Why Now?

Why not? A mutual acquaintance of a drinking buddy said that he had some friends with a production company. They had the equipment--the cameras, the lights, and various various editing equipment. Now they were looking for scripts.

"When they said that, the first person I thought of was you," is what Ben said.

I've never done it before. I never really had an interest, but why should I pass up a chance to stretch my creative legs again? I'm well aware that my first attempt could turn out to be utter crap, but it's better than not trying.

So, I've decided to adapt one of my old short stories into a short movie. "God Plays Poker" is a short story inspired by the "Preacher" comic I used to read back in undergrad. In it, the Angel of Death and an unnamed demon sit playing poker lamenting about the sorry state of the world and their own miserable roles within it. I was an active member in IVCF (that's Intervarsity Christian Fellowship for all you non-believers ;) back then so I injected the story with some of the questions and pet peeves I had with religion back then. It was a fun story to write, and it was well received by my fellow writing students. It's not going to win a Nobel Prize for literature, but I figure its a good place to start.

So far I've found a website geared toward showing beginning screenwriters the ropes. From what I've read, it's pretty straightforward, but the formatting style is completely different from what I've done before. I'm going to finish reading it tonight and maybe type up a dramatis personae list with brief character descriptions. I also have an interesting idea for the opening credit sequence, so I'd best get it down on paper before it decides to leave my brain.