Jacqueline Samuda An interview with Mary J. Shirmer

Screenwriter; director; and TV, film, and voice-over actress Jacqueline Samuda has written three feature-length screenplays; two were semi-finalists in Chesterfield and Austin Film Festival competitions, and another is in development with a major movie channel. Samuda has written seven short film scripts, six of which have been produced and three won writing/film contests. Her spec teleplay DARK ANGEL was a semi-finalist in the Austin Film Festival competition. During her recurring role as the evil Hindu alien goddess Nirrti on STARGATE SG-1, she and James Tichenor co-wrote a story for the sci-fi series. She's also worked in theater and radio drama. Past president of Women in Film & Video Vancouver, she now sits on its Advisory Board. She is also a Director on the board of the Alibi Unplugged Script Reading Series and the Pacific Cinematheque Film Society. Samuda earned an honours bachelor of fine arts in theatre from York University in Toronto. Having been story editor and script consultant in Toronto, Vancouver, and Los Angeles, she teaches screenwriting and story editing at Vancouver Film School. Her website is www.jacquelinesamuda.com. Samuda lives in Vancouver with her fiance, producer Rob Riley, and they are expecting their first child in November. She took time from her busy schedule for an email interview. 1. How does being an actress affect your screenwriting and visual storytelling? It's very useful to view a story from the perspective of the characters, especially when it gets into re-writes. Actors are trained to search for their characters' "motivations" and to trace the cause and effect sequence of the characters' arc from start to finish, even if they're playing a smaller part. I started my career with theatre training as an actress and director, so it's now impossible for me to write a character simply as a device without being aware of it. Also, as many writers know, it can be very useful to act out the various parts in your head as you're writing; or at least to see and listen to the various voices as they interact. It's certainly not unique to actor/writers (I know many writers who do this), but it comes very naturally to me because of my acting background, and I really enjoy getting to that place where the characters really start to speak for themselves. Writing dialogue is a pleasure, after all the other key elements are in place. 2. Since film is an international commodity, what genres do you think travel best? Thrillers seem to do well no matter what their country of origin. I find that if a film originates in Europe, and it's re-made in America, more details are often introduced to complicate the plot and "busy it up" to shift the pacing to a more North American sensibility, and this doesn't always work. The original versions travel best, I find. And of course, good action films seem to find a strong audience everywhere. Comedy sometimes misfires because of cultural differences, but when it stems from an engaging character in a situation that piques the universal imagination, it can hit like Amelie. 3. How did placing high in screenwriting competitions affect your screenwriting career? The best thing about getting good results in competitions is that it's encouraging. And it goes on the resume. As writers, we spend so much of our time alone in front of our computers, and there are limited sources of feedback before you start sending a script out to the industry. And if it's the right competition, a good notice makes a script submission stand out a little bit more from a hundred others when you do send it out, and it shows that you're active and putting your stuff out there. For me, the door just seems to be opening a little wider as time goes on and my resume gets more substantial. 4. Does being a screenwriter give you more respect for written material, i.e. does it make you less willing to deviate from the script when you act or direct? I have always been very respectful of scripts, even before I started writing, probably simply because it's anathema for an actor to stray from the script in the theatre, and that's where my roots are. When I got into TV and had to deal with weak writing here and there, I enjoyed working harder to justify what was on the page, and filling in the blanks with subtext. In other words, I'd try to identify and "write" what was missing or what would support what the author's intention was that didn't quite make it to the page. I still start with the words and try to stick with the words, unless something actually doesn't make sense. Then I'll go up the ladder and ask about it or make a suggestion. When I direct, I've most often been working with my own writing, and there have been opportunities to read through the scripts with the actors. The actors may make suggestions for slight adjustments just to personalize something a bit further, and unless it's a line that I know has to be exactly as written for impact -- as long as their suggestion seems to work as well as the original line -- if it makes them more comfortable, we'll go with it. There are long-time teams of actors and writer/producers for TV series where the process is more collaborative, and the writers expect the regular actors to "make the lines their own" as they go. I've generally worked in more one-off situations, but I imagine that would be a great circumstance to be in, with that level of trust and cooperation. 5. Will computer generated images make actors obsolete? I wonder about that, now that the quality of computer imaging has reached the point where so much character and emotion can be created. But I don't think actors will ever be obsolete, because I believe it takes two people to create the chemistry that reaches past the screen and gives the audience the frisson of love, for instance. Even a cartoon character like Jessica Rabbit had so much life about her, but the only reason she had what we would call real charisma is because of the responses of Bob Hoskins. I think there will be more and more computer-generated images integrated into films, especially action and horror movies, but I think the audience will demand a human element. Just like when drums seemed obsolete next to drum machines: They ultimately couldn't replace them completely or forever, because people like and recognize humanity. 6. What are three common mistakes that new screenwriters make? Overwriting screen direction. Being sloppy, i.e. not learning format and keeping the script clear of typos (being consistent with industry standard means there's less to distract from your story when an industry professional reads it). Not checking the cause-and-effect relationships between events so that the story moves forward in a way that feels inevitable and that makes sense (speaking about typical three-act structure here). 7. You write in short and long form. Which do you prefer, and why? I think of short film as an art form unto itself. I don't think of it as the medium for most of my stories, although so far I've generated more shorts. I often write a short as an exercise to challenge myself in a particular way -- like to be completely spontaneous and plan nothing in advance, or to experiment with a particular kind of relationship or dialogue -- and occasionally the script ends up having merit beyond the exercise. It's extremely satisfying to write something and consider it whole in a short period of time. And working in digital, I can then make the short film and have the satisfaction of looking at a finished product within months after originating the idea. I find long form more challenging because so far it's required much more perseverance and devotion and remembering why I started the script to begin with. I like a challenge, so long form is where my dedication and ambitions lie. I'm very interested in writing for television as well, and I'd like to focus my writing career on writing features and television. 8. Please explain to our readers your decision to become a hyphenate - a writer/director/producer/actress. Why did you enter all of those creative arenas? I've only produced work that I have some other creative interest in. Usually if a piece of mine is going to be made with me as the writer/director, I join the producing team to help get it off the ground, not with the financing but with the pitching and presentations as well as bringing key creative personnel on board. I like to work as a team member on the planning, but I would not pursue producing projects that aren't otherwise personal to me. Writing and directing and acting all have the common root of telling stories, and that is what I love to do. Each arena gives me the opportunity to tell a story in a slightly different way, using a different method of communication but still reaching out to other people and meeting them in that place where we all connect. I always intended to both act and direct. I've always written poetry and prose, but it was a surprise to me when I started writing for the screen. I had done extensive consulting work on screenwriting because I had a knack for it, stemming from my script breakdown background as a director and actress. Screenwriting grew from that, because I was asked to do it. And it's become a major part of my career and how I think of myself as an artist. I love it. 9. Please tell our readers about the feature film you're about to direct. I've written a feature film called BREAD that is in development with a major movie channel here. It's based on some experimental writing I did with a group of writers a few years ago. I'll be working on the rewrite for the next few months, and then we'll look into positioning it for production (the other producers are Rob Riley, Andrew Williamson and exec. producer Karen Powell). It's a black comedy about a voice-over actress who's gone through a recent break-up and has an even worse turn of events when her PDA is run over by a bus. She loses all sense of time and place and, without her computerized device telling her what's what, she even loses her sense of humor. The film follows her journey as she tries to "come back to her senses." It explores the depersonalization of life in the modern Western world and what it really means to be human. 10. In persuading actors to become the characters the screenwriter envisioned, are the clues in the description or dialogue? Would you please give an example? Generally, characters are only briefly described, but an example that might help the actor before they get to the set might be something like: "No nonsense, salt of the earth-type farmer." But casting is so important, and often actors are cast because they have a quality that embodies the character already. If an actor delivers what the director and producers want, that's what they're expecting to end up on screen and no amount of description can cover everything an individual actor represents. Dialogue tells an actor a lot. Does the person express him or herself easily or with difficulty? Swear? Talk in full sentences with good grammar, etc.? Use humor, sarcasm, or wit? Leave most details unsaid, with lots of rich subtext hanging in the air? All these details contribute to the actor's portrayal. 11. Is a script's potential to make money - pure and simple - the attraction for any producer? It depends on the producer and the goals of the company. Some producers just need to know that a script will make its money back in video rentals or international sales. Maybe a modest return is all that's needed to justify the investors' contributions (it might still be a better return than an average stock or other investment). Some scripts are major investments that can launch or bury a company, so the producer is looking for a blockbuster. It's so expensive to stage a campaign for a theatrical release now, that if a company is looking for a film to open wide, they definitely want to know it has commercial potential. But there have been enough tiny films that have made double or many times their budget back that producers still have to be open-minded when looking at smaller projects. 12. If a screenwriter has written a screenplay for your personal consideration, what would be the best way to get the script to you? That's a flattering question. I'm really just producing my own scripts right now, so I can't say I'm available to look at scripts unless it's a situation where a film has all its money in place and someone wants to hire me to direct it. In that case, my agency Lauren Levitt & Associates would accept a script on my behalf. Their contact info is on my website. Thanks for your time and insights.