Diego Trovarelli, Screenplay Finalist

- Can you please tell us about you? Where do you live and how is your daily life?

I live in Marsciano, not far from Perugia, in Italy, and I am 35. In my day-to-day life I divide my time between writing screenplays for fiction and commercials. Let’s say that on this journey my most loyal travel companions are my computer and my cat Archemens who, since he’s jealous, lies down on my keyboard exactly when I need it.

- When did you start writing? How often do you write? We want to learn all about your writing life!

I started writing quite late, even though at school I was more predisposed to words instead of scientific subjects. I try to write every day or, at least, every time I can, even though I am lazy and not very consistent. “The confession” is surely the script which gave me the most satisfaction: it allowed me to win 6 international awards and the attention of some production companies. At the moment, I have just finished a script entitled “Next, please”, a screeplay that has just won the “David di Michelangelo” award at the Florence Film Awards and whose story had already won the “Vincenzoni prize” in 2018

- How did you feel when you learned that you are a Finalist on The London Independent Story Prize?

As soon as I knew that I was one of the finalists of LISP, I was immediately excited because England has been so far a land difficult to conquer for me and my screeplays. I mean, I have never been able to leave an impression on a British festival with a screenplay until this moment. But, as people say, “there’s a first time for everything”

- What's the best thing and the hardest thing about writing a Screenplay?

For me, the best thing when I write a screenplay is to see my work take shape concretely into something that until that moment lived only in my mind and realise how my characters slowly acquire a personality and independent thought. It’s a magical process because it’s true that situations and characters are the results of your decisions but if you worked well they will walk on their own two feet. On the other hand, I think that the worst thing is the difficulty to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Writing a screenplay, short or long, is like climbing Mount Everest and not being able to see the top could be discouraging, even lethal for motivation.

-  How did you come up with the idea for your LISP selected script? Is there a story behind your story? And how long have you been working on it?

Starting from some notes until the last draft, I spent 3 months of my life on “The confession”. Let’s say that the idea sprouted up after seeing a TV report about the subject of my screenplay and it really shocked me. From that moment I started fantasizing about what would happen if, after many years, life would come back to settle the bill in terms of weight on your conscience for something you did and that you underestimated for a long time.

- Can you please give us a few tips about writing a short screenplay?

This is a very difficult question because every writer has a personal creative process and follows a path that the imagination decides to trace. However, just as for a full-lenght film, a short-film screenplay follows its own rules that can hardly be bypassed. A short-film (and, therefore, its screenplay) is mostly a product on a smaller scale, compared to a full-length film, and it often lives in two parts: the preparation and the plot twist that changes the taste of the story, or at least an ending that leaves the audience with a gift.

- What's the best thing about writing competitions?

The exciting things about writing competitions, especially if they’re international, are many: the finish line on the horizon, the wait for the jury to decide, the thrill of the victory and the disappointment, and the opportunity for visibility. But, above all, I consider competing with other writers from all over the world as the most beautiful thing. To compete with other screenwriters who come from other cultures, who belong to different writing schools is undoubtedly the engine that pushes me to enrol every time.

-Lastly, do you recommend the writers to give it a go on writing a Screenplay and LISP?

I highly recommend to writers and screenwriters to take part in LISP. It is a well organized festival with excellent communication management with the competitors. Many other contests should take it as an example of how to organize a competition.