C. Steven: Hi. We're welcoming Jack Sekowski to The Writer's Mind. Jack is a published...well, published, I guess, produced screenwriter who has done at least two movies and has one in the works. Or I'm going to let him tell you about that. Jack, welcome to The Writer's Mind, and tell us a little bit about yourself.

Jack: Well, thank you very much for having me, C. Steven. Obviously, I've known you for many years, so you know most of my life story. But I could talk about this for hours. You know how we writers are. You just can't shut us up. So the short version of my story is I was born in Poland, came to America when I was eight years old. I wish I could tell you some dramatic sort of adventure, escaping from behind the iron curtain by crawling under barbed wire at night as AK-47 bullets slipped over our heads and German shepherds were barking at us. No. We just got on a plane for Vienna and we left the country, ended up in America, ended up living in Ohio where I went to Ohio State, and eventually came out here for graduate school at the American Film Institute.

C. Steven: Wow. Okay. So were movies always your life? Did you always want to write?

Jack: I can't say I was a movie fanatic. I mean, I enjoyed movies, but I think stories were always a part of my life. Since I was an only child, I did not have readily available playmates. And so what do I do? Well, you read stories. You escape to a world of imagination, and that carries over to creative outlets. Actually, the first story I ever wrote was essentially a synopsis of the first episode of "Lost in Space." I still have it somewhere. I mean, it's like a second or third grader handwritten, one-page, no paragraphs.

And then from there, I did short stories and found myself attracted to that medium. Sometimes, they're like long stories that felt like beginnings of a novel that never really went anywhere. Eventually, as a teenager, I developed interest in photography. And then I ended up mixing the two together, photography and short stories, then started making short films, Super 8 films when they did Super 8 films way back when.

C. Steven: It's funny. Like you said, we've known each other for a number of years and I never really realized. Of course, it's true. I mean, you have stepsisters and all that. So do I. But really, we both grew up as only children. And it's funny because that same need to keep yourself occupied and to create stories. It's very funny that you mentioned "Lost in Space" because for me, it was "Lost in Space" as well. But it was also a much larger family that I wanted to inhabit at the time, which is why I played with "Lost in Space" stories. We're roughly the same age. I guess I'm a little older, but it's funny that we did have that in common. All these years, I never really realized that until just now. All right. But enough...

Jack: We learn something new every day.

C. Steven: Yeah. No kidding. So talking about getting into movies and things like that, when did you become, or when did you want to become and start working on the craft of screenwriting?

Jack: I would say I studied photography in San Juan College, so it started then. I started essentially writing short movies, but truly into the future realm of screenwriting, it didn't really happen until I came to AFI. And that's when I started writing and I guess I developed a knack for it. My first screenplay I ever wrote won second place in this very prestigious, at the time, screenplay competition called FOCUS, which was an acronym for Films of College and University Students.

And it went for a number of years. It was sponsored by Nissan. It was really big at the time. I remember the awards ceremony was at the Directors Guild, and it was like packed. If you've ever been to DGA in a theater, the main theater, it was just like totally packed with like almost everybody in the business. And you get up, you get trophies, you get applauded. And it was like it was not only for screenwriters, but also for filmmakers. They had short films, narrative, as well as documentaries and awards for cinematography, and I believe, also editing and animation, definitely.

C. Steven: So two questions, then. Follow-up questions. One is what did you have to do to get into the AFI? Was it like "Hello. This is Jack. I want to go to the AFI," or did you have to win a competition or petition them or give them samples of your work and things like that? And then the follow-up to that is whatever happened to that first screenplay? Did it ever get made? Did you do something with it? As a result of that, did producers come out of the audience that day and walk up to you and go, "Hey, nice screenplay. I got this feature," something like that?

Jack: I wish. I wish it was that simple. To answer your first question, I entered this thing, I would call it. It wasn't a screenplay because I just knew nothing really about screenplay, not even the basic format. So it partially looked like a screenplay but almost like a short story. It was like dark, mysterious, I would consider very David Lynchian since he was one of my favorite filmmakers at the time. So this thing. And I guess they liked it enough, and I actually also interviewed with them, and they're like, "Yeah. I think he's a good guy. Let him in." So they let him in.

In terms of your second question regarding whatever happened to the first screenplay, aside from everybody reading it in town and pretty much everybody passing it, it never made any traction. I mean, nobody ever made...not even close. It was an erotic sci-fi thriller, which I thought was the coolest idea in the world, the coolest genre. It's sci-fi eroticism. This is the kind of movie I want to go pay 10 bucks to see, even though things were a little cheaper in those days. But no. Nobody thought... Everybody wanted something different. But ultimately, you meet people and they admire your talent, so they always say, "What else do you have? What are you working on?" And before you know it, things on the line people find more desirable.

C. Steven: And just to give the audience an idea, how long was it writing scripts? And did you get any jobs doctoring scripts? I know you were reading scripts for a long time before you actually had your first sale. And then tell us about that first sale.

Jack: I would say it took 10 years. A good 10 years, if you did a timeline. Actually, this sort of connects a little to my favorite Hollywood stories which I want to share with you. I arrived in California, went to AFI for two years, then wrote...a slew of different agents represented me over a number of years. And then finally, a screenplay I did, my writing partner at the time, Maria, we collaborated on ended up being set up with Universal, with Larry Gordon's company.

And the story that I like to share with you is when Maria and I first came to California, we went to Universal and we took one of those studio tours, the tram, and we were in the tram ride on the back lot and we were looking at all these little bungalows everywhere and all these people are like walking in and out of those bungalows. And we're the ones who were like, "Who the heck are those people? And how could we be one of them?" which was one of the most important questions.

And so cut to 10 years later, almost exactly 10 years later, we are meeting with Larry Gordon's, the producer's executives in one of those very bungalows. And as we're leaving from our meeting, putting our cool shades in the hot California sun, heading to the parking lot, about to cross the street, a tram stops right in front of us and everybody is staring at us. It's like we're somebody famous. So it's like, "Thank God. Ten years ago, we were on that tram, and now we're looking at the tram." It's just sort of one of those dreams-can-come-true moments where you wonder if you ever will be successful and then suddenly you are on the lot and you're getting paid money to write movies.

C. Steven: I think that's a great, great story and it reminds me of two jokes that I used to tell from my days when I was doing the development thing way back when. And one was this girl gets on a bus, and the bus driver looks at her. And this is a cartoon. I think it appeared in LA Weekly. The bus driver looks at her and he says, "Gee, honey, you look kind of down. What's wrong?" She goes, "Ugh. FOX passed on my screenplay. But you wouldn't understand." And then the bus driver goes, "Oh yeah? MGM passed on mine." And then they start going back into the bus, and you got "Warner Brothers really shafted me on this one." And then, "Oh yeah. Orion, you want to talk screw. Orion knows..." And just until the whole bus had "Somebody passed on my screenplay" kind of story.

Jack: Yeah. No. That's one of those everybody has writing... I think you told me this anecdotal story about a local newscaster years ago walking down Hollywood Boulevard. She was approaching strangers and asking them, "So, sir, how is your screenplay coming along?" They're like, "How do you know I was writing a screenplay?" Like, every fourth person was writing a screenplay. It's like they're everywhere.

C. Steven: Everybody had an answer. I know. It's really funny. So let's talk about the craft of screenwriting now. So give me an idea of just what your process is in terms of screenwriting, and then we'll talk more about the craft.

Jack: Sure. My process is typically laying around a lot, daydreaming, and finally writing something down. I mean, really. It's really that bizarre. I have discovered, in a strange way, my most creative time is between 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. So literally, I could be spending all day trying to figure things out. By 4:00, it's like it just clicks in and ideas start flowing. It's as if my muses woke up in the late afternoon and started feeding me ideas of what I should be writing.

So basically, it is that. I mean, you have an idea, you explore it, and ideas come to you. You try to see if they work. You write them down. A story starts to shape. How does it begin? How does it end? Images start to come into play. You write them down. And before you know it, you have an outline and then you expand on it and you start writing a screenplay.

C. Steven: Do you feel an outline is absolutely essential?

Jack: I feel an outline is like a roadmap. I mean, literally. It sort of gives you a direction, like "Okay. I'm in Los Angeles. I want to get to Sacramento. How do I get there? Well, I take the Five." That's probably the most effective way. But as you're traveling down this road, "Oh, this is an interesting stop. I wasn't expecting this. Let me explore this little area here and see if this will be a little interesting." And eventually, you get to Sacramento, but along the way, discovering new things you weren't aware of when you started developing the outline.

C. Steven: Okay.

Jack: So I think it's helpful. I mean, there's people I know or heard of where they just simply sit down and stay writing. And they sometimes get good stuff. And sometimes, by Page 30, they're dead because they don't know the story. They don't know where it's going. For me, what works is spending time with ideas, spending time with the characters, visualizing a lot of things in the story, playing in my mind over and over again how the scene may play out on the page, and then developing that step by step outline until you have a complete story and until you're just tired of working on an outline, and then actually starting to write the scenes themselves.

And most of the time, it works really well. Like I mentioned, you get a little divergence. You get ideas that you write that you weren't expecting. Or sometimes there's like challenges because outlines also can be a big pain in the butt, especially if you write things like "And our heroine goes on four dates with four different men. And at first, things look promising, and then things go badly," which is like "Well, that doesn't really help me very much."

C. Steven: That's about 10 pages in your script. Yeah.

Jack: Exactly. I know it's got an idea of what's supposed to happen, but who are these guys? Where do they go on the date? What exactly happens that is good? And how does it go wrong? Then you're like "Damn you, Jack. Why did you have to put this stupid idea in the outline?"

C. Steven: Oh, man. Yeah, because all the detail needs to be flushed out, obviously.

Jack: Exactly.

C. Steven: So when you're writing a screenplay, what do you think, in terms of screenplay writing is the most important? Is it structure? Is it dialogue? Is it going to be just the overall story? Concept? Description? What do you think?

Jack: I think all those things are important. Ultimately, I think the most important thing that you have to incorporate into your story is emotional impact. And that is one of those "How do you do that?" type of questions. And I don't have an answer for that. If the screenplay doesn't move you, doesn't make you laugh, doesn't excite you, doesn't scare you, depending on what genre are you writing in, it just doesn't have any impact. So I think it's important to find ways and explore that quality where you do have an impact to the audience because ultimately, what does the audience want? They want to be emotionally impacted. They just don't want to experience some story. They just want to experience living vicariously in that story through the protagonist. And by doing that, by having the emotional impact, it helps them to do that.

C. Steven: Well, how do you... What's the word? Keep it fresh for yourself? Because I know that if I'll write something, first time I wrote it, I thought, "Oh my god." My tears are in my eyes.

Jack: Right.

C. Steven: And then I come back and I read it, by the 50th time I've read it, I'm thinking, "This doesn't even work. Why did I even put this here?" because I lose my perspective on it. Does that happen to you at all?

Jack: Sometimes, but I got a really good memory for my screenplay when I'm writing it, so I remember how certain things impacted me. It's that classic thing where you write a scene, and the next day, you come back and you think like, "Oh my god, this is brilliant. I'm a genius." You remember those genius spots.

C. Steven: Right.

Jack: Sometimes, of course, you do that, and the next day, you come back like, "Okay. I hope nobody receives this. Must press Delete. I hope nobody is spying on me here, so they're not aware I wrote a total piece of crap scene." But ultimately, you remember that. It's especially crucial with comedic elements. You just remember those moments where you write things that are funny and you make a note. "Okay, this was funny when I wrote it, and then I read it the next day. This still made me laugh." Of course, it can't really make you laugh because humor comes from surprise a lot of the time. And so you know what's coming. But still you just make a note. "Okay, this was funny, and ultimately, I'll make sure to keep this."

And ultimately, when you share with other people and they give you insights as to what is working, what isn't working, you make a note, too. They found something funny. You make a note. "Okay, must keep this," because they found it funny the first time. If I read it for the 50th time, "Yeah, it's not funny, but I know it will be funny for somebody who read it for the first time."

C. Steven: Do you have like a street team that you work with who take a look at your...not necessarily the first draft, but maybe the second draft or something before you turn it in or send it out?

Jack: Yes. It depends on the situation. If it's a hire situation, ultimately, the only opinion which really counts is the people who are signing the check. So it will be like the executives, the development executive, the producer, and they would give you feedback. However, if I'm writing my own spec, I belong to a screenwriting group in Sherman Oaks called the Deadline Junkies. You can find them online, deadlinejunkies.com. And they meet once a week.

And the best thing about the group is we don't actually have to read the screenplays because they're performed by actors. So every week, three different writers present basically 25 to 30 pages of their script on stage where the actors read those pages, playing different roles, of course. And they give you a sense of like, "Okay, how is this playing? How is this playing in terms of...?" because when you read something, you imagine one way. Actually, actors read like, "Oh, that's funnier than I thought," or like, "Yeah, that doesn't really work." And it gives you like more insight.

Or sometimes it's like, "Oh, my god. What is wrong with you? You don't get this character. You read it totally wrong. You're supposed to read it like this." Ultimately, there's a little flexibility in terms of giving the actors direction beforehand because otherwise, they can just go off the rails and do something completely different. But most of the time, they get it and they're really good at doing what they do. So it gives you really a sense of what's working and what isn't.

C. Steven: Would you recommend a screenwriting group for people who are just starting out?

Jack: Absolutely. I mean, just on the most basic level, if you're starting out and other people are starting out, it gives you sort of going through the same struggles. It's the same challenges. You're exploring the craft. You're trying to master the craft. You're not sure how to do certain things. And there are people who might have faced those same things, but now they've gotten better at it. They can give you guidance. So it's a way to grow up together, so to speak.

C. Steven: Okay. I understand that. One of the other things I wanted to talk about was the difference between tell and show. As a novelist, and as a first person novelist, my life is much easier than yours in that I get to get into the character's mind. I cannot only tell you what he's feeling, but I mean, I can also show it in terms of his actions. But for a screenwriter, a screenwriter can never have somebody come out on stage and go, "Oh, I am feeling happy," or "I am feeling sad." You have to show it. And what are the challenges associated with that? I mean, to me, it's just so difficult.

Jack: That's a tough question. You show as much as you can. The goal of the story is to put the characters in situations where they have to react to those situations. When they react, they show those emotions. So it could be a love scene. It could be a scene of danger, that fight or flight. And you get to see that visually, how they react, because ultimately, acting is reacting and you could see how the characters experience the different moments of their lives and the emotions that go with them. And as a result, you experience those emotions. So you get to see it and...I mean, it's...I know I'm rambling here a little bit, but it's...

C. Steven: No. It's okay.

Jack: It's sort of like on the page. They're on the page, and it's up to the actor and the director to take those words and put them on the screen. And you describe things. You describe the action. You describe the emotions. And when you read it, as you know, a good screenplay gives you a feeling like watching the movie.

C. Steven: Right.

Jack: You feel involved. You see it in your mind's eye, and it becomes that amazing experience.

C. Steven: Well, I guess I would think in a novel, if something is happening to my character where he's going to be jealous or something like that, he always reacts to the situation immediately, and he can react to it internally as well as externally.

Jack: Mm-hmm.

C. Steven: But in a screenplay, it seems to me that if you're saying "I really want something that's going to resonate with the audience, and I want them to feel his sense of helplessness associated with this." So you have to sit around and almost be analytical about it and say, "Now, what scenes would best describe helplessness? Where can I put him where helplessness can be resonating in the background?"

It may not have anything to do directly with the scene or with the story, but let's say his brakes go out. Helpless. Or he goes down to his car to find that the door is dented or something like that. And again, it's that sense of out of control that you can add that flavor to a screenplay. And I guess you could do it to a novel, but I don't know. I don't know that it resonates quite as well. What do you think?

Jack: Yeah. I think there's also like you can do a visual metaphor. So I mean, like, obviously one of the most cliché ones would be somebody whose heart is broken. They're at home at night, looking at the window while it's raining on the glass. And you feel their angst and all that. And just remember also movies are not just about visuals and dialogue, but also about music and sound effects. And they add a whole other layer of it.

So if you've ever seen the ending scene from "Star Wars" without the music, it just plays so differently. When they accept their awards, have you ever seen it? Like years ago, I saw this clip on YouTube. It's like they're standing around and it's like nothing is happening. They're just smiling, proud. But once you put the music in, it's like "Oh, my god." The whole scene just changes.

So that's another layer that perhaps novels don't have. They don't have that quality that music adds to stories or movies that makes people...impacts emotionally. Music is very emotional, as we all know. So this is a way to...just different layers. You have the dialogue. You have the characters. You have the dramatic moment. You have editing also playing a role. You have music and sound effects playing a role in crafting this. So the screenwriting part is just one aspect of what comes together to make the movie.

C. Steven: So, I mean, this is also you talking with your producer hat because I know you've produced several short movies as well. And I know you've got two projects that are...one was made. One is about to be made. Or one is being made. I don't know what the status is of that.

Jack: One was just made. Actually, we just finished last week, to my understanding. I have yet to see it. I have yet to see it. The writer is the last to know.

C. Steven: Is that frustrating? I mean, because here it is, your written word, your guts and your sweat on the page, and then you hand it off and it's like, "Don't call us. We'll call you."

Jack: You accept it as the way the role works. Until you're in a position of power and fortunate to make certain calls, you accept you have a certain role in this production process.

C. Steven: Right.

Jack: So ultimately, everybody has a role in this production process. So the gaffer who helps set up the lights and generators and things of that nature probably hasn't seen the movie either, but he was instrumental in helping to get the movie made. So you just accept it and you play the role. You do your job. And you've done the best you could. And you leave it to somebody else, and you hope they do a good job and hope they get...

You can write exactly what the scene is about. You can even write the subtext into the description. Sometimes they don't always get it right, and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Unless you get on the editing of it and make some suggestions like, "Oh, no, this isn't working because of this, that, and the other thing," then you can sway people to see the light and potentially change the scene. But in this situation, the movie came together very quickly. It was shot very quickly, and there really wasn't a whole lot of time for me to really become involved in it because there were a lot of people playing a role in it to get it done in time.

C. Steven: So when they wanted to get their blue pages, their green pages, etc., did they know?

Jack: There are no green pages. What's there to shoot? It's really...

C. Steven: It's the budget.

Jack: I mean, the movie was shot in Bulgaria.

C. Steven: Wow.

Jack: This was a movie for The Hallmark Channel. And the production company has a studio complex in Bulgaria, so they shot it there. It looks like in any studio, with back lots and stages and the works. I mean, the most I saw the movie was just a few scenes where they realized that there's a phone call conversation, but I only wrote one part of it because I thought it was like a quick conversation where the woman is on the phone. She needs to get off the phone quickly because she's going somewhere. So she's busy. "Bye, bye, bye. I'll call you later. Love you. Blah blah blah."

However, the way she played the scene is like she left spaces for the other person to talk. And then just to watch her pause or listen just looks very weird. "So, Jack, can you write the other part of the conversation?" What other part of the conversation? So then they showed me the scene. They're like, "Okay, what could possibly happen between what she says and then...?" It was like a 10-second scene with probably a few moments of lines of dialogue. They could record the actor and then plug him in during editing, and hopefully it works.

C. Steven: Well, when is it airing?

Jack: I don't know yet, to be honest.

C. Steven: Okay.

Jack: I can mention it was just finished last week and I have been in touch with the producer, but he hasn't called me back yet to inform me of when Hallmark made a decision to start playing it. I would say hopefully sooner than later.

C. Steven: Yeah. Hallmark is always around usually some holiday or something. Is this focused around a holiday?

Jack: Yeah. Actually, it is. It's around Valentine's Day.

C. Steven: Tick tock, baby.

Jack: I know. So it's one of those things. You do your job. It's out of your hands, and you hope for the best. You move on to other projects.

C. Steven: So let's talk about other projects, specifically the spec script market. Is that still a very active thing? Do you think that people are still looking for spec scripts, or do you think that producers are looking more for writers to hire to expand their ideas?

Jack: I think it's more of the latter. I do believe certainly spec screenplays are still sold. It's not an easy process as it was two decades ago during the '90s when there was a big boom in spec sales. Typically now, for a spec to get sold, it involves obviously a producer to be attached, possibly a director, possibly an actor, and it comes together as a little package. And the more cloud somebody has, maybe the producer just had a hit movie or maybe the writer had her hit movie or somebody being involved, there's like heat on them.

So those kind of situations are easier set up. It doesn't happen a lot because, as we all know, the major studios are focused, for the most part, on big type blockbuster, comedy book type stories. But occasionally, movies still get made. I mean, if you look at the movies that are playing right now, some of them are small or medium-sized, and they still find an audience to a certain degree. But ultimately, it is harder getting made since a lot fewer of them are being made.

C. Steven: Wouldn't you say...? I mean, if you look at... This is being recorded about a week and a half or two weeks before the Academy Awards, and the films that are nominated for the Academy Awards are not those blockbuster films, except for maybe one or two. I'm trying to remember all of them in my head, but I'm thinking of the smaller ones like "Fences" and "Moonlight," "Hell or High Water."

I mean, if you look at "Hell or High Water," talk about the production values on that. They basically probably shot that within like two blocks of...every scene was within two blocks of each other. So I mean, I can only imagine that the budget on that was miniscule. I mean, other than the fact that you've got the heavy hitter actors, Chris Pine. But I bet you they took a reduction on it just so he didn't have to be Captain Kirk. And Jeff Bridges just because he's...well, he likes to be Jeff Bridges and be weird.

But it's funny because all of the films that are nominated are not the blockbusters. I mean, there has to be a desire in Hollywood. Everybody wants the awards, and there has to be a desire for the producers to say, "Look. Yes, we want to have the blockbusters so we can keep the studio running and things like that, but we've got these little films that are really getting noticed and are winning us the awards."

Jack: Yeah. Totally. It's a different...I think just a different way of seeing things where the studios, obviously they're stockholders, so they have to maximize profits. And the things that make them feel secure is big blockbusters they can play internationally since most of the money these days is coming from overseas, whereas the members of the Academy, members of the guilds who vote for these movies tend to pick movies that appeal to them. So "Fences," I can't see that as international hit in China, for instance. However, it is a quality movie that has found a certain audience and is being appreciated for that fact. So ultimately, all the bases are covered in a way. You've got big blockbusters making money to support the smaller movies which either make a little bit of money or break even.

C. Steven: Well, and then thinking about the people who want to break into the movie industry, it's like, "What should they write?" You always hear the old axiom, "Write what you know." Do you really believe that, or do you think that that's just kind of a cliché?

Jack: I think it's a cliché. I mean, certainly if you're George Lucas writing "Star Wars," I don't think he knew about that kind of stuff, but...

C. Steven: You're telling me he didn't know about banthas and...?

Jack: No. I seriously doubt it. I mean, it is a cliché, but my belief is if you're writing a spec screenplay, write about what you would like to see on the screen.

C. Steven: The stories you want to see?

Jack: Yeah, the stories you want to see. And also stories that are unique to you, that only you can tell. For instance, let me give you a story. Let me tell you a story. A friend of mine, years ago, he was down on his luck and he found himself living in a storage space. He actually rented one of those cubicles, very tiny.

C. Steven: You mean like at a 24-hour storage place?

Jack: Yeah.

C. Steven: Oh, my god. Yeah. Do I know this person?

Jack: I don't think so.

C. Steven: Okay, good. Okay.

Jack: And he was living there.

C. Steven: [inaudible 00:31:58]

Jack: No. And he was living there. Then he just felt like he wasn't the only one. There were like other people living there, too.

C. Steven: What?

Jack: So it was like he was aware of them, but of course, he had to be very secretive about it. So he doesn't come out so that person will not rat him out. So I thought, "My god, this is a perfect idea for a movie. People live in a storage space." And he is the one who is able to write it because actually he lived it. So it becomes almost living the cliché, like writing what you know about. But in his situation, it was so unique, different from anybody else. So he would give a certain voice, a certain vision that if somebody told you, "Hey, I have an idea for a movie. The guy that lives in a storage space. Go write it," it's like "No, I couldn't do that because I haven't lived in a storage space," but he could. And that would make a great story.

I suggested this to him. He was an aspiring writer, but he said, "Nobody would buy it." It's like, "Yeah, they probably would not buy it, but it would get you attention." It would make you stand out, especially if you infuse it with your own vision and experience and have some measure of fun with it, like local community forums and somebody dies at the end, but love takes place between other people. It could be a very interesting story.

C. Steven: He's still not there, is he?

Jack: I've lost touch with him. So to answer your question, he might very well be.

C. Steven: Oh, man.

Jack: I actually know where it is. It's like 405 in Santa Monica Boulevard.

C. Steven: Oh, yeah. I know where that is.

Jack: And actually, the owner watching this podcast is like, "Wait a minute. We have people living in our storage space?"

C. Steven: He's like beat feet down to Santa Monica in 405. So what about you, though? How much has your own life experience inhabited your writing, especially the immigrant from Poland? You came here when you were 12, 11?

Jack: Eight.

C. Steven: Eight. So you came here when you were eight years old, and learning to speak English and then just growing up in Ohio versus a metropolitan area, how much does that inhabit your writing?

Jack: It does. Anything you write is based on the experiences of your life, one way or another, in small little ways. Like for instance, when Maria and I wrote the screenplay for "Who's Your Daddy?" which was a story about a teenage boy from Ohio, who inherits a Playboy-like empire, it's like a teen comedy, I understood the character. I understood Middle America. I understood what it's like to go to a high school in Ohio.

And so I could write the scenes a little better. I mean, little details which you don't even think about if you're not from there, such as tornado drills. There's a scene that had a tornado drill in it, which doesn't happen in California. It doesn't happen in Washington D.C. In Ohio, we have tornado drills to get people prepared if there's a tornado.

C. Steven: I have never been in a tornado drill in my entire life.

Jack: Lucky you.

C. Steven: Yes. Well, I guess that's true. Well, we're almost...

Jack: It's a fire drill, but you stay inside.

C. Steven: All right. Well, we're almost done. Just a couple more things. So any advice to would-be up-and-comers?

Jack: Right. I mean, there's always the obvious stuff like watch movies with screenplays. Write a lot, of course. But there's also, I would suggest, do a bit of introspection to deal with the why. Why are you doing this? You're a unique individual. You're the only one like you who has ever existed on the planet Earth from the beginning of time. What are you here on this planet to do?

So what is that why? And it has to be more than like "I like movies, so I want to write them." It's like, well, that's nice, but what is the bigger reason for it? It could be whatever you want it to be. There's no rules about it. But as long as you're connected to why, then when you create your work, it infuses it. And when it infuses it, you also develop your own voice. And when you have your own voice, then you make your work stand out from everybody else's, because they're doing genre pieces. Many times, they're just ripping off other movies.

I mean, the whole cliché about vampire movies or zombie movies, and it starts looking like, "Oh, this is looking like everybody else." But if you can find your own vision, your own voice, and infuse that into the story, it makes you stand out. It makes you a little different. It makes you ultimately attractive to the powers that be because you have something different to say or a different way to show it.

C. Steven: I completely agree with that, and I would even add to it that just beyond asking yourself, "Why do I want to be a writer?" or "Why am I writing this?" there are other whys in your life that you can explore that help bring out really depth as a human being. And that obviously is going to resonate with your writing because essentially writing is you. You're putting yourself on the page. Even if your character is a 10-foot green-eyed alien, there's still a little bit of you in there, so...

Jack: Definitely. The other suggestion I have is live a little, as in get life experience. I mean, what I wrote when I was in my 20's compared to what I write now, it's different because I have more life experience and I can incorporate it in the story. If you're perpetuating the stereotype of a writer where you're an unsocial geek stuck in your room writing all the time, I mean, there's a lot that come from imagination, but a lot more you can discover by having a lot of relationships with many people.

C. Steven: Okay.

Jack: They tell you stories. I mean, I do this all the time where you can get in conversations from somebody or even strangers and start asking them questions and be able to listen and discover amazing style like "I never thought of that. Let me make a note of this," and just these little things that keep popping up. And then they become a part of you, so when you start writing, it comes out in ways you never expected.

C. Steven: Good advice, Jack. Really good advice. So I don't know if you want people to get in touch with you.

Jack: Sure. I'm very open. I mean, there's my website. You can get in touch with me through my website which of course is jacksekowski.com. And the other main source of social contact in terms of the internet would be like Facebook. The only thing with Facebook, I highly suggest you send me a note first, just a message like "Hey, I saw you on C. Steven's podcast. You're brilliant. I love what you said about writing. And I read one of your screenplays on the internet. You were wonderful." I mean, just write stuff like that. And then "Want to friend me?" It's like, "Okay, I know who you are." If you try to friend me and we have nobody in common and you don't say anything... I get these girls from Nigeria doing the same thing.

C. Steven: What is that? What is that? That happens to me all the time. You get this, and she's like in too provocative poses.

Jack: Exactly.

C. Steven: And then there's nothing else. And it's like, "Yeah, I want to be a friend with this person." What is that? All right. Well, Jack, you have been absolutely fantastic. I really appreciate it. This has been great. Thank you.

Jack: Thank you, C. Steven. I enjoyed myself.

Jack Sekowski talks screenwriting.

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