Jim Idema Interview - Missing Pieces - Text Edition

Transcript from
Missing Pieces (Text Edition)
www.MissingPieces.info
Interview 5
March 2, 200&
Guest: Jim Idema

Interview with Jim Idema , a freelance writer in Grand Rapids, MI. Jim is the scriptwriter for the story of missing person - Diana Harris. Working with Diana Harris' daughter, Christine Hill on a fact based fiction look at the 1981disappearance of Diana Harris.

Christine Hill was a guest on Missing Pieces on February 27th.
"Following The Clues"

http://missingpiecesshow.homestead.com/MissingPiecesEpisode25Archive.html

TODD MATTHEWS: How did you meet Christine?

JIM IDEMA: I met Christine when she contacted me a little over a year ago via a website called Freelancedesigners.com to write a book on her mom's case. There was already a book in the works ("Two Gone Missing") but she felt it was more focused on the Stump case and added her mom's as a gratuity since
they seemed to be linked. She was after something that focused on her mom. She contacted me because I am based in Michigan and apparently liked my credentials. Eventually we dumped the idea of a book because though "Two Gone Missing" didn't hit her mom's case as much as she'd like, we thought there would be a conflict in marketing strategies (you know, two books on basically the same subject?).

TODD: How long have you been working on the script?

JIM: We've been working on the script since last fall. The first draft turned out to be more of a "fact presentation" story, hitting every avenue of her mom's case in great detail. Further, it seemed to lack an ending since her mom's body hasn't been found and the case is still open. The rewrite is more on Christine's difficult life, the most painful part of which is her mother's disappearance. We don't get into as many facts about the case, but we certainly hit the high spots. We've also changed most of the names in the rewrite because of the legal issues involved in using real names. Therefore, you can say the rewrite is a "fictional story based on the true life events of one Michigan woman's struggle to overcome an extraordinarily painful life, the biggest part of which includes the unexplained disappearance of her mother from the Florida Keys in 1981."

TODD: Tell me about Freelancedesigners.com - We you looking for work in writing? And have you written before?

JIM: Freelancedesigners.com is a site dedicated to writers, designers, web people, and similar people to help find work. I've been writing for over ten years in a freelance capacity and this seemed like just one more way to "broaden the net." I also run an online magazine called Hot Psychology Magazine (www.hot-psychology.com) and have done so since December of 2004.

TODD: Fact based fiction is a good approach, I've been using that myself on a couple of project. It certainly helps to fill in the gaps. Do you find it hard to use fictional threads and still stay true to the actual non-fiction event?

JIM: Actually fact-based fiction is somewhat bittersweet in its application-- at least for me. Personally I find it easier to make up a story than to try to adapt something. In the case of this script, I've depended on Christine to provide the "real" elements, and then I'll add fiction as a segue or to improve the dramatic aspects of the story. Yes, it's hard sometimes to use fictional threads and still stay true to the actual events, but again, we want to engage the audience and sometimes it's a necessary evil.

TODD: How soon do you think you will finish the script?

JIM: We should finish the rewrite by the end of March, maybe sooner.

TODD: Can you describe your marketing plan for the script and or related books?

JIM: We hit up over two hundred agents and production companies for the original draft and we had several come back with some great comments. It's those comments that we've incorporated into the rewrite so that when we re-approach those who expressed interest and others, it will be as good as it can be. Of course there are many who have yet to hear about this script and it's our plan to use whatever marketing and networking resources available to us to make sure they do. In the meantime, we have a production company who is willing to help us develop it, but like all films, we are in need of funding.

TODD: Tell me a little about yourself.

JIM: I've been married for over eighteen years and I have two children, ten and three. They demand a lot of my time but they also know that writing is my passion so if they see me scratching a note on a restaurant napkin, it doesn't take them by surprise. As I said, I've been a freelance writer for over ten years, publishing a wide variety of articles for a host of publications both local and national. In addition, I have two fictional books in the works and yet another screenplay begging for my time. I also wrote a how-to book called, "Know When to Hold 'Em - A User's Guide to Texas Hold 'Em Poker" (available through Lulu.com) and, as I said before, I'm the editor-in-chief of Hot Psychology Magazine (which actually did an article on Christine's mom's case. I published one myself for a different magazine last November). I started screenwriting about a year and a half ago and I'm entering my first contest later this month. I have two other full-length feature scripts written and one short film script written in addition to "A Daughter's Hope" and all of them are still looking for development deals.

TODD: Has hearing Christine's story effected the way you see the plight of the missing?

JIM: In researching this story, I've learned that there are thousands of people with very similar stories of lost or murdered loved ones and my heart goes out to every one of them. I haven't personally lost a loved one but I can only imagine what it must be like. I'd love to help every one of these people. If I were in their shoes, I'd never give up hope.

TODD: Was the leap to fact based crime hard? Or was it a natural next step?

JIM: The leap to fact-based crime is extraordinarily hard -- particularly if you don't have an ending. It's sad, but a lot of these cases don't have endings which, in storytelling, doesn't sit well, but in true life, is all too common.

TODD: When you say the film needs funding...how much of an investment is this?

JIM: The production company believes that we can make this film for around $500K to $600K. It isn't a lot in Hollywood terms but for those of us not used to that kind of money it's a fortune. Before we met them, Christine and I talked about producing it ourselves. We understood the work involved but had no idea how to find investors. Unfortunately we're still in that boat but now we have someone sitting next to us telling us to paddle a little harder. Christine and I have become very good friends and I really want to help her. It's absolutely heartbreaking and for as well as I know the case, I can't begin to fully understand what she went
through. As long as she wants my help, I'm here to provide it.

TODD: Best wishes to Jim and Christine in all their efforts.