Part 1.

I knew I wanted to be screenwriter........

I stopped writing my fiction down many years ago for a very complex philosophical reason involving the story GALAPAGOS, by Kurt Vonnegut and the Copenhagen school of quantum physics. I'd explain it, but you would still think I was crazy, so suffice it to say, I got over it three years ago and decided it was time to start writing again -- so I started writing. Since it had been such a long time, I decided to make it a juicy challenge for myself -- to have some real fun. I had never written in screenplay format before, so that was challenge one. I'd never written a modern western or a murder mystery before, so I decided to combine these into a miniseries of two MOW's. And just to make it interesting for myself, I decided to make it a fable, complete with an over the top villain, a poetic rhythm, and a moral to the story. After I was about halfway finished writing THE ACES AND EIGHTS -- DEAD MAN'S HAND -- and after I had to fight with myself repeatedly to go to work every day because I was too absorbed to stop writing -- that's when I knew I wanted to be a professional screenwriter.

I know I've succeeded........ 

... When I can quit my job and still feed my cats.
 

My inspiration to write MY ASSASSIN.....

Still focused on challenging myself, I decided to write something diametrically opposed to THE ACES AND EIGHTS. So I chose to write a pulp fiction story (my tastes are seriously eclectic, although science fiction is my base.) I decided MY ASSASSIN would be a lower budget, fun popcorn movie with lots of blood, hot sex, and a truly happy ending. (I subscribe to Joseph Campbell's theory of the hero's journey, so I intend to always fulfill the audience' need for a happy ending.)

Part 2.

FilmMakers Magazine: What inspired you to write?

Tonya J. Roberts: Breathing. There seems little difference between these activities to me, and I've done both for almost as long.

FilmMakers Magazine: How did you prepare yourself to write your first script?

Tonya J. Roberts: Since I decided to write a modern Western having a love affair with its own history, the first thing I did was about six months of research and brain storming. THE ACES AND EIGHTS took more time to research than it took to actually write. I first needed to learn western lore and read many books about the Mescalero Apache Tribe. I also needed to get the timing perfect, so I needed to learn all about a horse's gait running over various terrain, and I spent an enormous amount of time using a stopwatch to make sure the action was possible, pouring over maps of Cibola National Forest, talking to experts on old guns, talking to the NM state police, learning dressage maneuvers and other equestrian tricks, practicing on a horse made of pillows, etc. etc. -- Lots of prep!

FilmMakers Magazine: Is this your first script and how long did it take you to complete?

Tonya J. Roberts: MY ASSASSIN is technically my third full length script, although the first two were parts one and two of one story. From the moment I said it was time to write another screenplay (not yet having any idea what I'd do) to the moment I finished writing it, took me about four months. Of course that was while working full time.

MY ASSASSIN was as fun and fast paced to write as it is to read, and it required very little research. I will definitely return to this genre some time in the near future -- probably a sequel.

FilmMakers Magazine: Do you have a set routine, place and time management for writing?

Tonya J. Roberts: Yes, I tell everyone I love to go to hell because I love writing more than I love them, then I don't clean house or do anything but write and go to work -- no TV, no going out for a bite, no exercise -- I'd be a lot healthier if I could just write for a living.

FilmMakers Magazine: Do you believe screenplay contests are important for aspiring screenwriters and why?

Tonya J. Roberts: Yes, it's a bit of a short cut. If you're employed, you commute, you take time to eat, and brush your teeth, you have a dwelling to maintain -- it's seriously difficult to find enough time to write. Throw in all the time-sucking crap life throws at you randomly, and you have to be obsessed. To hell with everything and everyone else. You certainly don't have time to write a million query letters to agents and all that rot. It's much more important to find time to write, since if you don't write, you won't need an agent anyway. Unless you know someone in Hollywood, the contests seem like the best way to go, to me.

FilmMakers Magazine: What influenced you to enter the FilmMakers International Screenwriting Awards / Screenplay Contest?

Tonya J. Roberts: I had entered it before. It's very well run, and I liked what I read on the Moviebytes site about this contest, particularly the fact that the top fifty scripts will be read by the Radmin Company. I'm looking for representation.

FilmMakers Magazine: What script would you urge aspiring writers to read and why?

Tonya J. Roberts: "STRANGE DAYS". The movie is pure genius from the word "go." The dialogue is stunning and none of the thematic elements is left hanging at the end -- it's gloriously well written.

FilmMakers Magazine: Beside screenwriting what are you passionate about and why?

Tonya J. Roberts: Always doing the right thing, because life is too difficult to make it harder for each other.

FilmMakers Magazine: Who is your favorite Screenwriter and Why?

Tonya J. Roberts: James Cameron, because every story he writes is absolutely complete, he rarely has continuity errors, and his dialog is full of human warmth. His work has the clarity of fine crystal.

FilmMakers Magazine: Name the director you would love to work with and why?

Tonya J. Roberts: James Cameron, because I believe he has the ability to realize any writer's vision just as well as his own. Besides, his directorial work is just as complete as his writing. Imagine getting HIS feedback on a script and its filmability -- pure gold!

FilmMakers Magazine: Name the actor you would love to work with and why?

Tonya J. Roberts: Benedict Cumberbatch -- Because he's a phenomenal actor who understands the twin values of working hard and goofing around. I think he'd be a joy to work with and a guarantee any end-product would be Oscar-worthy.

I actually wrote my latest screenplay, TEARS FOR ICARUS, with him in mind to play both the angel and the demon.

FilmMakers Magazine: Any tips and things learned along the way to pass on to others?

Tonya J. Roberts: Decide where you want to go with your story first. What do you want to say? What do you want people to drive away from the theater thinking about? Then write a preliminary version of your ending. This will do two things for you. First, it will help you identify thematic elements you want to push all the way through to the end. Secondly, knowing where you want your characters to end up, you can now build characters with backgrounds and personalities that allow them to get there -- AFTER you poke them with the sharp stick of your plot, of course.

FilmMakers Magazine: What's next for you?

Tonya J. Roberts: My latest story, TEARS FOR ICARUS, is a genuinely uplifting demonic thriller (fun to say!) Nothing like anything I've ever written before... or like ANYONE has ever written before... I'm currently moving my opening scene into a later flashback, since many readers have found that scene confusing, placed at the beginning, and it isn't a part of the "big event" that ends Act One anyway. Many readers have mentioned it has a completely different feeling to it and other writers point out that it delays the audience getting into the actual story. I personally like it at the beginning, but I'm not stupid. If most of my audience doesn't get it, then it simply doesn't work there.

I also plan to rewrite all four of my screenplays into novel format as soon as possible. The trouble is, I have so many new ideas and they all want to be written! In particular, I'm trying to resist writing a new science fiction screenplay, but it's such an intriguing story, I keep finding myself brainstorming on it.

FilmMakers Magazine: Where will you be five years from now?

Tonya J. Roberts: Wherever the job takes me -- the writing job, not the exporting job.