Film Courage: How does a writer know if prose is better for them creatively or the screenwriting format?
Tony DuShane, Writer/Podcaster/Teacher: I think it’s just trial and error. I wrote a screenplay in 2019 right before Covid and I was jazzed about it. I’m like Let’s go, let’s go! I wasn’t ready to show it because I knew I had rewrites to do and then now I’m writing the novel. I read the characters are intriguing me so much I’m like I really need to get in their heads. When I write I hand write. I’m not a typer so I have to handwrite everything and that’s giving me so much joy right now because I’m finding out things about the theme and what I thought I was presenting. I was just like Oh no, that’s not the theme at all. If something’s a screenplay or a book it could be both, it could be just a novel and some novels would be really hard to adapt. If anyone asked me to adapt a novel that was unadaptable I feel like I could find the thread to do it but that’s probably because I get a little delusional and I want to problem solve.
Film Courage: You love these characters so much that you realized that 110-page screenplay wasn’t wasn’t enough for you creatively?
Tony: I don’t know if it wasn’t enough? I don’t think the screenplay is there yet, so that’s part of it. I think there’s a lot more to explore and for me the way to explore it is through prose and I’m just doing it that way. In the end it might be a graphic novel, who knows? It’s almost like you don’t want to put it in a ball too quick, just let the story go, let’s see where this story goes and who knows? Maybe it is just a book? Maybe it never was meant to be on the screen at all? Maybe the book gets tossed away and I learn a couple things and go back in the rewrite? I don’t think we should hold on to the medium so much, work through it and try to complete things, I don’t think we need to give the medium so much power. Let’s give the story the power.
Film Courage: Was there a defining book of your teenage years…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk by Tony DuShane – Check out the book on Amazon:
BIO:
Tony DuShane is the author and award-winning screenwriter of Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk. The book was published by Soft Skull Press and the feature film, directed by Eric Stoltz, was released in 2018 and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. His journalism and essays has appeared in The Los Angeles Times, Mother Jones, Penthouse, The Rumpus, The Believer, and other media outlets. He teaches writing at UCLA Extension and his journalism has appeared in Mother Jones, The Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. He hosts the literary podcast Drinks with Tony every Wednesday.
CONNECT WITH TONY DUSHANE:
Drinks With Tony Podcast on Podbean
Advertisement – contains affiliate links
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
More affiliates:
Camera we use for interviews – https://buff.ly/3rWqrra
Editing system – https://goo.gl/56LnpM
Sound we use for interviews – https://amzn.to/2tbFlM9
Other books on Amazon that Film Courage recommends – https://buff.ly/3o0oE5o
