I was recently reminded of my project Strings, which became one of the winners of the @netflix grant program. It’s a sci-fi mini-series that was developed and written as part of that program during one of the most difficult periods of my life. From time to time, people ask me what’s going on with the project and whether it could be filmed somewhere else, not in the place I originally planned. The answer is no. This project was written specifically for one city - Kyiv - and it will be made when the right time comes. I’m not worried about someone coming up with a similar idea, because I usually try to “take a wrong turn” two or three times when building a concept. What does that mean? Imagine a classic plot as a straight, well-paved road. Every time you veer off that road, you’re adding something new to the traditional concept - you’re changing the structure itself and moving into more original territory. In other words, you’re literally changing the concept itself - stepping into the realm of the original. I call this “taking a wrong turn.” I have stories with one “wrong turn.” But the ones I value most are the concepts where I manage to do it two or even three times. First, you veer off the main road into rough terrain. Then you “turn” again. And then again. From that point on, you’re moving along winding paths in complete darkness - which means reshaping cliches within the scenes. Sometimes it works (though I’d say that’s pretty rare). Often it doesn’t, because the paths narrow and it’s very easy to end up at a dead end. For me, each of these “wrong turns” is like one layer of authentication. In my feature-length scripts, I always try to build in two - or ideally three - layers of conceptual authentication. If you make just one “wrong turn,” it doesn’t guarantee that someone else won’t take the exact same detour tomorrow.
I actually go into more detail about this in an upcoming interview that’ll be published soon.
#strings #netflix #houseofeurope #limitedseries #ukraine #usa
Leaving this here. A glimpse into my obsession with building worlds. Learn these questions - you’ll need them. 🕰️
#theregime #horror #historical
38, 734 steps 🚶🏽
Yesterday I walked from Downtown almost all the way to Santa Monica (I could’ve gone the whole way, but my destination was a bit closer).
On the way I:
– made some revisions to script
– wrote three important emails
– listened to two podcasts
– and spent some time thinking about my place in the universe 🙂
