Interview with Aaron Granlund and Sean Huet Screenwriters of Truckers Vs. Bikers

This past October 2008, The Terror Film Festival (Philadelphia, PA) held its' festival for the third straight year, by Princess Horror and Claw, and as in the past I have covered their events with extensive articles about the films shown at it and also festival itself. As other journalist have reviewed other film festivals from around the world, in similar styles, however, not many, ever truly interview the screenwriters in vast detail. The commonly most overlooked individuals that usually shy away at festivals, but without their talents, the films that everyone enjoys would not even grace the screen, and the theaters would remain dark and silent. Hence, this past year, instead of attempting to get sound bits of these talented writers, I am here presenting the interviews conducted with those special screenwriters - this will be a series of articles with each article focusing on one screenplay at a time.

1. What is the title of your screenplay and how did you come upon the conclusion for the title, did you start with a concept, short story or was it based on an adaption?

TRUCKERS VS. BIKERS
by Aaron Granlund & Sean Huet

AARON: The concept came about over some drinks during a brainstorming session. The story is totally original but inspired by the tone of older action films like Escape From New York, and Mad Max with a touch of Road House-- and of course, 70s biker flicks.

Truckers and bikers have a lot in common. Both share the road, have outlaw personas, and like to travel. What's different is how they act as a group. Truckers ride alone but maintain contact with each over the CB and at truckstops. Bikers have a pack mentality and ride together in a gang. We found that one difference very appealing. Then we thought-what if these two groups of outlaws were involved in a secret blood feud with each other in a desolate part of the Midwest. That would make a cool movie.

SEAN: We actually thought of the concept and the title at the same time. We kept the title from day one because it was the simplest way of describing our movie. In essence, our logline was the title and that has been beneficial. People get our movie right away.

2. Is this your first Script? If not how many before this one?

SEAN: This is our third screenplay, but our first action story. The two previous scripts were straight-up comedies. Eventually we'd like to return to comedies, but for now we seem to have the most momentum from our action stuff.

3. What genre if any do you fancy and why?

AARON: Our preference is to write whatever is fun. That includes comedy, action, sci-fi and horror-preferably some combination of those elements. For us, the concept has to be unique-we want to feel like we're doing something no one's done before, and that's the challenge. So there's definitely an artistic desire to blaze new territory there. It also has to be high-energy, because energy = fun to write.

4. What is your next step now, after the Terror Film Festival for you and your script? In addition, have you won any awards for this screenplay and if yes the details please.

AARON: Truckers Vs. Bikers has done well at festivals, which has been helpful in getting some good press. In addition to the Terror Film Festival, we were a top ten finalist at Slamdance out of 2000 entries. We were nominated for four awards and won for Best Dialogue Feature at the Action on Film Festitval in Pasadena. We also won the Illinois International Film Festival and were a top 20 semifinalist at the SoCal Independent Film Festival.

We have had many requests to read the script by some great production/management companies -especially after the Slamdance win and we're hoping someone shares our vision enough to get it made into a film or likes our writing voice enough to get us involved with one of their pet projects.

Winning at respected festivals is a great selling tool but you still have to work to get noticed. That involves lots of research, networking, and emailing.

SEAN: Now we have to figure out what to write next. We have so many ideas queued up-we just have to decide what we want to spend the next year working on and to build on the buzz that Truckers Vs. Bikers has generated. The general consensus is that it will be another action/dark comedy with a lot of focus on character arcs and dialogue.

5. Was this your first fest that you attend as a filmmaker? How did you find the festival to be and treated as filmmaker even though you are screenwriter?

SEAN: This wasn't our first fest-but it was our first horror film festival. It was a lot of fun to be a part of a festival that was created by people passionate about the genre. There's some real twisted shit out there and I glad I got to see it!

AARON: We also met some great people from all over the independent film world. Terror Film Festival was a blast. It was a very intimate size and I think the best part of it was how much access you have to meeting with other filmmakers and writers. The atmosphere got people to relax and have good times over drinks and hell, I got to have an authentic Philly cheesesteak with Felix, the festival director.

SEAN: People don't expect to meet screenwriters at film festivals. We were frequently asked when our film would be showing and they were surprised to hear that we were there as part of a screenplay competition- but that's typical at most festivals. There's an anonymity you get used to as a writer.

AARON: On the flipside, I think it's great for filmmakers to get exposed to writers. Many independent films that you see were written by someone who has a great visual eye but is not a great writer. While the cinematography may be beautiful, the acting great, and the editing top notch, more often than not with indie films, the story is just not translated well. Filmmakers should be looking to partner up with a real writer.

6. Who, if anyone, did you find to be the most influential person that you spoke to at the Terror Film Festival?

SEAN: I thought meeting Alan Howarth, the film composer for many of John Carpenter's movies and a ton of other influential sci-fi and horror flicks, was a great experience. Beyond film, he's involved in some interesting personal side projects that have to do with audio technology. Very interesting guy.

AARON: Many people go to film festivals to only attend the award show on the last day. I say by doing that you're missing out on the whole point of a film festival-the people. Get there earlier in the week. Meet people. Make some friends. Have some beers with other filmmakers and writers and people like Alan Howarth. Your paths will cross again over the course of your careers. You truly learn a lot just talking to people who are on the same journey as you. That is the point.

7. What jobs do you have or held before launching your writing career and have the backgrounds influence your style or characters?

AARON: I work as a creative at a NYC ad agency as a Flash designer and programmer. Our background in writing code definitely influences how we deal with structuring a story.

Another way it influences our screenwriting is that it makes us realize that working in an office sucks and we need to sell this script and get rich and move the fuck out of the 9-5 grind! In all seriousness, working a day job provides me with the angst that every artist needs.

SEAN: I work in software development as well. People always say, "write what you know" but it's not like I spent time in the CIA interrogating terrorists. I like writing from my imagination more than everyday reality.

8. What is your advice to any new writers that are interested in entering into this field?

AARON: First, be prepared to be disciplined. Be prepared to fail and be frustrated. It truly is a marathon and you don't get to quit.

Concentrate on the story first. Forget about formatting and writing technique-- before you sit down to write 120 pages, make sure you can summarize what you're going to be writing in one sentence-and make sure that it is compelling. [Moreover], don't start writing until you have that. The logline is the most important.

Not only does this help when you go to market your script, but it helps you the writer know what the hell you are writing and it helps you focus - which makes writing easier when you get to the second act.

SEAN: Also, don't get too attached to any part of your script. It hurts, but sometimes your favorite part has to get cut.

9. How or what makes your script different from other scripts?

AARON: Truckers Vs. Bikers is a revenge story that is both action-packed and intelligent. While it has a great deal of violence, we spent a lot of time creating a compelling universe with interesting characters that speak like real people. The main comment we get on it is that it is very original.

SEAN: The modern action film genre is fueled by expositional dialogue, catch phrases, and hackneyed premises. We strove to do the opposite.

10. Do you listen to music while you or for inspiration or direction?

AARON: Depends on the mood. When I'm brainstorming I don't like music at all. I find it too distracting. However, once I know what I'm writing I'll try to synch up the mood of what I'm trying to establish with a style of music. That said, I listen to everything from punk to classical. When writing Truckers Vs. Bikers I actually made a playlist that I played over and over to get into the same groove. There was some random stuff on there but I thought it worked well with the movie. Radio Birdman, Hawkwind (The Lemmy years), The Misfits and Brian Eno. I like Tortoise to get into a writing trance.

SEAN: I'm a big fan of Metallica, Mike Ness and Miles Davis.

11. How do you approach writing a screenplay (the mechanicals of one)?

AARON: Sean and I work as a team and I think this is an advantage to being a lone screenwriter. For one thing, we are cousins-so we already hang out quite a bit. We have the same sense of humor. I don't have a problem saying "you know what, that idea sucks!" to Sean. If Sean is silent on the other end of the phone that usually means "that idea sucks!" This tends to weed out anything bad from the beginning.

Typically, once we have our main idea, we will have formed a general direction for certain plot points. We start by writing set-pieces, or one-off scenes that have no relation to each other necessarily. We try not to get boxed in by plot-logic early on. Try to be as creative as possible early on. Once you have enough memorable visuals we then focus on connecting the dots of the story and creating more complex characters, then flesh the individual scenes out.

SEAN: It's important to focus on each scene as an individual story with a beginning, middle and an end. Strip a scene out of the context of the whole script and if it doesn't stand on its own it doesn't work. From there we will often take ownership of parts of the script and work on them individually before working them into a master draft. We will read our script aloud a lot to decide what is working and what is not. So it's almost like working in a writer's group every day and it's incredibly helpful.

12. What did you learn from your script?

SEAN: Editing your work down and rewriting is the most important part of writing. As a rule, we always hack the last three lines of dialogue from every scene. We try to keep scenes under three pages to keep everything snappy. You'll find that most of what you write is usually not helping your story out and it needs to be removed. Don't be afraid to cut stuff out.

13. What if anything did you realize or learn from the fest concerning your future as a screenwriter?

AARON: Going to a film festival legitimizes the hundreds of hours you spend indoors on sunny days or staying up late on a work night writing alcohol-fueled yarns about bikers, truckers and road whores.

It's hard for people to keep a straight face when you tell them you are a screenwriter and you've never sold anything and you work a normal day job. We found that people began to react more seriously when we started winning awards at festivals.

SEAN: It also helps the writer a great deal to be recognized for his efforts. It makes what you're doing seem more realistic than just a glorified hobby. It gives you confidence and motivation to excel in what you're doing to think, "hey, people are interested in my story."

Thanks, Aaron and Sean, if anyone would like further information concerning this screenplay please visit: www.truckersvsbikers.com