Interview with Screenwriter Stan Barton (Moon Over the Hill)

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Stan Barton: A hard-edged attorney leaves it all and moves into a secluded adobe in the high desert with an acquaintance, but the house holds a secret that brings trouble knocking at the door.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Thriller, Dramedy

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie

? It is emotional, intriguing, inexpensive and has a positive theme of making amends. It has few speaking parts and 90% of scenes can be filmed on property owned by the writer.

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

simply entertaining

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

SLEEPLESS IN SEATLE

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

6 months

7. How many stories have you written?

six

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

YOU REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME

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

developing a fairly complex story with few characters and my first effort at the thriller genre – I had to study a lot about what makes a thriller work.

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

Horse racing

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

GOOD

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

I wanted quick feedback on my first draft. Feedback was valid – but maybe the reader wanted a more predictable story

Watch the Screenplay Reading: 

When a cutthroat lawyer seeks a new life and redemption in a secluded homestead in the high desert of New Mexico, she discovers the previous owner’s mysterious experiment, which the government is desperate to bury, along with anyone associated with it. She is determined to make the wonder drug available for the public’s good.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Val Cole
Rosie: Michelle Urbano
Black M: Peter-Mark Raphael

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