The script of "Escape to Hollow Earth" is about a draft resister who flees the US to Iceland and is tempted by absolute power and destiny of the world for either good or evil while encountering an advanced civilization living in the center of the Earth.
Colin K. Stewart, the writer of "Escape to Hollow Earth" is an award winning film and theater director, award winning film producer and screenwriter. He moved to Hollywood from Philly to bring his film and work on an entertainment magazine with his wife they published for 12 years. Colin has several films now in pre-production and/or filming: In Da Cut, Cowgirl Romance, and others. His Cowgirl Romance was nominated for best Screenplay at the 2012 Beverly Hills film Festival. His films, In the Closet and Mama & Me won Best Film awards. Colin produced/directed/wrote Master Race from Mars, an 1888 period piece, 35 MM feature film, shot in beautiful, historic Philadelphia, PA. Colin has a Master's Degree in Mass Media and Communications where he studied filmmaking at Temple University and BA in Business Administration from Memphis State U. He directed, was technical director, and board member at a nonprofit theater, COLSAC, in Hollywood for more than 16 years. He has considerable experience working with film production and writing software, including screenwriting, script breakdown, scheduling, and budgeting. Mr. Stewart AKA Sarge, is a former Marine Staff NCO, knows when and how to lead, follow, and get out of the way! He is a team player, capable of wearing many hats during a film project. Mr. Stewart's favorite process is working on a film project from development though distribution. He produces and writes films via two film production companies StewArt Productions and Biblical Films. He and his wife, Kathy, live in the California High desert, north of Los Angeles, where they run an animal rescue farm and maintain rescue animals, such a horses, llamas, goats, pigs, dogs, cats, etc.
What draws you to writing scripts?
Working on a film project from development though distribution. I enjoy the writing process following “The Classic Hollywood Narrative Style” from a Story Idea, Outline, Book, or eBook that a client wants converted to a SCRIPT that they “want to come to life onto screen in the movies”. See our TOP awards for examples. If authors want a professional script written, they can go to our sites to see about some of what we have done: www.booktoscreenplay.com or www.screenwriters-for-hire.com.
How and when did you start studying screenwriting?
When I lived in Philadelphia where I met my wife and fellow film enthusiast, Kathy Krantz, one of my friends was an experienced cinematographer and he wanted to make a film where one of us wrote the screenplay. I was a computer analyst consultant at the time and was making very good money. So, I thought “why don’t we film a movie where I write the script and we finance it. He didn’t have any material for a script and was afraid of spending a lot of our money on “a piece of junk.” He said he wasn’t in a hurry and wanted to “do it right”. I told him I went to grad school to learn how to make films and took screenwriting classes from John Truby. I already had a BBA in marketing and felt I had the business end covered. I went to Temple University and got a MA in filmmaking.
Kathy Krantz Stewart wrote Dan’s first screenplay from the first book of his Hollow Earth movie series. It is winning dozens of TOP awards! Kathy (on IMDb) and I write screenplays from books or from story ideas and even from just a story synopsis a client sends! We have won 100s of TOP Best Screenplay awards at Cannes, Hollywood, etc., and Best Film awards too. Authors can contact us if they want a professional script written by us, or if they want a film/script Business plan, email us at: kkstewartproductions@gmail.com for a free quote, or go to www.booktoscreenplay.com to message us there.
What makes screenwriting stand out to you in the language of cinema?
The writer must use his/her artistic interpretation of the source material. I get tremendous satisfaction in converting a book or idea to a screenplay. I focus in transforming the book or idea to script format. I take each part of the source material and convert it to multiple scenes utilizing correct script formatting elements that create a map for a visual presentation of the source material. I think about the scene description and heading followed by character dialog. Building those pieces from source material is fun, exciting, and satisfying.
Do you ever plan to direct and produce one of your scripts?
I directed and produced a sci-fi 35 MM feature film from one of my scripts, “Master Race from Mars” after working on my MA at Temple University. Before I wrote the script, I scouted and researched Philadelphia period locations. I spent about six months doing that. Then I wrote those locations into scenes for the story.
Tell us more about your latest favorite script and the inspiration behind the writing of your script.
The story for “Master Race from Mars” is based on history of the1888-1889 period. I always loved history and wanted to create a science-fiction story about one of the most traumatic events in world history (Adolf Hitler and the Nazis). Since I was living in Philly, I wanted to use the area and its beautiful period locations for filming. As for what the audience may take away from the story, my thinking was – sometimes it is hard to explain why certain events in history occurred and who drove them. For some of the most horrible history ‘bad actors’ you wonder if they were really human. I thought that concept would be subtext. The Philly Film Office was great assistance to us with period locations too.
What were some of the challenges of writing your script and the research that went into it?
Period Locations: I wanted to shoot in Philadelphia and take advantage of all the ‘free’ period locations. I spent months scouting locations I could write into a “period piece” script. We found the most beautiful and important period locations in and around Philadelphia to shoot at in “The City of Brotherly love.”
What is your cinematic goal in life and what would you like to achieve as a writer?
I got this idea from an article I read recently, and it represents my cinematic goal on projects where I am director and/or producer: “to create a healthy work environment for my creatives.” To make sure that department heads on any on my film projects make that idea a driving force in the way they treat their personnel.
I would like to have at least three more films produced based on screenplays that I wrote. Including the constantly award-winning comedy screenplay “ALIEN ZOMBIE CELL” (On IMDb)” that Kathy and I cowrote. We are looking for interested producers to come on board for this project. For another script we wrote, Kathy and I recently went to Eastern Europe to visit and tour Transylvania and the Castle of Vlad (Dracula) to scout locations in and around Romania, Hungary, Serbia, etc., and along the Danube River locations. Any interested Executive Producers are free to talk to us about getting onboard this Female lead Dracula script we wrote: “LADY DRACULA” (on IMDb), or my award-winning script “COWGIRL’S CRISTMAS ROMANCE” or the award-winning script of ours, “DOLPHIN’S SONG.”
What kind of impact would your work have in the world and why do you think these themes are important in your script?
This idea of protecting your creative people, no matter if they are a producer or a grip, is that you must “trust your creatives to get the work done.” For each project the “chances are you hired good people who are going to get the work done, so you let their creative brains do the work on their own terms, whether that’s on a run or through meditation or simply doing a jigsaw puzzle. Give them space.” (https://musicbed.com/blog/career/5-top-creatives-on-working-remotely). I would like to present that concept via character dialog.
ESCAPE TO HOLLOW EARTH LLC locations
Colin K Stewart: 310-691-0355 locations
Kathy Krantz Stewart (Colin’s cowriter on many projects and wife): locations
http://www.ytinifni.com, on LINKEDIN.com - Skype: kathy.krantz.stewart Twitter: actresskathy UTUBE: kathysproductions, and Facebook, 310-691-9333, FAX: 310-300-2613
Union Actress SAG/AFTRA, Publicist, CEO Multi Award-winning Screenwriter & Executive Producer.