The 14th Annual
FilmMakers International
Screenwriting Awards (FISA)

2016 CONTEST |  ENTER NOW
 

Winners | Biography | Logline | Synopsis | Script Excerpt

Lucky Boy

ELITE PRIZE WINNER
 

Suzanne Roche

of Hillsborough, CA United States

Lucky Boy
Drama

Biography

Suzanne Roche

Suzanne lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is a full-time writer of the TIME TO TIME series of historical fiction for children. Her other work includes a travel guide to New York, "Kidding Around NYC," as well as screenplays, short stories, and articles in publications ranging from Chicago Tribune, InTravel and ANG Newspapers to literary magazines such as Maryland Review, Crazy Quilt and Rocket Literary Quarterly.
Besides studying Russian History and English Literature at Wells College, Cornell and UPenn, she studied Polish at Jagiellonian University in Krakow and attended the Squaw Valley Community of Writers for Screenwriting.

Logline

Despite living the high-life as an expat in 1920s Paris, real-life poet Harry Crosby can’t escape his shell shock from the war and is bent on self-destruction.

Interview Part 1.

I knew I wanted to be screenwriter when I was nine years old and wrote to MGM to tell them every book can be made into a great film if they hired writers who imagined pictures and not words (I offered to do it for them but they never wrote me back)
 

I know I've succeeded when I’m not sure that ever happens to any artist (although an Academy Award might help and I do have a speech ready just in case).

 
My inspiration to write "Lucky Boy" was while eavesdropping on an English professor in the library stacks at UPenn as he told someone the most dramatic life story he had ever heard of was that of Harry Crosby. I checked out Crosby’s biography that day, went home, read it and was hooked.
 

Interview Part 2.

FilmMakers Magazine: What inspired you to write?
Suzanne Roche: No one else had written what I wanted to read so I decided to do it myself (clearly, I did not give a lot of thought to my marketing plan)

FilmMakers Magazine: Is this your first script and how long did it take you to complete?
Suzanne Roche: No, it’s not my first.

FilmMakers Magazine: Do you have a set routine, place and time management for writing?
Suzanne Roche: I write everyday regardless of my schedule or mood. I write on whatever paper I can find and only sit down and consolidate them when there are too many to keep in a neat pile. I never compose at a computer. 

FilmMakers Magazine: Do you believe screenplay contests are important for aspiring screenwriters and why?
Suzanne Roche: Absolutely. Anything that allows you to share your work with non-family members is helpful.

FilmMakers Magazine: What influenced you to enter the Filmmakers International Screenwriting Awards?
Suzanne Roche: I’m sure I should remember this but I don’t. Sorry.

FilmMakers Magazine: What script would you urge aspiring writers to read and why?
Suzanne Roche: I would urge writers to read every script they can. That’s the only way they can learn what is uniform, subjective, etc. Maybe it’s just me, but if I read only one script I’d probably end up copying it (consciously or not).

FilmMakers Magazine: Beside screenwriting what are you passionate about and why?
Suzanne Roche: History and learning about other people (and finding ways to motivate kids to care about both of them too)

FilmMakers Magazine: Who is your favorite Screenwriter and Why?
Suzanne Roche: John O’Hara and Richard Russo, because they’re both natural storytellers. Fitzgerald, because he makes even dull things sound beautiful.

FilmMakers Magazine: Name the director you would love to work with and why?
Suzanne Roche: David Lean, if he was still alive. Quentin Tarantino, because he’s able to put so much meaning into the most inconspicuous actions. Tim Hooper, because he is a natural at period films.

FilmMakers Magazine: Name the actor you would love to work with and why?
Suzanne Roche: Leonardo DiCaprio because he has really surprised me with his work lately. Ryan Gosling, because he’d be perfect for “Lucky Boy.”

FilmMakers Magazine: Any tips and things learned along the way to pass on to others?
Suzanne Roche: I don’t think I’m really in any position to offer advice, especially considering about 75% of what I write is crap and has to be rewritten or cut.

FilmMakers Magazine: What's next for you?
Suzanne Roche: Book three in my series of historical fiction and a rewriting my romantic comedy, “Trial and Error”

FilmMakers Magazine: Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
Suzanne Roche:  Rewriting, I’m sure.

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