Interview with Winning Screenwriter Michael Clohesy (BIOS)

Get to know the writer: 

 1. What is your screenplay about?

BIOS surrounds the life, love and destiny of two people, born lifetimes apart but who share the same consciousness, who must come together and harness their shared potential in order to avert a cataclysmic ecological disaster.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

BIOS is a Sci-fi mystery drama. Kinda like LOST with some elements of Dark thrown in, even though it was conceived well before Dark entered the zeitgeist.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

The reason BIOS should be made in to TV series is because the themes of Indigenous land rights, the cost of ecological preservation, the role of technology in overcoming adversity and the importance of critical thinking in a world full of ‘fake news’ are all crucial in today’s increasingly interconnected yet myopically corporatised global society.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

Head. Trip.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

The movie I’ve seen most in my life is probably Back to the Future Part II. Mainly because the TV channel in Australia that had the rights to it, seemed to play it and Part III every couple of months. Not Part I though weirdly, but I assume that was because it was the turn of the millennium, and implied themes of incestuous behaviour didn’t really fly with the ratings board back then. If only there was a way to go back and change things…

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

I worked on the version of BIOS this scene comes from off and on over the course of 5 months.

7. How many stories have you written?

I recently returned to writing after a break of four years, after I studied it during my post graduate diploma. Since this time last year, as well as BIOS, I have also written a short film ‘Min Min’ surrounding the psychedelic disappearance of a woman on her honeymoon at Uluru in Outback Australia.

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

As a voracious consumer of music that is a crazy hard question, but I’d have to say that Hall & Oates – Out Of Touch, Chaka Khan – Ain’t Nobody and Drake – Hold On We’re Going Home are definitely all up there, along with instrumental jams like Hans Zimmer – Time and John Murphy – Sunshine (Adagio in G Minor)

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

The biggest obstacle that I faced was time, which I see now is the recurring motif of this Q&A. Working erratic/ long hours freelancing in the Australian TV Industry, then trying to carve out time to ‘be creative’ as well as living a full active life. These are just a few of my many #firstworldwhitemanproblems

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about active adventure and challenges, be they physical or mental, for if it challenges and pushes you, then anything that happens along the way is progress. That, and understanding the forces behind how the world works, who we are and how things got to be the way they are, in both the internal and cosmic sense… so basically I read a lot of science, anthropology and devour podcasts and travel the world as much as possible.

11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?

Film Freeway has been real smooth to use. easy to navigate and control my submissions to various competitions and programs. Two shakas up from me.

12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I was influenced to enter the festival primarily because it gave me a chance to get professional feedback on an original story that had been bursting out of my head over the middle of 2017. I was also very intrigued by the prize of having professional actors bring your story to life, which is something I never expected, especially considering this was the second screenplay I developed as a screenwriter, so I’m very grateful for such a cool opportunity.

Genre: Fantasy, Mystery

Life as we know it is thrown into question when a disparate group of young creatives attempt to unravel the multi-generational mystery surrounding the reemergence of a reclusive artist, one who aspires to save the world by forever changing the face of the planet.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Olivia Jon
Kita: Jennifer Vallance
Miranda: Lesley Ballantyne