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An Interview by William Roberts, March 2004
During a conversation about the lack of enthusiasm they felt was being poured into current horror movies, Mark Fennell and Stuart Evans decided it was time to get their heads down and come up with something that would hopefully resurrect this classic genre. Inspired by such films as �The Omen� and �The Exorcist� which, successfully helped reinvent the genre back in the 70�s, they set out to write their first screenplay.
�Conflict� is born:
Stuart:
"We felt it was time to back up our thoughts and opinions. We were tired of the high school flicks the Americans and now British were churning out. It seems that a major ingredient needed these days to make a horror movie is a bunch of kids who get hacked to death via a non-inspiring and predictable medium."
Mark�s reasons were more prolonged�
Mark:
"When I was a boy there was one film that scared me more than any other, a film that didn�t just make me jump or hide my face behind a cushion. Instead it was a film that actually made me think about what I was watching, a story of good and bad, heaven and hell and all the prophecies, revelations and philosophies that reside within The Bible.
I've never been able to get the story of The Omen out from under my skin. It nagged and nagged away at me so much that it made me want to actually get off my arse and write something that would make people embrace and ponder the possibilities of a battle between God and the Devil, something for this generation. �Conflict� is just that, it's our attempt to get people thinking about the constant battle between good and evil that may or may not be going on around us as we live out our simple lives."
The next step was for them to begin the process of writing �Conflict� a process which, was to prove a difficult one for the first time writers.
Stuart:
"I think it�s fair to say that we hit a few stumbling blocks. In hindsight it�s probably a good idea to make the subject matter for your first SP something that you either know a lot about or which requires very little research. This would enable you to concentrate more on the structure, length and overall understanding of how a screenplay should work look and feel. This is one of the reasons why a second draft of �Conflict� is currently in development."
By now both Stuart and Mark had the �writing bug�. It was also around this time that Stuart came up with the concept of having a base of writers who would pen screenplay�s in an effort to send them out under the same name in the hope they might get recognised as an entity in SP writing. The lack of material prohibited this from being a possibility so the idea was subsequently shelved.
Back to the job at hand; going headfirst into a story which required extensive research, mainly carried out by Mark in the early stages, was a lot to take on as neither one had penned a screenplay before. This proved to be a headache for them and inevitably, around the mid-point stage of the process, they started to falter.
Stuart:
"I�d imagine that most people hit a bad patch during their writing. We certainly did and at this stage I felt we needed to bring someone else in who had a bit of knowledge on the subject matter."
Ben Sutton, friend and former work colleague of Stuart, was then approached to help in the construction of the story.
Ben:
"I was approached to be an advisor for the religious aspects of the SP, but after reading it I knew immediately that this was a project I simply had to be involved in. Even with the bare bones present I knew I was reading something special, something that simply had to be written."
The process was back on track again with Ben providing a lift for Mark and Stuart to continue with the screenplay.
By the time the 1st draft was ready for review Stuart already had doubts whether he wanted to put the screenplay out in it�s current format. After a lengthy review of the 1st draft by all three it was decided that they would complete a revised 1st draft so that they had something down on paper but re-think the possibility of telling this story through a better and more convincing medium.
Stuart:
"I wasn�t happy with it. It had been part of my life for 5 months or so and I felt that we hadn�t reflected the time or effort spent on writing and researching within the story we were offering."
Mark:
"The importance of a re-write for "Conflict" became apparent when we felt the middle didn�t do justice to the concept of the end, and the main thread within the whole structure. It became something that wasn�t intended, a great story with many flaws. We required perfection but fell a little short."
Ben:
"During the early stages of Conflict we all had a clear vision of where we wanted the story to take the viewer. Unfortunately, whether it was due to personal differences of opinions, our writing method or simple inexperience, the end product didn't match our expectations.
We hadn't written the amazing story we thought we could tell we hadn�t come up with the justice it deserved. By spending time re-writing we hope to emerge with something we are proud of, proud to show anyone and everyone who shows an interest to read it."
By this time Stuart and Mark had started new projects in the hope of keep the �writing bug� which, had somewhat dwindled away during the process of constructing �Conflict�. Ben also with numerous ideas in his head had begun early research on his latest project. It was time to start thinking about the �entity� again.
Conflict Scripts:
It was generally felt between Mark, Stuart and Ben that it was time to re-launch the idea of accumulating screenplays from a unit of writers to put out under the same name.
Stuart:
"We felt we were in a good position to start taking Conflict Scripts seriously. With Mark inviting friend Simon Howlett in to help co-write his latest project �Made of Stone� it meant that we now had four writers on board. So why not put in the foundations for it and with various screenplays in development we might have something to shout about."
Everyone had his own personal reasons for being involved in the project.
Ben:
"I used to watch films and find myself saying "Well, yeah, it was ok, but if I had written it�" The only way to try and write films that I wanted to see was to knuckle down and learn how to write them myself."
Mark:
"I like a good yarn! You can take your blockbusters, film noir or art-house and stick 'em where the sun don�t shine. I really don�t want to have to watch another 90 minute film about a guy that's sitting in a coffee shop talking about the writings of Kafka while his quirky looking girlfriend adjusts her glasses for the 38th time.
�It's A Wonderful Life� was a yarn, �Shawshank Redemption�, �One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest�, �Stand By Me�, �The Graduate�, �Pulp Fiction�, �American Beauty�, �The Godfather�, �Dogma�, �American Werewolf In London�, �Deliverance�, �Edward Scissor Hands�... I could go on. What I�m trying to say is that film is there to entertain, to invoke a response, be it a smile, fear, laughter, tears or deep thought, the best films sometimes brought all these emotions to the fore. Too many films today conjure none of these emotions. We want to change that. Conflict Scripts want to change that."
Now that the foundations are well under way and with numerous screenplays currently in development, with a couple in revised states, the future seems bright for Conflict Scripts.
Stuart:
"Don�t get us wrong. We�re not getting delusions of grandeur here. All we want to do is write the kind of stories that we want to hear. If the SP�s go on to bigger and better things then great! If not we shall still have a body of work we are all proud of. No one can take that away from us."
Copyright � William Roberts 2004
Copyright � Conflict Scripts 2003-2009. All Rights Reserved.