Many screenplay collaborations don’t end well. They go down like burning buildings in the pyrotechnics of anger and complaint, threats and yelling. When the distance separating writers is over 1,700 miles, things can grow even worse.
Not so for the writing team of Michelle Regan, of Chicago, and Timothy Martin, of McKinleyville, California.
Timothy Martin working long distance with Michelle Regan.
“Our long-distance screenplay collaboration was very enjoyable,” said Martin. “One of the things that made working on Chasing Eliot Ness so great is that I love the story as much as Michelle does. Another thing is, when it comes to Eliot Ness this woman truly knows her stuff.”
Chasing Eliot Ness is a romantic thriller that takes place in 1930s depression-era Chicago. Tim ran across the book on Amazon.com and ordered a copy. He was happy that he did.
“The story grabbed me from the first page and wouldn’t let go. I read the book in one weekend. Michelle’s dialogue and characters were spot-on. And I really enjoyed her writing style. It’s very fluid and quick-paced. There are only a few authors I hold that kind of praise for. T.C.Boyle and Annie Proulx immediately come to mind.”
“Tim wrote to me through my email address that I had the makings of a film with my book,” said Regan. “I joked with him that when Hollywood came calling, I had the rights. He replied that Hollywood doesn’t come calling to you, you go calling to them. I laughed about the idea at first, and didn’t think he’d write back. After he finished reading the book, he asked if I’d like to collaborate on a screenplay with him.”
Regan said that she self-published her book strictly so she would have something in print that she could give to family and friends. She never sought an agent or publisher for the book that took her a year and a half to write, and was inspired by a dream she had after reading the book “The Sheik” while at the same time having the television series “The Untouchables” run on television.
“People who read the book, which consists of a lot of dialogue, said it would make a great movie. I brushed that off because the task of writing a screenplay and trying to sell it was the last thing I wanted. But Tim had experience and I figured it would be a fun way to learn something new. I never expected the screenplay to really go anywhere,” Regan said.
“The next thing I knew we were on the phone, working on a script,” Martin said. “This, despite the fact I wasn’t planning on writing any more screenplays. I had completed eight of them, including Roughing It, Too (based on a novel by author Richard Benyo).
“Despite the time-zone difference, the late-night marathon phone calls, and the daunting task of cutting a 574 page book down to a 120 page script, Michelle and I finished in less than two months. It usually takes me about a year to complete a screenplay. It’s amazing what you can do when you hook up with the right stranger.”
“We’ve had quite a few bites on the screenplay and people are currently reading it,” said Regan. “On top of that, Tim insisted that I try to get the book published by a mainstream publisher, and one actually asked for the book based on a synopsis he sent them. Regardless of the outcome of Chasing Eliot Ness, all the work was well worth it as I found a great friend. But poor Tim knows more about Eliot Ness than he ever cared to know.”
