So Jeff Messerman, who along with Mike Scherer moderates The GITS Club, our peer script review site, recently sent me this email:

Hi Scott,

This was posted last week. I’m a big fan. It’s a 7 page short. Very
well written. Best of all, a great example of well-crafted dialogue.
Apparently the writer is on the verge of filming this as well so it
could be fun to give him a nice platform, eh?

The “this” Jeff is referring to is a script written by Matt Latham called “At Least The Devil Is Honest” which he posted at TGC for feedback. You can go here for that thread.

Jeff’s right. It’s a terrific short script. Here are some comments from TGC members:

Good stuff! Excellent dialogue.

– tonym

Definitively one of the best things I’ve read on these boards.

– echomusic

Matt, I must say that I agree with everyone in that this is one of the best things I’ve read on here.

– dave243

What’s all the buzz about? You can find out by going here to download the script.

Now as it turns out, Matt went out and shot the movie. I asked Jeff to do a Q&A with Matt and here it is:

1. How long have you been writing screenplays?

I decided that I wanted to be a filmmaker when I was 12, and started
writing screenplays then. I’m 24 now, so I’m officially heading into
the territory of having been a screenwriter for most of my life.
Pretty much every year I have this routine of not writing much for 8
months, and then writing nearly every day for 4 months, so it hasn’t
been a solid 12 years of writing, but I’ve managed to pack in a decent
amount of writing (that will thankfully never see the light of day).

2. Did you go to school for film or take any scriptwriting classes/seminars?

Nope. I read some screenwriting and play-writing books in my teens,
as well as actual screenplays, which I still read. From there, I just
learned by doing. Same with filmmaking–I worked all through high
school to buy some equipment and just spent a lot of time making
little video projects. I’m just about to graduate from university,
where I’m studying philosophy and theater, and I work in the film
department on campus, so I’ve got a trifecta thing going on.

My experiences in directing and acting have also informed how I write.
I really recommend working closely with actors or taking some acting
classes. What you get, in addition to a crucial point of view, are an
arsenal of tools and exercises that are useful when writing. Writing
involves doing a lot of improvisation with yourself, in your head, so
learning how to improv well is highly recommended for those who want
to write scripts that surprise themselves.

3. Your script has some terrific dialogue. What’s your secret and
what’s your inspiration, dialogue-wise?

Thanks! I enjoy writing dialogue. I generally start by having my
characters ramble, and after a while it becomes about something.
Then, I just cut as much as I can, and it tends to keep the energy and
organic flow of real conversation. In real conversation, people often
don’t say what they mean to say, or they don’t say it in the clearest
way and it’s misunderstood, and there’s a lot of bouncing back and
forth and there’s a struggle to communicate that is revealing and
interesting to watch. People don’t speak efficiently. Part of my job
as a writer is to efficiently give a sense of the inefficient struggle
of communication. Letting the characters ramble and then editing that
down seems to be a good strategy for me.

As far as the specific inspiration for this script, I looked through a
scrapbook of ideas that I keep, and zeroed in on some dialogue I wrote
a few months ago about a guy who wishes that he could choose to not
feel his feelings, so as to appear courageous, because he could never
actually BE courageous (if courage is defined as feeling the fear and
doing it anyway). I wanted a very simple story to work with. Robert
Altman (a hero of mine) said that he liked to work with stories and
characters that were so archetypal and that we’ve seen a million times
before so that he wouldn’t have to spend any time on character
introductions and plot points–he could just jump straight into the
specifics, live in that world, and do whatever he wanted, and
audiences would still be able to tell what’s going on. For me, once I
have a small handful of events that can take the characters from one
place to another, I can just focus on character and philosophy, which
is what I find interesting.

The other piece of inspiration for the script was the film Minnie and
Moskowitz, written and directed by John Cassavetes. I just happened
to watch it right before writing this script. His films are almost
exclusively made up scenes where emotionally naked people are
drunkenly rambling to each other, so that’s how I started my script.

4. How many drafts did “Devil” undergo?

I wrote 4 drafts in about 5 days. The whole project was conceived to
be made really quickly, because the catalyst for making it was to
submit it to a film festival at my university. So I wrote the first
draft in about 5 hours, then wrote a second draft the next day, and
then a third draft the next day, which is the draft that most people
read on the GITS Club forum. After taking in some suggestions, I
wrote a fourth draft.

I’m a fan of rehearsal, and thinking of it as part of the writing
process. In a way, we start from scratch with rehearsal, and “write”
the characters and subtext, while more or less sticking to the text of
the script. I also ask the actors to improv during rehearsal, and a
lot of that is then added to the script.

As I write this, I’m also editing a scene that we shot over the
weekend. Editing can definitely be thought of as writing yet another
draft, as I am cutting out and adding things as I put it all together.

5. You’re in a unique position in that the director you’re writing for
is yourself. Do you feel this gives more or less objectivity
regarding your writing?

I’m actually in a really good position to answer this question right
now, as I am also directing an hour-long original play that someone
else wrote, while simultaneously directing this film that I wrote.

I’d say that directing something that I’ve written allows me to be
more objective, because I’m less beholden to the script. I’m a very
open director, but when it’s someone else’s script, I want to stick to
it as much as possible. I try to make what’s in the script work, and
a lot of that is based on my subjective interpretation. When it’s my
script, I don’t care how much we stick to the script. I tend not to
look at the script at all when I direct; I just want to see it play
out in front of me. If it’s playing well, then we go with that over
anything that I’ve written. If what I’ve written doesn’t play well,
then we change it to whatever will play well.

There’s certainly subjectivity involved in that as well, but I guess
I’m using objectivity in the sense of not being convinced that my
script was the best way to go at every point. Sometimes, what I wrote
was good, but the actor struggles to make it work. As a director, I
have to notice that that’s just awkward, and we’ll change it to
something that the actor can do more naturally.

6. How many scripts have you penned thus far and what’s next for Matt Latham?

I’ve finished maybe 4 or 5 features and about as many short things.
There are probably 20 more scripts that I started and never finished.
I’m really proud of the last couple of shorts that I’ve written and
made. I’m not proud of any of the features I’ve written, although I
am planning to write a feature soon and feel pretty good about that
one. I am just beginning to come into my own as a screenwriter, so
I’m eager to see what I come up with, and happy to just trash my
previous scripts (actually, a damaged hard drive has already done that
for me).

In the coming months, I’ll be moving from Santa Cruz, California to
Austin, Texas. Austin has really become the new hotspot for
independent filmmaking, and for me, independent is the way to go. I
have things that I want to do that require total freedom and not much
money, so a place like Austin is looking better to me than a place
like L.A. right now. I hope to make a few more shorts and then a
feature film in Austin within the next two or three years, and
hopefully continue doing that while eeking out a living. As far as
I’m concerned, I only have to do three things: 1. Not starve to death,
2. Not freeze to death, 3. Make films. I’m happy to make films
cheaply, so I’m not that ambitious, money-wise.

Who knows what the future holds beyond that? And who cares, as long
as I get to make films? That’s my thinking for now. That’ll probably
change in the future, along with my priorities, but I’ll worry about
that when it happens.

My favorite aspect of the script is the long monologue on P. 6-7. Normally, of course, you don’t write a side of dialogue that is 56 lines long. But it works because it represents a breakthrough moment for the character William, embracing honesty and a torrent of of the truth bursts forth, and because the dialogue is funny — I won’t ruin it for you but confessions having to do with high heels and ‘shocking’ horses, well, it’s just great stuff.

Again you can go here to download the script. And while you’re at it, go here to check out The GITS Club, currently 224 members strong.

And Matt Latham, if you read this, how did your shoot go? When will you have a cut of your movie for us to see?