Exclusive Interview with Gordy Hoffman, BlueCat Screenplay Competition Founder

by ScreenCraft on October 6, 2013

This week's IN THE CAN podcast episode features an exclusive Q&A with Gordy Hoffman, screenwriter, filmmaker and founder of the BlueCat Screenplay Competition!

Hoffman is the writer and director of the 2002 film "Love Liza," which starred his brother, Phillip Seymour Hoffman. The film is a psychological drama about a man who must come to terms with his wife's recent suicide.

In Hoffman's Q&A with the In the Can Podcast team, he talked about where ideas come from, what makes a workable screenplay and the process of creating "Love Liza." Much of that writing process comes from the phase every writer has heard, "write what you know."

Hoffman says his view of "write what you know" is that "you have to inform your characters and stories with the emotional truths that you have accumulated and realized and have articulated for yourself … Once you're able to articulate your own emotional truth and the rigors of your own experiences as a person living on this planet, you're able to inform all characters with your voice."

Listen to the full interview here:

He started the BlueCat Screenplay Competition in 1998, and it is now one of the most respected screenplay competitions in the world. The grand prize winners get $10,000 for the short film winner and $14,000 for the feature film category. In addition, four finalists will receive $2500 and three finalists will receive $1500.

So, what do all of the BlueCat grand prize winners from the last 15 years have in common? The screenplays that become grand prize-worthy material are the ones that make Hoffman feel something while reading.

"I think ultimately, the best scripts at the end of the day, all the winners made me either cry or laugh really hard, or they just broke my heart," said Hoffman.

Submit your screenplay and check out more details about The BlueCat Screenplay Competition on their website. The regular deadline for submission is just around the corner - October 15th, so hurry and submit!