Interview (Part 6): Elad Ziv

My interview with 2022 Black List writer for his script Court 17.

Elad Ziv wrote the screenplay Court 17 which landed on the 2022 Black List. I had the opportunity to chat with Elad about his creative background, writing a Black List script, and the craft of screenwriting.

Today in Part 6 of a 6-part series to run each day through Sunday, Elad gives some advice for aspiring screenwriters.

Scott: How do you break story, your story prep process?

Elad: I’ve got to tell you, it’s different for everything. It’s really different for everything. I used to just jump right in. That was more, not because what I wanted to do was best for the story, but because I was impatient. I wanted to get to the writing, and I wanted to finish a script every three months.

Now, I really, really like to focus on character first, and get my characters down. Once I have the characters down…Well, first, you have to come up with the concept or the setting. That sometimes comes with doing a lot of research, reading a lot of newspaper articles, listening to a lot of different podcasts, scouring social media. Sometimes there’s interesting stories on there.

Once you have your concept, then I go into the characters and I find out who is the most interesting person that this story can happen to.