My First Script

It All Starts with an Idea

Some time in those four months that we lived in San Jose I wrote my first script, an historical adaptation.

It was a road production to boot.

It utilized a bunch of neighborhood kids, some tricycles, the street out front of the house that we were visiting, some wooden boards, and a couple of opposing driveways (and maybe a garage).

I think I came up with the idea myself, at least I don’t believe anyone “commissioned” it. I had added to my comic collection in Spokane (it must have made the cut to go on the bus), an air Combat comic all about the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

Directing the Set and Action

After setting out a bunch of boards along one curb, each with a stack of smaller ones imitating the superstructures, we had our battleship row. I  gave a brief run down on who was to do what, when and where. I was narrator and gave a blow by blow chronicle of the action unfolding before us. It was glorious chaos.

There was even a subplot dealing with a soldier having difficulty starting his jeep (a trike), driving to his P-40 and finally getting into the fight.

Fix It in Post

At times I have wondered whatever happened to those other kids. Did they develop an interest in performance arts? Was Michael Bay there?

I will be publishing my first screenplay – Peter and the Serpent – in December. And my second in March of next year (2023) – Running Out of Sky, in which I returned to World War Two and in this instance, the men of the Flying Tigers.