Bad News: An Interview with Lynx

Please tell us about the projects you worked on before writing Bad News. How did you start, and how did you learn to write?

I spent the first year of the lockdown (and everyday since) studying screenwriting as a craft. I had an idea for a film and wanted to make a legitimate effort to write it down. That effort would become my first script, Freestyle Panic, a humorous, low body count action love letter to 90’s films. I spent two years working on that and needed a break from it, so I worked up two short scripts, a comedy, Your Agent Called, and a horror, Bad News, to test my new literary muscles. My hope was to introduce myself to the film festival circuit with a trio of works in different genres.

Tell us about Bad News. How do you describe it?

Bad News is a visual poem about grief interrupted at the bargaining stage. Jared is confronted with mortality and before he can process that information, he’s presented with an enigmatic option. I wanted to show something simple and dramatic with a light touch of the supernatural.

Please tell us about your favorite screenplay writers.

I’m a big fan of Shane Black’s work. Long Kiss Goodnight, Lethal Weapon and The Nice Guys are all so much fun. It’s an energy that translates to the screen so well. These are the movies that brought me to the cinema. The Coen Brothers also write scripts that are as fun to read as the films are to watch. Recently, I read the screenplay for Big Trouble in Little China, which was a delight to read and a favorite film from my youth.

If you were given a good budget, what would be your ideal project?

I truly believe my Freestyle Panic screenplay is a project worth investing in. I wrote it with a modest budget in mind and with approachable ideas that still push the boundaries. It’s fun, funny, and scary in ways that anyone in the world could relate to.

Describe how you would ensure that production is on schedule. What steps would you take?

I have no on-set experience (apart from working as an extra) so I’m speaking from a position of ignorance, but I would say my first steps would be planning and pre production. I would storyboard the whole thing and coordinate the schedule with the producer to make sure that everyone involved knows their job and has everything they need to be great at it. If I am ever lucky enough to work on the set of a film I wrote, I would spend every waking moment living and breathing the production right up until the day it premiered.

What was the hardest part of writing ‘Bad News’.

The hardest part of writing anything I think, is the discipline. I am constantly surprised at how difficult it is to clear the space in my head, in my schedule, in the world, for writing. Writing is a lonely pursuit. So much of reality pulls at my attention, it can be quite the task just getting to the desk. Once the time and space is made for it, I quite enjoy the writing process. But, not half as much as rewriting.

If possible, tell us about your next work. What plans do you have for your future work?

On my desktop currently is a historical drama that takes place on the western frontier of America in 1799. And I am also working on the second draft of a “Polynesian Conan” project with the goal of getting a polished draft in front of Jason Momoa for production in Hawaii.