As promised, here is Part 1 of a 3-part Q&A with screenwriter-director Emily Hagins. Emily has written and directed two full-length feature films: Pathogen (2006) and The Retelling (2009). Emily is currently 17 years-old.

How old were you when you and your mother started attending movies on a regular basis at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, TX where you live? What was it about movies that captured your imagination (i.e., why do you think you became a movie fan)?

I was 8-years-old (in third grade) when I started going to the Alamo. I think movies captured my imagination because I’ve always loved telling stories, and the visual aspect that movies incorporated always seemed cool to me.

The movie trilogy Lord of the Rings was an important touchstone in your life as a youth. Do you know why you connected so much with LOTR?

There was a lot of care put into making those movies, even down to the minor details. There was something about those movies that really struck a chord with me storytelling wise.

You wrote a letter to Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson when you were in the 3rd grade. Do you remember what you said in your letter? And what was Peter’s response?

I remember saying something along of the lines of, “It would be cool if you wrote back!” I also sent a picture I made in art class of a scene from Fellowship of the Ring. Aside from that, I think it was a lot of “I love LOTR, it’s so great!!”

So you’re 10 years old and you find yourself on the set of an indie horror movie. What lessons do you remember learning from that experience?

The collaboration between the crew was a huge part of the process. I also learned more about the distinctions between the different jobs, and some planning methods for pre-production. In general, I learned a lot about how the elements in pre-production came into play in production, as well as how a set functioned.

How old were you when you wrote your first screenplay Pathogen? What was your inspiration for writing it?

I was 11-years-old when I wrote Pathogen (spring semester of 5th grade). My main influence was a silly Australian zombie movie called Undead.

What is the basic premise of the story for Pathogen?

Will the summary from IMDb work? “An infection which appears to be caused by a bacteria in the water turns out to be more. A fourteen-year-old student, Dannie, feels the real cause is linked to her recurring dreams. When the infection reaches an epidemic level. It becomes clear that this infection not only kills, but restores the body to a minimally functioning state where the infected become the “living-dead”. This unique twist on the classic zombie theme, centers around the highly-intuitive Dannie Jacobs and a group of four other middle school students who try to save their friends, their town and themselves in spite of the odds against them. While they are desperately trying to find an answer before it’s too late, they meet researcher Sue who may hold the key to the infection and Dannie’s dreams.”

Before you wrote Pathogen, did you read any books on screenwriting or read any screenplays written by professionals? If so, which ones and what are your favorites?

I haven’t read any books in their entirety, but I did learn from practice and through writing scripts for film classes and camps. I’ve read some professional scripts since then, and I’m currently reading Save the Cat by Blake Snyder.

How long was the first draft of your screenplay for Pathogen? How long was the shooting script? Did you find the writing process hard or easy?

I think the first draft of Pathogen was about 50 pages or so, and I brought it to around 65 before filming. I wrote it in Appleworks (a program like MS Word for Macs), so the page numbers did not quite translate to minutes of film.

I remember the process being a difficult when I tried to figure out what kinds of scenes were necessary to telling the story. I had to try to find a balance between having enough information to tell the story, but not too much so that the point is overstated or boring.

Tomorrow in Part 2, Emily talks about the production of the movie Pathogen and some of the interesting challenges she faced making a movie at the age of 12.