Viewfinder Chronicles Interviews Scottish Screenwriter Chris Watt!
hello,
As part if this site and my own journey into film making, I am eager to speak with screenwriters, directors, editors and everyone in between to find out their influences, tools and the like so I am thrilled to introduce a Q&A with the incredibly talented screenwriter Chris Watt, a fellow Aberdonian to boot! As someone deeply passionate about connecting with individuals across all aspects of the filmmaking process, I couldn’t be more excited to feature Chris on the site. Chris has built a fascinating career, from his early days inspired by VHS tapes and the magic of cinema, to achieving his dream of having feature films like STALKER and THE MIRE on the big screen.
Chris’s journey is a testament to perseverance, patience, and the relentless pursuit of a creative passion. He spent over two decades navigating life, balancing jobs, and writing in stolen moments before breaking into the industry. His story resonates deeply with anyone who’s ever felt the pull of storytelling but struggled with the realities of breaking through like myself who has been writing for over 10 years now. For me, his Aberdeen roots add a personal touch, and it’s inspiring to see someone from my hometown making waves in the world of film and television.
In this interview, Chris shares insights into his disciplined writing process, the influences that shape his screenplays, and his thoughts on the ever-changing landscape of the film and television industry. From his nostalgic VHS memories to his BAFTA membership and work on award-winning projects, Chris offers valuable lessons and inspiration for anyone with a creative dream. Whether you’re an aspiring screenwriter, a film enthusiast, or simply curious about the craft, there’s something here for everyone.
Something I hadn’t considered before the interviews is friendships I could make as myself and Chris get on really well and will be keeping in contact which is great as I venture on my own movie making journey.
Let’s dive into Chris’s incredible journey and his thoughtful reflections on the art of screenwriting.
What inspired you to become a screenwriter and how did you break into the film and television industry?
It was probably a combination of factors, but cinema was always the artform that I gravitated towards, from an extremely early age. I’m very fond of telling the story about being taken to see E.T. THE EXTRA TERRSTRIAL at age 3, which is still my earliest memory, and being overwhelmed by the size of the screen, the experience of the theatre and that moment when the lights go down and the red curtains opened up. Scorsese talks about the beam of light from the projector bean, and the dust particles dancing through it, and there is something extremely romantic about the experience, which we sadly don’t have enough of anymore. I was born in 1980, so I’m of the VHS generation, and watched a lot of my early films on tv screens, and going to the cinema was, in the 80s, a special occasion, rather than something that you can do at any point during the day, now. But because those films were on tape, it meant that I could rewind and rewatch, and this had an enormous effect on how I looked at films, because I would study certain things, even pre-teens, and looked for how certain scenes or sequences were done.
As I got older, I started to become interested in every element of the process, and screenwriting is at the very beginning. Because I was a big reader, and I always enjoyed writing, the art of the screenplay became my focus, and that drove me through my teens. I always knew I was going to work in the industry in some capacity, and so going to film school became the goal through my school years. I went to film school in ’98, to the University of Northumbria in Newcastle upon Tyne, and it was a great experience, and a great city, but the one thing film school doesn’t prepare you for, is sheer amount of waiting that is involved in filmmaking. I’d love to say that I graduated and went straight into working on films, but the reality was that life had different ideas, and there was a 20-year period where I was simply working different jobs, living my life (marriage, divorce, becoming a father, etc) and finding time in between to continue to write as a hobby.
When Covid hit, I was working as a manager in a hotel and had genuinely resigned myself to the fact that I would never get a screenplay produced, but with hotels shutting down, I realised that this had given me an unlikely opportunity, and I decided to give it one last shot. It’s the old cliché really, but I wrote a screenplay called FOLLOW UP, which was a character drama about a reclusive musician, and I submitted it to a screenplay competition, and it placed in the top 20. But more importantly, it caught the eye of a producer, who then offered to option the screenplay. Off the back of this, the same producer also read another script of mine, which at that time was called FR(E)IGHT, and optioned that one as well. And within a year, that screenplay was in production, and became a film that they retitled STALKER, a horror thriller starring Sophie Skelton (who was in between seasons of OUTLANDER at that point).
And so, 20 years after graduating from film school, I found myself standing in Leicester square, at London’s Frightfest Film Festival, for the world premiere of my first film as a screenwriter. Everything since that moment has been a ripple effect, with offers to write other projects and development deals in place for a few of my other scripts. It’s a good lesson in perseverance. It sounds trite, but you have to keep going, never give up. If something is important to you, you have to go for it.
What is your writing routine like, what’s the process from idea to completion?
My writing routine is very disciplined. I get up at 6am every morning, make my coffee and sit down at the laptop. It is always a good idea to have a schedule of some sort, at least that’s what I find, and to also never overstretch yourself on how much you produce each day. If you give yourself the task of writing, say, 5 pages a day, then in 20 days you can have a first draft of a new 100-page screenplay complete. It won’t be any good, as screenwriting is 90 % re-writing, but it will be a significant amount of the leg work.
My own process, form idea to completion can differ depending on what I’m writing, as every project is different. With STALKER, I had written the film very quickly, basing it around an experience I had had, a few years earlier, when the elevator I was travelling in stopped for a few moments, between floors. That’s a case of art imitating life; you take inspiration from anything. With my last film, THE MIRE, there was a period of research involved, as I was writing a story about the leader of a cult, and the story revolved around both that character and two of his most devout followers. Research is paramount to getting certain details right, so I was reading as many books as I could on the subject of cults. I think I read about 15 in total, and endless documentaries, in order to get myself in the mindset.
Once I have an idea, I sit down and try to figure out what kind of a story I want to use to explore that idea. What kind of plot will it be? What genre and what tone? Once I have a good idea of that, I then start thinking about who the ideal character would be to see this story through the eyes of. It sounds simple, but this is a vital ingredient. For example, STAR WARS only works because we follow Luke Skywalker, rather than Han Solo. Han Solo is already a part of the world, whereas Luke is the outsider, which is a far more interesting position for a character to be in, when it comes to storytelling. How you frame your story, and who we follow, is part of what makes us want to go to the movies in the first place. Relatability. We want to see a version of ourselves up there on the big screen.
I have just started to try different software for the scriptwriting part, what screenwriting software if any do you use and why?
I work on Final Draft, although for years I resisted screenwriting software, mainly because part of my process was to write on a Word document, then do the formatting myself, using that time to do my first pass/rewrite, correcting any mistakes or errors as I went along. That meant that by the time I was done manually formatting, I would have a really solid first draft.
This was, of course, before I started working as a professional, and I couldn’t imagine working that way now, as I work to deadlines and simply don’t have that kind of time anymore. I often look back on those years when I was writing for nobody but myself, with a romantic sense of nostalgia for those nights when I would stay up and just enjoy the process of creating for the hell of it. But now I do it for a living, and having software to speed up the formatting process is essential.
I would like to say that I chose Final Draft for some specific reason, but the truth is that I won a copy of the software in a script competition and have simply used it ever since, but it is one of the industry standards, and I do love what it can do, how easy it can make the process, especially rewriting.
What do you think makes a great screenplay stand out?
It’s a combination of elements, but it comes back to that thing I was talking about earlier: Relatability. Storytelling is about connecting your audience to the narrative, using elements that we relate to, be that a character or a situation. Most of us can’t relate to an iceberg hitting a ship, but we can relate to two people falling in love, that is why TITANIC affects us. Most of us can’t relate to an alien landing in our backyard, but we can relate to childhood and divorce, that is why E.T. affects us. It’s the relatable element, and it allows you a huge amount of freedom in terms of what kind of story you want to tell, or how grand and cinematic you want to make it.
If you’re taking from a technical point of view, then what makes a great screenplay is a strong story and compelling characters. You must give each character you create a desire, something they want. Then you have to set up obstacles, things that are in the way of the character getting that thing they desire. It is the crux of drama and of conflict, and without this, a film will bore the audience.
It’s also important to not get distracted in sub-plot. I also work as a screenwriting consultant for a number of screenwriting competitions and can’t tell you how many scripts I read in any given week, that contain sub-plot that is in no way connected to the main story, that simply exists because the writer had a cool idea for a scene. I always tell screenwriting students to think of your story as one long, straight highway, with diversions on either side of the road. You can take that diversion if you want, but you have to pick something up on the way, that then takes you back onto the highway, only further down it. If there is nothing there, don’t take the diversion. It’s the ‘Kill Your Darlings’ mentality. Whatever your favourite thing is in the story you write, try taking it out, and see if it affects the plot. 9 times out of 10 it doesn’t, so you have to be brutal and get rid of anything that isn’t relevant to moving character and story forward.
Promo from THE MIRE (top to bottom: Joseph Adelakun, Holly McLachlan, Antony Knight).
How has the film and TV industry changed since you started your career in writing screenplays ata ll, as thats over 10 years now?
It’s actually over 20, and that is something that I’m still coming to terms with! It’s a good question, of course, as the last 20 years, the industry has changed dramatically, and it’s changing every year.
When I went to film school, digital technology was only just beginning to take over, there were no streaming services, no social media, only a handful of means to get your film made or seen. Today it’s all different. You can make a feature film on an iPhone; you can cut it on your laptop, and you can distribute it on any number of sites. The trick is getting people to watch the film now, as there are so many options.
I think it’s a blessing and a curse, as it has never been easier to get up and make something, but because of that, everybody is doing it, and it saturates the industry, making it extremely difficult to whittle out the good work from the average.
Now, having said that, I think it’s wonderful that anybody can create, and having access to the tools to make your art is always something to encourage. But distribution methods have suffered because of it, and it makes it harder and harder to find distributers willing to take a chance on independent films, especially if they don’t have some sort of star attached. Just take a look at any streaming service and scroll through each week’s new releases. There are literally hundreds of indie produced films, that nobody will ever watch. The trick is not just making the best film you can anymore, it’s finding the people to back it and get it out there for as many people to enjoy as possible.
I feel like I’ve experienced both sides of that with my own films, as STALKER had a star, so the distribution for that was far stronger, with the film now sitting on DVD shelves and digital services, and we even had a cinema release in the U.S. Whereas THE MIRE had a harder road ahead of it, as it didn’t contain any ‘name’ elements, and yet it is a film I’m immensely proud of and I think my writing, and all the filmmaking elements on that piece were strong. We got some very good reviews for it, so hopefully it will find an audience, gradually, as we all go off and do more projects.
Still from STALKER (Sophie Skelton, Stuart Brennan)
Have you ever thought about taking that next step and trying out cinematography, directing or editing?
It’s a question I get asked a lot, and honestly, I don’t see myself going beyond what I know I can do well. I think every screenwriter has that instinct at some point, that they might want to direct, so I never say never, but the writing is process is what I love, its where I’m most comfortable, and having worked with a few directors now, I know just how much it takes to do that job.
I have done a little work as an editor, in the past, and as a writer you have to have that editorial instinct anyway, as you need to reduce almost anything you write, down to what is essential for the story.
I’m a hobbyist photographer, so I have always been interested in cinematography, and indeed, one of the best things about film school was that it gave you a decent knowledge of camera. But again, I’ve seen professionals working on film sets and how they can paint with light and shadow, and I could never be at that level. I think I have a good eye for an image, for composition, but lighting is a mystery of the artform for me.
Are there other art forms that inspire your screenwriting?
Music is the artform that I look to the most, and I write to music all the time, as it opens emotional doors, giving me access to feelings that are necessary to write scenes that require characters to challenge each other. In much the same way as directors and film editors use temp score when they put together their first cuts of their films, I use music to dictate what emotional tone the screenplay and each scene will need to have. There are a number of composers that I gravitate towards, and I just finished writing a script for next year, that is very emotionally driven, and has strong romantic and tragic qualities, so I was listening to a lot of Max Richter and Sigur Ros on that one.
I also tend to create a Spotify playlist for each screenplay I write, sometimes even giving each character their own playlist, to help me understand their taste and behaviour. Music is an incredible facility for the creative impulse, perhaps the most powerful artform we have.
Can you name any filmmakers and films that have influenced you?
Top of the hap has always been Stanley Kubrick. His films have been a constant in my cinematic life, the best director of the 20th century, in my opinion, and one of those rare filmmakers who approached every film with the same carefully calibrated sense of exploration, storytelling and incredible artistry. What I always find interesting about his work is that I am hugely influenced by him, but I know that I would never be able to write a film that has anything like his tone or storytelling skill.
To that degree, I am arguably just as influenced by the work of Billy Wilder and Cameron Crowe, who are storytellers far more in my wheelhouse, in terms of the stories I want to tell. I have a (very minor) reputation for being a writer who works in horror and genre, simply because my debut was a horror film, but that really isn’t the case. I’m far more interested in comedy drama, in telling stories that are filled with the bittersweet. In that respect, I am more influenced by screenwriters than directors, such as Bruce Robinson, William Goldman, Greta Gerwig, Celine Sciamma, Aaron Sorkin, Mia Hansen-Love and many more.
I’m currently developing a few projects in TV (I was lucky enough to win the Shore Scripts TV Pilot script award this year) and so I’m looking to series for inspiration and there seem to be a great clutch of comedy dramas at the moment, like TRYING, SHRINKING, BAD SISTERS, stories about relatable people and situations, that have a lovely balance of humour and conflict. Those are the kinds of stories I want to tell.
If you could go back to the first day you started writing and you can give your younger self avice advice, what would it be, what do you wish you learnt earlier?
If I could talk to that kid, I would simply tell him to keep going, and I often wonder where that impulse to never give up came from, as it was a long road to get this point. If someone had told me at 15 that I would end up with feature films playing in cinemas, that I would be a member of BAFTA, that I would win awards for my scripts, I would probably have shrugged and said “Yeah, of course that will happen” because I had the naivety of youth at 15, and simply assumed that it would all come easily. But to have all those things actually come true, after 20 years of trying to get there, is still something I’m coming to terms with, and that is what fuels me. I’m here now, I’m doing it, and I don’t intend on going away anytime soon.
That, in many ways, answers the second part of your question, as the one thing I wish I’d learned earlier, was to pace myself, because this business is about patience, about long periods of waiting to hear back on projects or from producers and directors. It can take more than five years to get films made, so it’s important to be working on other projects in the spaces in between.
I love to see where people keep up to date and inspired by, what are some YouTube channels, Podcasts or books you would recommend checking out?
That’s the other way in which the industry has changed for the better. We have access to so much educational material now, it’s fantastic. When I was a teenager, we had to buy books on filmmaking, and so I tend to recommend classics like REBEL WITHOUT A CREW by Robert Rodriguez, or the directors of directors’ series that Faber and Faber published in the 90s, all of which were brilliant insights into the creative process.
I think that is where you find the most valuable information. There are thousands of books that purport to tell you the ‘rules’ of screenwriting and there are no rules. There ae conventions, and those conventions can be broken, reshaped or ignored, depending on what kind of writer you are. I think it is far more valuable for any aspiring screenwriters to read books written by working screenwriters, about their experiences in the industry, rather than reading ‘How To’ guides on how to craft a screenplay. Books like ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE by William Goldman, or Alistair Owen’s collection of interviews with screenwriters, especially SMOKING IN BED: CONVERSATIONS WITH BRUCE ROBINSON which is, for my money, the best book on screenwriting that you can find.
I consume podcasts, and they are also a great resource for screenwriters. Top of the heap is SCRIPTNOTES in which writers Craig Mazin and John August take you through every single aspect of the business. Their back catalogue of podcasts is vast and essential. SCRIPT APART is also a great podcast, featuring interviews with a multitude of writers. And on YouTube, I always recommend checking out the BFI and BAFTA channels, where they have lectures by professional screenwriters and Q&As with filmmakers, in which they dissect their work.
Please give Chris a follow and check him out at the following places.
