"I don't like to be boxed in. A story's a story whatever the genre, which means genre's don't go 'in' or 'out.' Good stories are in and bad ones out, that's the way it is and always has been."
-How do you plan a script?"I do a five page outline, each act for each page."
-How important is pitching as a writer?
"Half the job of screenwriting today is communicating in a room. You've got to be able to convey ideas and make people believe in what you're doing."
-Do you have to discipline yourself?
"I'm working 9:30 to 5:30 every day Monday to Friday. You have to know when to start and stop, but usually when the kids go to bed at 8:30 I write for another three hours."
-Do you use music to help writing?
"Music doesn't help. I need silence."
-Do you ever write a good first draft?
"Naturally first drafts suck but you don't think that at the time- that's why you've got to distance yourself and be willing to question your script; 'Can I make this better?'"
-Where did you get inspiration for Pirates and other films?
"Pirates came from sitting with a friend and asking; 'What hasn't been done in a while?' And we both came up with a Pirate movie. As for other inspiration I get excited about good stories and what a story can tell us about the world we live in. I guess it's stuff that pisses me off in the end, stuff that keeps me up all night bitching about to my wife."
-Do you work on more than one project at a time?
"Yes, working on projects simultaneously allows me to get distance."
-Any script writing rules you stick to?
"The rule is there are no rules. It's what you feel is a good story. Normally the best films like Pulp Fiction are the ones that broke the rules. The problem with the film industry today is that there is rarely any 'why' or reason apart from making money, yet the real successes are the ones which do have a true motive behind them."
