Interview with Bruce Hidemi Sakow
Interview by Jenna Glatzer

Educated at NYU Film and the American Film Institute where he was a screenwriting fellow, Bruce studied filmmaking with Scorsese’s mentor, the late Haig P. Manoogian, and screenwriting with Mardik Martin ("Mean Streets," "Raging Bull"), Robert Alan Arthur ("Grand Prix," "All That Jazz"), and Ian McClellan Hunter ("Roman Holiday").

Bruce has written 17 screenplays. In the late 70s he moved to NYC’s Chinatown to write "Ghost Shadows" (aka "Dragons"), a fictionalized thriller based on the violent Chinese youth gangs. The script was optioned five times to two different producers.

Bruce got his first break when director Joe Zito hired him to write "Quarantine" (a.k.a "Amoeba") about the outbreak of a virulent disease that plagues a rural farm community. When Zito was hired by producer Frank Mancuso, Jr. to direct the sequel to a horror movie franchise, Bruce was hired to write "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter."

Francis Thompson, Inc., NYC producer of Imax films, hired Bruce to pen "Parade," which has won several awards. Producers Alex Kramarchuk and Anthony Larence hired Bruce to write "The King and His Court: The Eddie Feigner Story," a biographical drama about famed softball pitcher Eddie Feigner and his barnstorming four man team.

"Cornered" is the fourth collaboration between Larry Hama and Bruce. It is an American tale of white trash gangsters, betrayal, abduction and redemption; a black comedy in the style of the Coen Brothers and Tarantino.

Recently, Bruce began collaborating with Peter Jordan, a parapsychologist who has investigated hauntings, mediums, UFOs and other paranormal phenomena for the past 20 years. They wrote "Out of Body," a supernatural thriller in the vein of "Ghost," and are finishing another supernatural horror script titled "Spontaneous Combustion."

What sparked your interest in screenwriting?

When I attended NYU Film School I realized early on how expensive it was to make even a short film. Remember: this was before the digital video revolution and the only serious film medium was 16mm. This reality encouraged me to develop screenwriting as a way to tell a story and communicate my vision. 

You studied film at NYU and the American Film Institute. How important was that in terms of your career? Would you advise all screenwriters to go to film school?

I don't think it's absolutely necessary for screenwriters to go to film school. It's far more important to spend time watching good movies and analyzing what makes them good from the writing, directing, cinematography and editing perspectives. However, going to film school opens up the entire collaborative process of moviemaking and this is also important. The first week I was at NYU, Mardik Martin (writer of "Mean Streets" and co-writer with Paul Schrader of "Raging Bull") advised us to "look around the room. The people sitting next to you will be the ones you will make movies with the rest of your life." A lot of lifelong friendships did arise out of film school.

The AFI was an absolute immersion into the Hollywood system and gave me the first real insight into what the film industry was all about. It was also a great way to move to Los Angeles and bond with a group of amazing talented filmmakers (Bob Richardson, Adam Rodman, Michael Dinner, Joe Garrity, Joel Soisson, among many) who have continued to make great movies.

Tell me about how you research your scripts. I understand you once moved to NYC's Chinatown to write a script about Chinese youth gangs.

Yes, I believe in research and immersing one's self into the world you are writing about. Nothing substitutes for life experience and the accuracy/truth one can bring to a story if you live it. The only exception to this would be sci-fi and fantasy stories that rely primarily on imagination. The other road is to collaborate with someone who has the experience and expertise you lack. My current writing partner, Peter Jordan, is a well known parapsychologist who's written for Science Digest and Omni and has been featured on ABC's 20/20 and Unsolved Mysteries. We've collaborated on two scripts that deal very intimately with supernatural phenomena and his knowledge has been crucial to both stories (plus we have a great time writing together - which is a whole 'nother subject covered below).

And that script was optioned five times. Why do you think it hasn't been produced yet?

Screenplays are about timing. The New York City Chinatown gangs made the headlines in the late 1970s and early 80s and the movie interest was intense for the subject matter back then. I made more money off of optioning that script five times than I would've made selling it outright. The other important thing for writers to remember is that genres and story trends are cyclical. Westerns were dead for years then "Unforgiven" came along and revived interest in the genre. This is particularly true of horror. Since "Scream," the entire genre has exploded. I'm confident that interest in my Chinatown gang script will peak once again, perhaps since they are remaking "The Warriors," a seminal gang movie originally directed by Walter Hill. You see, instead of being a current story it suddenly is historical. That's just the way it is.

You got your first break when director Joe Zito hired you to write "Quarantine." How did you hook up with Zito?

When I left NYU a friend of mine was working for Joe as a production manager. I spoke with him and he mentioned Joe was looking for a horror movie. I called Joe and he agreed to meet with me. He wanted hear my ideas for a horror film. I'd never written any horror movies, so the day before we met I wrote a ten page outline for a movie called "Ghosts" about a haunted graveyard. I met with Joe and handed him the outline. He asked me to wait in the other room while he read it. You can imagine how agonizing it was waiting. He called me back in and told me he liked the writing and some of the story elements but it wasn't what he was looking for.

This led to a discussion of what kind of horror movie he was interested in. Joe liked the claustrophobic atmosphere of "Alien" - the way Ripley and her crew were trapped in a small spaceship with a dangerous creature. The day before I had clipped a one paragraph article in the New York Times called "Killer Amoeba" about a virulent strain of fresh water amoeba that literally devour people's brain cells and attack the soft tissue of their eyes. I whipped out this article and, lying through my teeth, told Joe I was just about done writing a story based on the article: it took place in a small rural town in Georgia and was about an outbreak of this horrible disease first amongst the livestock then the inhabitants. The Center for Disease Control is brought in and they decide to secretly quarantine the entire town. They won't let anyone in or out - under threat of death.

Joe flipped for this story and offered to buy it once I finished it. I was astounded. This was my first sale. I guess the moral of the story is to know how to think on one's feet and roll with the punches.

Then Zito hired you to write FRIDAY THE 13TH: THE FINAL CHAPTER. What are the challenges of writing a sequel like this?

Not much. "Friday" is a formula slasher pic and the most significant contribution I made was centering the story on a single mother who lives with her son (Corey Feldman) and daughter in the woods. Also, the first two Fridays dealt with a group of young people who get sliced and diced by Jason - and I thought a little kid (Feldman) should be the one to off Jason in what I called "The Final Chapter" - the fourth and (supposedly) final sequel. Yes, I came up with that title.

The producers loved this concept but insisted on having a house next door that is rented to a group of college students (including Crispin Glover) so the body count could pile up. Joe literally instructed me: we have to have a gory killing every eight minutes. Not exactly my cup of tea (I've never written a slasher pic since - though many have been offered to me) but this was an assignment and my first Hollywood credit. The picture cost $1.7M and grossed over $50M worldwide. And they went on to make six more sequels (none of which I've seen).

What's harder: writing on assignment or writing a spec? And why?

Either can be quite challenging, depending on the material. I got an assignment writing a biographical drama on the life of softball pitcher Eddie Feigner and his famous four man team: The King and His Court. Eddie is a genuine American folk hero and I didn't know a thing about him or softball. Plus, when I met him he was pushing 70 and I was barely 30. He expressed a lot of concern to the producers about my age and whether I could get his story right. I spent a week with Eddie and amassed 20 hours of audio tapes and a couple notebooks filled with notes. I wrote a script that begins around the Great Depression and ends in the early 60s. He ended up really liking the final draft which was worth every bit of sweat.

Assignments aside (which can be quite lucrative and lots of fun), I love writing specs. Starting with nothing but an idea and going through the wonderful intense process of developing the characters and working out the story is like solving a mathematical equation or painting a picture for me. The whole process is revelatory and inspiring and really gets my juices flowing. I would write scripts if no one paid me for it. The work is the reward.

You've collaborated with two writing partners. How do these collaborations work-- do you take turns writing?

I have been very fortunate to find two writers (Larry Hama and Peter Jordan) that I love working with. My last six scripts were written in collaboration. For me, collaboration makes the entire writing process thoroughly enjoyable. Instead of being alone agonizing over whether a scene or sequence or stretch of dialogue will work or not, there is someone you can discuss ideas with. Someone with whom you can work out any problem.

Collaboration isn't for everyone and finding a suitable writing partner is not easy. A good writing partnership is like a good marriage. You will be spending long hours cooped up in a room with another person, so it's important you both share similar tastes in movies and stories and complement each other's tastes and talents (e.g., one person's strength is dialogue and the other's is structure). It's also very important to respect the other person's opinions entirely or else you will end up spending most of your writing time arguing. If you both trust each other's instincts, can resolve differences smoothly and are gifted, talented storytellers, the writing process can be a creative, liberating, exciting process. Two heads are better than one. It's absolutely true, in my opinion.

What advice would you offer new screenwriters?

As a screenwriting teacher (I taught screenwriting at the School of Visual Arts in NYC for 9 years) I have always emphasized developing an outline or treatment first that maps out all the scenes and the characters in your script. It's much easier to analyze and change a 10-20 page treatment than a 120 page script. The weaknesses and strengths are more apparent in a short form. They're more easier addressed and changed. Once you iron out the structure and characters, the actual writing of the script should be a breeze. During the writing process you are free to add all the little details of character, description and dialogue that will flesh out the story nicely.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Most screenwriters (and writers in general) will spend many years writing many stories during the process of honing their craft, finding their voice and the perfect story/vehicle that will launch their careers. The writer who writes one script, makes a mint and launches a Hollywood career is extremely rare. Don't believe otherwise. And so, obviously, first and foremost you must love to write and you must love the process. You need to sustain this love long enough for others to recognize your talent and pay you for your work.

But in the end the writing should be its own reward. The money, the accolades, the amazing experience of sitting in a movie theater with an audience and seeing your name up on the screen, all that is icing on the cake. 

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