The Seahawk

Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: Lifestyles

Senior Lauren Herrel and Junior Andy Siravanta pose with Terry Lineham

As a part of the "Works-In-Progress" section of the Cucalorus Film Festival, Film Studies Department Faculty Lecturer Terry Linehan's script was read in front of an audience and discussed at Screen Gems Studios Thursday, Nov. 12.

After two years and 23 drafts, Linehan is working with A Bunch of Us Productions and Executive Producer Bruce Holsten to move this script into production with a proposed budget that far surpasses Linehan's original, indie thoughts.

A selection of actors read 29 of the 91 page script of the draft. Linehan's actors included: David Andrews (from "Apollo 13," "Fight Club" and "Hannibal"), Sydney Penny (from "The Thorn Birds," "Running Away" and "Pale Rider"), Tammy Arnold (from "Matlock," "American Gothic" and "One Tree Hill"), Bill Ladd (from "Loggerheads," "27 Club" and "Dead Heist"), and Shane Callahan (from "The Mothman Prophecies," "Gods and Generals" and "Dawson's Creek").

"I couldn't have had better actors if I paid them," Linehan said. Since it was just a script being read, Linehan feared that it would be "flat" in comparison to the whole film experience, but was pleased the actors could bring the film to life.

"A film has lighting, music, cinematography, all of these things that make the experience of watching a film so compelling. All we had was people sitting at a table in a poorly lit room," Linehan said.

"I was very happy with the whole thing. The actors were fantastic, the house was full, [and] the audience seemed engaged," Linehan said. There was a Q & A session following the reading.

"When you hear a script read aloud, you see and hear things that weren't there when you sat at your little desk and pressed the little keys and the story takes shape before you," Linehan said. "I tell my students to always read your work aloud [and to] get as much input as you can."

Linehan's advice for students is to "sit down. Face the blank screen. Start moving your fingers and don't stop until you have something. Blast through your first draft. Get a crappy story on paper and then have fun playing with it, and improving it, and adding depth and detail to it for the next two years, or longer."

"A student can learn how to write a script. That's easy. Going on from there takes supreme persistence," Linehan said. "18 years and 12 feature scripts and seven short films later, I'm still in it and in it to stay."

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