Daphne Charette: Ryne, my understanding is that you're primarily a novelist. Your first book was published in, what, 93? Thunder One, wasn't it?

Ryne Pearson: The hardcover was titled Cloudburst. The paperback house decided to change the title. But yes, 93 I think. And, as to being primarily a novelist, I don't really consider myself that alone anymore, because there are just too many stories to write. And screenplays offer an excellent avenue to share them.

DC: Yes, I should have said you started as a novelist. What started you writing?

Ryne: I wrote a lot in junior high and high school. Teachers always told me I should pursue it, but who made a living as a writer?

DC: I had the same problem. So what made you decide to take that leap into pursuing it?

Ryne: Well.........at some point an idea I had for a book just reached critical mass in my head, and I decided I had nothing to lose. So, I wrote it over a year and a half while working.

DC: You actually managed to sell that first book (Cloudburst).

Ryne: I found an agent after about 6 months and a ton of rejections, and he sold it within two months.

DC: How many rejections?

Ryne: 139

DC: Just in case anyone out there thought it was easy...

Ryne: When you're starting, getting 'IN' is a job in itself.

DC: Simple Simon was the book that started your transition to screenwriting, isn't it? Or had you started thinking about writing for the movies before that?

Ryne: Well, Simple Simon was the book that got Hollywood interested in me. And I thought about screenwriting then, but novels were still my focus. Then once Top Ten also was purchased for film, it seemed a good idea to see if some of my stuff could translate directly to screen.

DC: Top Ten's with Warner, isn't it?

Ryne: Yes, it's with The Canton Company and Bel Aire Productions at Warner Brothers.

DC: What's the status? Is it in preproduction?

Ryne: They just finished a rewrite with a new writer brought on to polish the first script, and I think it is out to directors now.

DC: That's wonderful. I wanted to ask, how did Simple Simon get purchased? Was it actively marketed to the studios or did you (or your agent) simply get a call?

Ryne: My lit agent at the time had submitted my previous novel to an agency out here to rep. They showed it around, it didn't sell, but when I told the film agent about the idea for Simple Simon his eyes lit up. He said 'Finish it as fast as you can.' So, I wrote three hundred pages in one week, they went out on a Friday with this weird buzz around town going on, and it sold on Sunday.

DC: Yes. One thing I'm learning more and more as a writer is the importance of the idea- that thing that make's people's eyes light up, and it's unmistakable when it's there. So Simple Simon was actually purchased by the studio before it was even completed? Or, forgive me, before it was published...

Ryne: Yes, before it was published. Where with Top Ten, it was sold to Hollywood before it was even a book. Before a word was written.

DC: Of course, by then you were already an established writer, so they had a good idea of what they could expect. I think a lot of new writers looking to sell a pitch forget that dynamic.

Ryne: It is true. One thing people out here like is the predictability of what a writer can deliver.

DC: I would imagine. That's a lot of money to be throwing at an unknown quantity. Now, with Simple Simon, how much involvement did you have after the sale?

Ryne: Very little.

DC: I won't ask anything rude like how did that feel...

Ryne: Oh, that's okay. Because it doesn't bother me. I realize my place in the realm of things, and I like it that way. I like to write, and to interject myself into things I know little about seems silly to me. Now if someone asks me about something, then I have no problem offering an opinion, but I'm more than happy to be writing the NEXT thing.

DC: Now with Top Ten, have you been more involved with the adaptation process?

Ryne: No, not at all. The people at Canton and Bel Aire are very smart.

DC: You've been pleased, then, with the work on Mercury Rising and Top Ten, it sounds like. I know Mercury Rising suffered some rough handling by the critics- personally I enjoyed it

Ryne: Well, I think Mercury Rising was quite a departure from the novel, which you have to expect when you hand it over to be adapted. That is the nature of the process. Personally, I would have focused on a different element of the story beyond the core, but that is just me.

DC: What was your reaction when Bruce Willis signed on for the role?

Ryne: I was pleased, and it was odd because I had learned not too long before that that a bunch of huge offers were going out to BIG stars for the role. So, you can't ask for someone better to open a movie. He's a huge international star.

DC: I can't imagine having any reaction but "wow!" (Hee)

Ryne: Wow.

DC: So at what point did the leap to writing directly for the screen kick in?

Ryne: Well, I wrote a spec last year that my film agents really liked, and at the same time I signed on with some really smart managers, and I mentioned an idea I had to them at lunch one day, and it was that damn eyes lighting up thing again. And so, they took the idea to Escape Artists at Sony and, voila, I was writing the screenplay....and the spec is still there in the wings, just waiting, biding its time

DC: Did you get a film agent specifically for the spec, or was that an outgrowth from the book adaptations?

Ryne: I've had the same film agent since the beginning. I should say agents, because there are two that 'handle' me. Both really smart guys who fight like hell for me.

DC: That's great! What do you find different about the processes of novel writing as opposed to script writing? What things do you prefer about each?

Ryne: Well, in novels you get to explore so much more, whereas with a script you have to envision the same 'fuller' story, but you have to trust the director and actors to realize what isn't on the page. I like screenplays for the quickness of completion, and novels for the depth, I guess.

DC: I have to say, one of the things I love about scriptwriting is the necessity to cut it down to the bare bones- to stuff as much 'punch' as you can into each scene. There simply is no room for anything that doesn't really hit home.

Ryne: I agree. I love the streamlined process, the quickness of the visuals.

DC: One thing about your writing style is that it already was very staccato, so to speak. Very direct and visual to begin with. How has that changed, or helped, in the process of switching to screenplays?

Ryne: It still requires getting lean, learning to say more with less. Not focusing on language as much as image.

DC: So what is the current project you're working on?

Ryne: 'Knowing' is the title of the project at Escape Artists.

DC: How is the process of working, for you? Do you complete a draft, get feedback, go back- or do you keep it close to the chest, so to speak, until its finished?

Ryne: On Knowing I finished the first draft, then got the feedback and did rewrites. But the first draft I usually keep to myself.

DC: And novels- are you working on anything there at the moment?

Ryne: Yes, I'm working like a dog to finish my next book, a suspense novel.

DC: I wanted to ask, what is it that grabs you, as a writer? What's the thing (usually) in a story that makes you say, "Oh, I have to write that?"

Ryne: Wow. Good question. I think it is a central idea, not so much a twist, but where you can take characters within a story. Like in Knowing, the idea that really drove me when writing it was the father-son relationship within this HUGE story. People always look for the hook, but there has to be more than that.

DC: Right- I mean, the reality is that you gotta be willing to crawl inside these people's skins, to live with them for months or years...

Ryne: True, because even in a screenplay, which is stripped down to bare bones, you have to be able to imagine everything else your characters do that doesn't make it onto the page.

DC: That was one of the things that impressed me about Top Ten, your willingness to explore what made Michaelangelo tick.

Ryne: The funny thing about Michaelangelo was that a LOT of the back story was cut out based upon an editor's desire. What can I say...

DC: It happens...

Ryne: Maybe in the director's cut.... Hmmmm. It's weird, because I really am not interested in much of what happens later in the process. I really LOVE the collaborative process of rewriting, but beyond that, I'll let those who know what they are doing handle it. That's just me. I just have so much to write that I can't imagine spending a lot of time doing other things. I gotta get all these stories out before I croak.

DC: Good luck! Put off croaking as long as possible. If you had one bit of advice for aspiring screenwriters, what would it be? (I think that one's obligatory!)

Ryne: Stop worrying about format, and font size, and how far from the left margin dialogue should be, and focus on the story and ask yourself these questions: will someone want to spend millions of dollars making this? Is there a part in there for a star? Is the dialogue real? Does it move? Is it clear who the audience is?

Those and one other thing...... You can focus on making a sale, or making a career. And there is a big difference, and that is in will people WANT to work with you after that first sale.

DC: The fact is twenty minutes with a screenwriting book will teach you all you need to know about format.

Ryne: And some people read FIFTY of the damn things. I always tell people to read current screenplays, that is the best education of format, style, and how the thing should flow.

DC: Right. It's a language all its own- and extremely powerful.

Ryne: Yes. Especially if you wield it correctly. I've learned a lot about that in the last year. I think I have a natural ability, but I also really believe that one has to be willing to accept that others may have valuable input into a script. You can't be a hard ass.

I really like working with development folks on the script, getting their input, what works, what could work better. I think that's why I want to get into rewriting at some point, along with all other facets of screenwriting. I never thought that would be the case, but it is.

DC: Hey, involving the audience emotionally- how much do you think about this aspect?

Ryne: A lot. You want to feel those moments in your script, when you KNOW the audience is feeling the same emotion you are when writing it. Be it scared, or in awe, or sad, or joyous, or creeped out.

DC: There's a huge difference between involving the audience emotionally and manipulating them, and I think we can all feel it when we're watching a movie...

Ryne: I agree totally. It's the difference between leading them and pushing them.

DC: What, do you think, makes the difference?

Ryne: I think subtlety is the key. I hate seeing a movie with signs along the way in flashing neon that say REMEMBER THIS because you know later on the fact that the cell phone doesn't work until you get halfway across the bridge is going to mean something. But on the same token, I've learned that you have to be sure you aren't TOO subtle at times.

DC: You know, I really like your attitude. A lot of writers are like, "ooh, my baby!", which I understand, but with movies it really is only one step in the process, one job in a whole slew of jobs that need to be done to make a film happen

Ryne: I may be in the minority, but I believe this: as a screenwriter, I interpret an idea (be it mine, someone else's) and the product is a script. A director interprets a script, and the product is a film. And, like I said, I really like to write, so I'm selfish in that respect.

DC: What sort of things have you ended up trying that you never would have expected?

Ryne: Well, I see now that my initial desire to only write original screenplays was too narrow for my own liking. I want to write on assignment, spec, based on pitches, re-write others, adapt books. You name it, because I really LOVE doing this.

DC: I know there's a good deal of controversy around rewriting other people's work.

Ryne: It's part of the business, and again it depends on what one wants to do. I look at it as the chance to re-imagine some things and hopefully make a project work.

DC: Right- it goes back to the issue of being open to new ideas.

Ryne: The one underlying truth to movies is that this is a business. Without the $ factor all we have is a stack of pages. I want to entertain people. If that means a movie does a hundred million at the box office and is seen by tons of people, I'll suffer with that. Even if it is panned and lambasted by people who fail to see the value in 'entertainment'.

DC: And that's why you don't object to the word 'hack'?

Ryne: Hell, if a hack is someone who writes an entertaining movie that makes oodles of money, then I want to be a hack in the worst way. But I also love smaller movies that don't reach a wider audience. That's the beauty of movies, to be able to reach different sensibilities. It just has to be balanced with the financial side of things.

DC: Thanks so much for taking the time with me today.