[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: Can we talk about that little spark of an idea you had in your hometown in Alabama before you came to Los Angeles? What was that like?
Andy Guerdat, Television Writer, Producer, Instructor, and Podcaster: It’s the feeling that every writer should have when they think of an idea. In my case I think back on it now and I don’t know why it came to me, why I felt like it was, why it got me jazzed but for some reason I had an image in my head when I was very young and I was loving movies but I wasn’t quite sure how to if I had a place in the movie and television industry but I had an it just occurred to me wouldn’t it be cool if there was this married couple (upscale, married couple) in a beautiful home, they’re both attractive, well-dressed. The husband is dressed for work, goes out the front door, kisses his wife goodbye, the door closes behind him and we hear the voice over of a police detective saying When was the last time you saw your husband, McCoughlin? That was it, that’s all. I was like that seems really cool. I would want to watch that movie. Why would a guy with a perfect life seemingly walk out the front door and never come back?
From that I built a detective story which is called Fourth Story eventually and structured it out. I didn’t know what I was doing but I had seen a lot of movies and I sort of cobbled together what seemed like a cool detective story. I eventually wrote it, I came out here to Los Angeles and went to a film school and started comparing it with other people’s work (professionals work) and seeing what I’d done wrong and how I could improve it. I rewrote it many times. The movie eventually was bought and sold and optioned and I rewrote it many times for different directors and different actors and eventually it got made years later. It all started with that spark and that’s true of every great film. Every great film, somebody has a little glimmer, just a spark. Sometimes they’ll…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
About:
Andy Guerdat has been a working writer/producer in film and television for the past 45 years, with hundreds of credits in movies, half-hour comedies, hour-long dramas, theater, and animation. He is currently a consultant at Disney TV Animation.
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