Interview:

Chris Rubio: Riverside, CA. I’ve been passionate about film since the first time I saw Star Wars. As a child, the stunning visuals and absolutely captivating score captured my imagination and emotional core. It’s been a love affair with film since then. I’m thrilled with having "Hearts and Minds" chosen as a finalist, and I’m looking forward to what the future has in store.

Greg Blunt: Covina, CA. The youngest of nine children, I had a very active imagination and a natural inclination to writing. I attended college at CSU in San Bernardino where I took my first screenwriting class. It was also there that I met most of the people that now make up BBP – a creative team founded by Chris Rubio and Greg Blunt. BBP is now focusing on several screenplays that are in progress and an epic three volume graphic novel.

Is "Hearts and Minds" your first script? If not, what else have you completed?

We began another script, entitled, "$" (yet to be completed). "Hearts and Minds" is our third short screenplay. We wrote "Eviction" in 2006 –which was produced in 2007 – and we also wrote "The Lucky Cigarette" in 2007. We completed "Crosstown", our first feature screenplay, in June 2008.

Why did you write "Hearts and Minds" and how long did it take you to write it?

Hearts & Minds started with a situation Chris saw someone embroiled in, and it evolved from there. General observations of world politics compelled us to tell a story of how we perceive the current state of affairs. It took shape as a chance to write comedy, love, tragedy, and deception simultaneously. We wrote the outline and the script in about six months, but we spent at least three months hashing out the idea, the theme and the characters.

Describe your process, do you have a set routine, method for writing?

We usually spend a lot of time talking out the story line, characters, their motives, and especially any jokes or situations we want to use. Once we agree on the basics, Greg sets off to write the rough draft. He concentrates on building the structure of the narrative and punching up the dialogue. Chris reads each scene as it is updated and focuses on punching up the dialogue and fine tuning the tone of the script. Once we have a finished draft we pass it out to a few trusted friends and our other teammates for feedback. Often we’ll tinker with a single screenplay for months, trying to make it just right.

What inspires you to write?

For Chris it’s the world around us, life experiences, vicarious experiences, and plain old story telling.

For Greg it’s often the movies I watch. When I see a well told story executed with brilliant acting and directing it gets my imagination going. At some point I have too many stories knocking around in there and I have to get them out on paper to get away from them.

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Movies, music, video games. Any form of art that expresses human truth. Sports.

What influenced you to enter Movie Script Short Contest?

The chance to get professional feedback on what we’ve written and the opportunity to measure up against other writers is key, but we were mostly influenced by the fact that the winning script gets produced. We looked up a lot of contests and that was almost never offered as first prize. The dream of every writer is to see the work acted and filmed so it can be appreciated and commented on by an audience.

Do you feel that screenwriting contests are worthwhile for writers and why?

It appears to be an invaluable opportunity to receive feedback, network with others, and add to your credits. This is the first one we’ve entered, but we think it’s like anything else – you have to do your own research and decide what suits you. We’re having a great time counting down to the final announcement.

Who is your favorite screenwriter or writer and why?

Chris: Quentin Tarantino. He tells innovative stories with brilliantly written, machine-gun dialogue.

Greg: Joel and Ethan Coen are my favorites. They write great characters, quotable dialogue, and their stories always have an off-beat humor to them.

Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Chris: A writer writes. Stream of consciousness, blog, structured prose, takes your pick. Write anything you can as often as you can. You never know when a good idea might hit.

Greg: Just keep at it and if you find yourself getting stuck try writing two or three stories at the same time. You can switch from one to the other so you don’t get burnt out on one scene. And before you know it, you’ll have three finished scripts.

What’s next for you?

We are halfway through our next feature screenplay which we hope to finish by October. In January 2008 we started writing a three volume graphic novel set in the future called "Gat". We’re taking "Gat" to Comic-Con to seek a publishing/production deal for what we’ve envisioned as the next big Hollywood franchise/multimedia experience. We have written half of volume one, and expect to start volume two by January 2009. We also have several ideas and premises that are making their way onto the computer, slowly but surely.