Film Courage: You had a video for your Jay Fingers Youtube channel on late bloomers and one thing I found interesting was a comment that was underneath the video and that was someone put that age 35 was a sweet spot for screenwriters. Any thoughts?
Jay Fingers, Screenwriter/Author/Youtuber: I saw that comment and I kind of agreed with it. I felt that if I’d continued on my trajectory, had I not taken like that little break or whatever or had I like maybe moved out to LA sooner, I probably would have found success at around 35. So I agreed with that sentiment and I think there’s some truth to that because when you’re in your 20’s, you’re young and dumb, I was. I certainly thought that Oh, this is going to happen and of course things don’t turn out that way. By the time you reach your 30’s you’ve got a certain amount of life experience that I think that life experience is absolutely necessary for screenwriting.
I think that you’ve got the necessary life experience by that point and it’s right before I think the industry starts to look at you in a certain way because if we’re going to be honest, ageism is a thing. I know that there are successful screenwriters who in their 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and beyond but I do think that that people may look at an emerging screenwriter of a certain age kind of like Why has it taken you this long? It could be for any variety of reasons. I certainly know screenwriters who decided that they didn’t want to pursue screenwriting until they were in their 50’s and that’s fantastic if they’ve got the talent and the drive and they can certainly succeed. But I do think that there’s a bit of ageism that comes into play so 35 is definitely the sweet spot. It’s before you…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
Jay Fingers is a novelist, journalist, editor, and emerging screenwriter. He grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, before attending film school at the University of Miami. After college and working in Miami Beach’s nightlife scene for several years, Jay moved to New York City — Brooklyn, specifically — where he wrote four books: Guestlist, Kisses for Tati, Orange Mound and Manhattan Sweetheart. Deciding to fully pursue his lifelong screenwriting ambitions, Jay relocated to Los Angeles, where he currently lives and has been tirelessly working on spec scripts.
CONNECT WITH JAY FINGERS
BUY THE BOOK – GUESTLIST
BUY THE BOOK – ORANGE MOUND
Advertisement – contains affiliate links
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
More affiliates:
Camera we use for interviews – https://buff.ly/3rWqrra
Sound we use for interviews – https://amzn.to/2tbFlM9
Other books on Amazon that Film Courage recommends – https://buff.ly/3o0oE5o
