STORY STRUCTURE INSPIRED BY ROBERT ALTMAN
-After my film I AM THAT, I wanted to write a screenplay that had multiple storylines and was similar to Robert Altman's, Nashville or Short Cuts. I knew this would technically challenge my writing skills. I was looking for a story that could lend itself to an ensemble based cast.
-Characters and tones come first to me, plots come later. I settled on the lead plot line because it gave me an umbrella plot that multiple characters could live under. I'd be able to have large group scenes where you could see the characters interact with one another and behave in a certain public way but then I could contrast that with intimate small scenes inside the houses where you could see how the characters behave in their private moments. I watched an interview with Robert Altman about the making of Short Cuts and he talked about wanting to convey a feeling of lifting the rooftops off of houses and taking a peek inside to see what everyone is doing. I took this idea and ran with it and that's how the 5 different households on one neighborhood block idea was conceived.