Write every script like it's your big break

Does anyone remember a screenplay I wrote called St. Augustine's Ice?  The year was 2004, and my favorite new releases were Lost in Translation and Collateral.  Writing a procedural science-fiction story with a strong female lead providing emotionally an rich, glib reality to events that might otherwise seem totally fantastic... Well, it seemed like a really good idea.



When the screenplay was finished, I had some of the best dialogue and personal drama I've written to this day, wrapped in a tense fiction about an accident onboard a deep space mining ship.  This was a survival story that hinged on faith, and highlighted the desolate dangers of space industry.  Man was pitted against the harshest natural forces imaginable.



Then came Sunshine.  Overnight, I decided that procedural science-fiction was a financially unviable vestige of the '70's.  Who would make such a movie, in this day and age?  People want adventure from their science-fiction.  Right?



Turns out, there are folks looking to bring this genre back.  Producers who love the work of directors like Peter Hyams and Danny Boyle are working on ways to make films like this viable, and having this screenplay on hand was the only way I could have possibly built a productive relationship with them.



Don't tell yourself that any one given project is your ticket to success, and don't count out the underdog screenplay.  Your St. Augustine's Ice might just be your biggest payday.  What they say is true: Luck is the combination of preparation and opportunity.  You can't possibly predict what opportunities you're going to be exposed to.  Keep writing, and keep rewriting.  Finish the stories you start, and make them excellent.  You'll be well prepared when the right opportunity comes along.

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