Interview…with filmmaker/screenwriter Bill Olsen

"I am glad I had most of my fun before it got so crowded out there," says Bill Olsen about working as an independent filmmaker and screenwriter outside the Hollywood scene. "There's just so much more product in the pipeline nowadays (that) it makes it tougher to get a distributor."

Olsen has been fascinated with movies since he was a child. He made his first movie at age 14. "The Monster on the Campus" ran about 10 minutes and featured a tape-recorded soundtrack with the music and the narration.

"All it had going for it was an incredible monster mask my dad had bought for Halloween."

He has written, directed, produced or acted in films since the mid-1970s, working independently and with such production companies as Dell Films, Quest Studios and Triad Entertainment Group. His work has been seen worldwide in theaters, on Video/DVD and on television. While four of his scripts have been produced he has several others under option and in development.

Olsen has also taught screenwriting and film appreciation at universities and writers conferences throughout the country. His most recent seminar was "Know Your Film Rights" for the Published Authors Network of Romance Writers of America. He is currently a director and writer for Writers-in-Motion, a production company that produces marketing videos for authors and publishers, including book shorts (4-5 minute visual excerpts of novels) and author interviews.

Which came first - filmmaking or scriptwriting?

"Filmmaking," he says. "I would just wind the camera up and shoot anything that moved. Then I started writing scripts for my short films and later the independent films I made." He likens screenplays to blueprints. No one actually reads them. They just guide the director and cast through the story.

A number of things go into a good screenplay. As a filmmaker, Olsen looks for a well-developed, character-driven plot and subplot. He says a common misconception in student screenwriters is that screenplays can't have subplots. The audience will know the characters because of the casting, not the writing.

"You would never write, 'Barbara's sister Mandi opened the door.' How do we know they are sisters? We don't unless we are shown in one fashion or another or told in dialogue."

And you should know in what medium the film will be shown. Olsen has written for both film and television and points out a critical difference: TV is a medium of close-ups. Because of the growing DVD market, today's movies often have more close-ups than in years past. "They get a theatrical run just to endorse them in the marketplace as bona fide film."

What is it like to be an independent filmmaker?

It is very common for every person involved in an independent film to take on more than one role in the production. In addition to writing the scripts, Olsen has been an Executive Producer (in charge of raising the money), a Producer (in charge of getting the film made), a Director (in charge of handling the actors, cameramen and getting the script on film) and an Editor (in charge of putting the movie together) on several movies.

"On the longer movies, I split duties with an editor in New York or LA," he says. "I love it all, except raising the money."

Finding the money is the hardest job. Aside from the tough economy right now, there are just too many film projects out there

"With digital, anyone can walk into Best Buy and buy a camera and make a movie. The crème will always rise to the top, but it's tougher than it used to be."

For the writer, he adds that there are more places than ever to place a script, but he must do his homework and he must know the language of film and what is need in the script to make a good film.

One place for scripts he recommends is Inktip.com, an online resource to help put scripts in the hands of producers and agents. It's free to join, but charges for various services.

If he wasn't a filmmaker, what would Olsen do?

"I'd love to be a travel writer," but he says, "If I had it to do over, I'd still make films."

Olsen has also written three young adult novels and has one "making the rounds with agents." He is finding writing fiction very different to screenwriting. "(In film) writing was always a means to an end. Nowadays…the writing is an end in itself, which means the words have to stand alone - a very scary prospect."



To learn more about Bill Olsen, visit his website or see his complete filmography at IMDb.com