We spoke with screenwriter Sherry Klein about her latest release, Paradise Cove. Here’s what she had to say.
What was the first thing you ever put pen to paper on, Sherry?
In third grade I wrote a story about a lonely mouse living in my room who survived The Traps. His friends all died in The Traps. Was that a Holocaust allegory? Maybe. To be clear, we did not have a pest control problem.
Where did the interest come from initially?
I come from a family of story tellers who sat around the dining table running their mouths. This particular idea came to me when I was out to dinner with a contractor friend who was working on a Malibu beach house that had been under construction for several years. I’d driven by it and noticed that after it was finished it got leveled again. The contractor told me that the home owner had gotten into an argument with a homeless lady who was living under the pylons. After this altercation, the homeless lady burned down the house!
Were there any restrictions or rules placed on you when you writing for “Star Trek: Voyager”?
One of the big rules of writing for Star Trek is that if you encounter an alien who seems good, they’re bad. If they seem bad, they’re good. This applies to basically all characters in film.
Were you a fan of the show growing up?
Yes. I loved the more perfect and equal world of the future.
You’ve since written animated films and also a feature (“Asylum Days”). It seems you don’t gravitate towards one particular genre?
I love screenwriting period. Animation sprang from a passion for comedy, which is basically all animation.
“Paradise Cove”, which you also wrote, boasts your first producing credit. How did that come about?
At a certain point you can’t wait around for “Yes,” and have to greenlight yourself. I thought if this is going to happen, I need to work on securing the financing. And it helped business wise, being a former lawyer.
Do you feel being a producer on the project gives you a lot more say at the table?
Being a producer gives you all of the say and most of the challenges, but it helps protect your vision so it is not comprised.
Were you responsible for casting?
We hired Pemrick Frank. Together with the director, Martin Guigui, we hand-picked this assemble and diverse cast.
Why was Martin Guigui the right director to helm the picture, in your opinion?
Martin Guigui is a friend and prolific director with experience in the thriller genre, having directed “Beneath The Darkness,” and most recently the critically acclaimed film, “The Unhealer.”
Have you a taste for producing now? Keen to develop more of your own projects?
Producing is a drug like writing. I’d like to concentrate on developing my own work.