Monte Albers de Leon

I was grew up in rural California just south of the Napa Valley, the only son of a Guatemalan mother and a Texan cowboy father on their 3rd and 2nd marriage, respectively. My father died suddenly earlier this year just before their 50th anniversary. I left when I was 18, received my bachelor’s degree at Claremont McKenna College, a Harvard Law Degree, and a Master’s in Real Estate at NYU and had been living in Manhattan working as a commercial attorney for 22 years. I was quite convinced that was the end of my biography until one late night last August when I entered into a very heated discussion with my best friend over AI’s effect on humanity. My friend was adamant AI would lead to the end of humanity’s sense of goodness, individuality and that we were doomed to be zombies all too soon. I took an opposing viewpoint, positing that humankind was made of stronger stuff, that even if AI hankered the apocalypse, and that even if it came upon every aspect of humanity, even if it were to happen upon The Breakfast Club, and even if The Breakfast Club has the worst jobs in the world, even if they worked in logistics for Amazon in suburban Omaha, Nebraska, they would still find a way to do the right thing. I was so convinced in the strength of my argument that for the first time I opened the Notes App on my iPhone and jotted down this allegory so that the next morning at the breakfast table the other house guests would hear my argument and say it was the stronger one. I did, and they did, but moreover they told me the example was hilarious and that I should write a movie about it. 10 weeks later, Good was finished.

The short answer is I started in the beginning and kept typing until I reached the end; but of course there was more to it. I wanted the main characters to do more than represent the major characters of personality: the Clever One, the Leader, the Bad One, etc. I wanted them to represent the major icons of humanity’s historical memory: Eva-Eve, Lily-Lilith, AJ-Adam, Leo-Leonardo di Vinci, John-John the Baptist, Eli-Elijah. I also wanted to create a movie of pure entertainment that had a message, not a message movie that was entertaining. Lastly, I did my research, knowing that the relatability and confidence in the story would only be as strong as its authenticity.

A month ago I finished the second volume of The Parables Anthology and Good’s prequel, Mecca. For me, completing Mecca posed a unique challenge as I wanted to complete the script before my father’s birthday, who died suddenly earlier in the year and whose passing severely disrupted my life.

Connection. Can the story arrest the attention of the audience, and hold it with the promise of something extraordinary?

I think the film industry is at an inflection point, and one where screenwriters play a more precious role than ever before, as originality and creation itself in storytelling has been called into question.

By first deciding on the message. When a movie spends too much effort on the packaging of a genre, it runs the risk of losing what the story is trying to say, and the audience is left unsatisfied. By finding a message respectful of the viewer’s time, and then packaging the genre around that message, you are more likely to produce a movie the audience is grateful to have spent time watching.

By the amount of time and effort I glean was spent on attempting to understand the work.

I’m pretty pumped about Mecca. It’s been finished a month and won its fifteenth international award this morning. My official answer is that I’m most touched for its wins for best Feature, Best Drama and Best Feature, but really its the three wins so far for Best Soundtrack.

I don’t think there is a way to keep AI away completely. But good screenwriting, quality movies, will always require a screenwriter that breathes, laughs and cries.

Don’t be timid. If you believe you have a talent and a love for this craft, do not let any fear of letting go of safety unreasonably deny you the happiness you deserve.