Written by J. Barbara Alvord
ISA member Brad Hansen has only one semester to go to graduate from the University of Iowa, where he’s completing a cinema major and theatre minor. He’s aiming to graduate with honors, and is presently working on a five-minute animated movie due before Christmas.
I interviewed Brad at the ISA annual party and via e-mail. Here’s what we should know about this hard-working member.
Sounds as though you have a pretty busy schedule these days. How do you relax, get away from it all?
I’m a big car guy, so just going for a drive provides enjoyment for me. Animating, as of late, has become a surprisingly relaxing task (it’s repetitive but fun). And of course I watch movies, especially the Bond films. It’s nice to know everything in Bond remains the same no matter how crazy my life gets.
Do you prefer developing stage or screen plays?
I’ve done more screenplays than anything else, but not necessarily by design. Whenever a story idea comes to me, I always try to figure out if the story is better-suited to be a screenplay, a stage play, or even fiction. For whatever reason, the ideas that I usually come up with are better suited for the cinema than any other form (car chases don’t work too well on stage, I guess…).
What has been most helpful to you in getting your work completed and/or produced?
I tend to outline and plan like crazy. In fact, I’d say I spend more time planning on what I’m going to write than actually writing it. I rarely “discover” my plot through the writing. My stories are usually too plot-driven for that to happen without a ton of rewriting. And I never, ever start until I have at least a vague understanding of how I want the thing to end.
I look at writing a screenplay like reading a road map; you can’t have a smooth ride if you don’t know your final destination. I’m also a big stickler for naming the screenplay before I start. I find I get more excited about the project that way. For me at least, working on “Operation Spy Bride” sounds much better than working on “Nameless Action Rom-Com.”
Any advice to other writers?
I don’t have much advice, but here’s a simple trick that I find very useful. If you find yourself unsatisfied with one of your characters—too boring, too clichéd, too flat, whatever—switch their sex and see what happens. I had a big-guy mob boss in one of my screenplays that was simply uninteresting—just like every other mob boss I’ve seen in the movies. So I switched the character into a woman and named her Misty, and suddenly the character came alive. Strangely enough, the character became much more menacing because of it!
How has ISA helped you as a writer?
ISA is full of many talented, experienced writers that are more than willing to give advice to a novice like me. Everyone wants everyone else to succeed, and the general enthusiasm for screenwriting rubs off on me whenever I attend an ISA function, or even talk with one of its members. I find myself saying, “Wow, I forgot how rewarding writing can be. Better get home and fill that blank page!”