Screenplay writer Donald Vasicek shares the secrets of transforming a story into film
Donald Vasicek
Donald Vasicek is an award-winning screenplay writer and filmmaker who is currently working on a documentary feature film called Ghosts of Sand Creek, narrated by Peter Coyote of ET, Jagged Edge and Erin Brokovitch. Donald is the founder and owner of Olympus Films+ and acts as a consultant for writers and filmmakers. He advises us on the importance of choosing a strong theme “that holds everything together.”
What was your first screenplay about?
A boy who sets out to win $25,000 in a muscle car race for an operation that will save his grandpa’s life.
Did you receive any formal training?
Yes, I studied producing, directing and line producing at the Hollywood Film Institute under the acclaimed Dov Simens and at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. I also studied screenwriting at The Complete Screenplay, Inc., with Sally Merlin, daughter of the famed Hollywood Merlin family of screenwriters and writers, as my mentor.
How did you find your first paid job as a screenplay writer/filmmaker?
I answered an advertisement, and that led to my involvement in over 100 movies during the past 23 years, from major studios to independent films.
Tell us about some of the awards you’ve won.
I’ve won a variety of writing awards including awards from Writer’s Digest, Chesterfield Film Program, Sundance Screenwriter’s Competition, to mention those that come to mind.
Filmmaking awards include Best Documentary Film, The Indie Film Festival, The American Indian Film Festival, and the prestigious Golden Drover Award at the Trail Dance Film Festival.
What are the most challenging things about the job?
When you write any story, even if it is a two-minute commercial, the story and characters have a tendency to try to run off in a variety of directions. Of course, this is all going on in the mind of the writer, but it is challenging, to say the least, to strive to keep writing in a linear fashion while sprinkling in some non-linear information as you go. It’s very tough to “glue” plot and character together so that you have a well-written story.
What do you enjoy most about it?
Screenwriting takes me to places I’ve been, are, and where I want to go. It is like taking a journey or going on an adventure with great anticipation. Once I am in the world where I intend to be, I then live in that world. This world is a world of creativity where the story and characters come alive.
Film is a visual medium, so one must visually write. Utilising this writing approach, then, causes me to see, hear, smell, taste, touch, and feel my characters. What a place to be!
How does screenwriting compare to actually making the films?
Based on my experiences, screenwriting is a challenging and mostly enjoyable venture. Making films is also challenging and enjoyable, but it requires one to ratchet up their minds to a higher level to deal with the technical aspect of filmmaking.
I live more in the “real” world while making a film. I have to in order to make the film the way it should be made, all the time trying to stay within the budget and a host of other demands and challenges regarding creativity.
Filmmaking is a tough world, but it is also enjoyable from the standpoint of editing (which, to me, is similar to writing the screenplay, only, with editing, I am actually seeing the film as I put it together. It’s exciting to do this, a different kind of exciting to writing the screenplay.)
What inspired you to make the feature documentary film Ghost of Sand Creek?
My take on the Sand Creek Massacre is that it occurred because of fear and ignorance: ignorance of who the Cheyenne and Arapaho people really were, what they represented, and what they desired, ignorance of the Cheyenne and Arapaho culture.
I believe we can learn from the Sand Creek Massacre by juxtaposing what President Obama is incorporating in the world today, communication, discussions, diplomacy, so that the world can become a safer place to live.
In my film, the story is being told from point-of-view of Cheyenne and Arapaho people. It will be the first film about the Sand Creek Massacre that tells the story this way, and not the white man’s way.
The film will take the viewer to the numerous peace treaties the Cheyenne and Arapaho agreed to, without legal representation, from 1825 to 1890 when they saw their land shrink from 51 million acres to 160 acres each on reservations.
It is my hope that Ghosts of Sand Creek will create enough exposure to allow us to lobby Congress to get them to legislate a bill that will require Native American studies on all school curriculums.
I encourage all others to help me out in accomplishing this. I am open to comments, questions, and suggestions that will help me out with this project.
How do you go about sourcing funding for such a big project?
I am in the midst of raising $2.5 million to put the film into production.
All contributions can be made to the American Indian Genocide Museum in Houston. Be sure to mention that contributions are for the Ghosts of Sand Creek film project.
Do you do any other kinds of writing?
I’ve written and published over 500 short stories, books, articles, and poems. My books include “How To Write, Sell, And Get Your Screenplays Produced” and “The Write Focus.”
I’m also a guest screenwriting and filmmaking columnist for Hollywood Lit. Sales, Moondance International Film Festivals e-zine, Screenwriters Forum, Screenplace, and more.
What advice would you offer an aspiring screenplay writer and filmmaker?
Every good film requires a compelling story. It has a main theme that holds everything together, and it requires a beginning, a middle, and an end.
There are a host of books and seminars where one can learn to write scripts and make films. Films schools can be helpful as well, but most are very expensive and don’t give the student that much hands on experience.
Learn about lighting, sound and camera via books, and so on. Get a camera and an editing program. Go out and shoot. Bring what you shoot back to your computer and edit it. Continue doing this until you get the lighting, the sound, the images, the story, the characters, and so on, right.
Study films. Study scripts. Incorporate filmmaking into your daily life until it becomes your daily life and you will be well on your way to success.
For further information please visit http://donvasicek.com/ and http://sandcreekmassacre.net/
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