months that the bus is a great place to work.

I spent my last journey going over emails that Producer Eric sent me about a new and exciting story he wants me to write.

After going over his notes I decided it was time to try a new approach to Screenplay Development.

Eric has always given my screenplays a fair shot. It’s up to me to come up with stories that would inspire him enough to direct. Thankfully, I’ve succeeded several times already and a few more are coming soon. (Big updates on that in a few months)

This time, I decided to take the notes he has given me and write the story that he wants. Like a writer-for-hire.

So I fired him off an email and told him I wanted the job. I then went over his notes again and started thinking about all the ways I can pull it off while still adding my own surprises here and there.

The result is a development process that will ultimately lead to a screenplay that we produced together. It’s officially my next short screenplay project and I have to say, I’m pretty excited about the idea.

The next hour or so was spent writing down ideas for different scenes and notes on the main character. I haven’t thought of a name yet but I can tell you he is about to go through one hell of an ordeal. It’s going to be a blast to write.

The moral of the story?

This was all made possible by the friendly people at Greyhound and their reasonably priced bus rides.

PS: If only the guy next to me would stop staring at my iPhone.