Imagine you’re being asked to compile a list of actors you’d like to see in a Hollywood movie.
Now imagine you’ve written the movie and the people asking for your input are producers.
For some, this is a geeked-out dream come true. For others, this might seem a silly notion. For Leon resident Robin Gomez, this is reality.
Along with her New York-based co-writer Wayne McDaniel, Gomez has penned three screenplays, all of which are currently in various stages of pre-production in locales as far off as Poland. Another script is in the works at the request of producer Lawrence Bender, who has financed all of Quentin Tarantino’s films.
Like any job, though, even the luster of Hollywood has its tarnished spots. For someone working in what many would call a dream job, Gomez maintains a level-headed – and perhaps a little cynical – grasp on the realities of her situation.
Between re-writes, delayed paydays and Tinseltown politics, writing for movies can be a little frustrating, she said.
“It’s all very underwhelming to tell you the truth,” Gomez said, adding, “[But] if you let go of your ego, then everything is fun.”
Gomez is quick to point out that McDaniel is the more connected, enthusiastic and seasoned of the duo.
“He’s just been very generous in letting me help,” Gomez said. “We couldn’t be more different in the way that we write and our personalities – except for our gallows humor, maybe. He’s very excited, and that’s what he does. He lives in Upper West Side Manhattan and his wife’s a publicist. Me? I’m the realist who’s living in Leon, Kansas. I downplay things a lot.”
McDaniel doesn’t let her off the hook so easily, though. “Robin is one of those rare people who is instantly likeable,” McDaniel said in an e-mail interview. “The first conversation I had with her was like a visitation of energy, and I’m not gushing here, it’s simply the facts.”
Nevertheless, the pair have been getting mainstream press in the likes of industry newspaper Variety and the New York Daily News, both of which announced their latest endeavor – an officially untitled script for Polish director Andrzej Bartkowiak.
According to McDaniel, the script – which Gomez refers to by its working title, “Things Men Die For” – is a romantic action-adventure, based on Capt. Merian Cooper, “the American-born World War I aviator who helped create the Polish air force and led it to a decisive victory over Joseph Stalin in 1922, effectively stopping the spread of Communism in Europe.
“On his return home to America, Cooper, staying true to his free spirit as a Renaissance man, moved into film and in 1933 wrote, produced, and directed ‘King Kong’ – which became the world’s first blockbuster movie – among other top hits of the 1930s.”
“We beat out a lot of writers in Hollywood on that one, I’m very proud to say,” McDaniel said.
Like any film in pre-production, of course, this project could derail or be pushed back to a later date. Even under the best of circumstances, it could be nearly a year before their words will be spoken on screen at the local multiplex. There’s a reason why pre-production is commonly referred to as “development hell.”
“I’m very proud of this film and would be hugely disappointed if this didn’t make it to the screen,” Gomez said.
Gomez and McDaniel met about 10 years ago through a mutual friend who knew the pair had similar interests. McDaniel sent Gomez a cache of screenplays that were “gathering dust” and asked her to read them.
“Some of them I fell in love with. Some of them I didn’t like,” Gomez said. “He wanted my opinion on them. I warned him several times, ‘Don’t ask me unless you really want to know.’”
The pair note that McDaniel’s style of writing tends to be more plot-driven, whereas Gomez brings a character-oriented approach.
“He writes the bare bones and I flesh it out,” Gomez said.
“What makes teaming up with Robin such a rewarding pleasure is she fills the gaps in the areas I have no clues about,” McDaniel said. “I understand structure. I can sometimes write decent dialogue. Robin knows all of the above, plus she fills in what I can’t – interesting and believable dialogue, and most importantly, she brings the female characters alive.”
Gomez adds that her job tends to involve a great deal of quick problem solving.
“Wayne will call and say ‘This is what they want now. It’s stupid. I don’t know how we’re going to do it,’” she said. “He’ll rant and rave for a while and I’ll say ‘Let me think about it.’ Or sometimes I’ll have an idea right then. I think that part’s fun.”
She’s pretty flexible with the idea of producers wanting to stretch her scripts in different directions or asking for re-write, but there are some subjects where she refuses to let her opinions sway.
“Usually it has to do with offensive things,” Gomez said. “Certain racial slurs, I won’t do. When the female characters are two-dimensional or derogatory in nature, it’s something I won’t do. Or stereotypical, I won’t do. It’s about being true to what I think the characters are and being true to the audience.”
Gomez jokes that being a screenwriter living in Kansas is sort of surreal, especially when explaining the concept to others.
“People ask what I do,” Gomez said. “At one point I started to say ‘I’m an astronaut.’ They’d look at me like I’m crazy. The next thing I’d say is ‘I’m a screenwriter.’ Then it seems less weird and far out and crazy.”
A Circle High School graduate with a degree in Women's Studies, Gomez lives in Leon with her husband Ruben and their three daughters, who are 18, 15 and 12. She said she’s not likely to make the move to the East or West coast any time soon, even once her films are being projected on big screens.
“We joke around about accepting the Oscar and all those silly things,” Gomez said. “At some point, I have reality and real life to live and real concerns and issues and three teenage daughters.”
The three “finished” scripts the duo have in pre-production were slated to go into the next stage at the start of this year. The much-hyped Writer Guild of America strike – which halted production on myriad TV shows and movies when it began Nov. 1 – put each of those projects into turnaround, leaving them to languish until an agreement was reached on Feb. 12.
“All those were scheduled to begin and most of the time, screenwriters don’t get paid until the first day of production and then you get a portion of it,” Gomez said. “So I’m living on fumes right now. Wayne and [their agent] Mark have told me several times when it’s supposed to start again, but nobody really knows.”
The twosome has also worked on “Love Her Madly,” a psychological thriller optioned by director Richard Zelniker several years ago.
“I’m told they are in the casting phase now,” Gomez said. “They are supposed to start shooting this summer. I’ll believe it when I see it.”
They’ve also been working with Academy Award-winning producer (for 2006’s “An Inconvenient Truth”) Lawrence Bender on a pair of projects. The first is “Resurrection Bay,” which is based on a true story of serial killer Bob Hansen.
Gomez and McDaniel are currently hammering out “Pearson Place” for Bender, a heist movie that McDaniel dragged Gomez into “kicking and screaming.”
“It’s growing on me as I get to know the characters,” Gomez said. “We’ve been working on this during the strike since there is no contract or negotiating, and no money involved yet. Bender heard the pitch, and is supposedly anxious to read it. So ... no pressure.”
“It’s like a bow string that’s been pulled back for two years and suddenly let go,” McDaniel said. “I think we’ve just begun to soar.”
