Interview (Part 6): Greg Roque

My interview with 2022 Black List writer for his script Jerry!

Greg Roque wrote the original screenplay Jerry! which landed on the 2022 Black List. I had the opportunity to chat with Greg about his creative background, writing a Black List script, and the craft of screenwriting.

Today in Part 6 of a 6-part series to run each day through Sunday, Greg offers advice to aspiring screenwriters.

Scott: Maybe not necessarily this particular story, because these characters were based on historical figures. How do you generally when you’re coming up with something, develop the characters? Are there some specific exercises you do in order to get to know them?

Greg: Like I said, I wanted this to be a satire. With that, I very much wanted Jerry to be a caricature. You have to play with these tropes and stuff. It’s hard to balance a heart with caricatures. That was what I found to be a difficult task, but it was very much like, “Jerry is hungry. He’s this working machine and all this stuff.”

How do I fit that? How do I fit this insatiable hunger for success with wanting to have the comforts of a family and being relatively unknown and providing. That was the contradiction that was guiding the character.

I very much I would write something. I’d be like, “Is this as far as I can go? Can I make this crazier?” Like, “Does it become so unbelievable at a certain point?” Or “What will make it funny?” It was asking myself, “Is this crazy enough to be on the Jerry Springer Show?” That was the guiding motivation for the characters and their dynamics.

Scott: When you mentioned satire, I don’t know why I didn’t think about this, but now I’m sitting here reflecting on your script, the movie Network with the crazy media stuff that they were going on. Did that come into play at all?

Greg: I re‑watched Network, but Paddy Chayefsky is indelibly in every screenwriter’s DNA now. Network is one of those movies which has been copied over and over again. “We’re mad as hell, we’re not going to take it anymore.” That’s the same scene where Jerry’s like, “Look at the crap you’re having me cover, I want to cover real news.”

That wasn’t meant as direct reference, but like I said, it’s clear Paddy Chayefsky has fundamentally changed the way we write.

Scott: When you sit down to write a scene, do you have any specific goals in mind, or do you feel your way through that? How do you approach writing a scene?

Greg: I’m very much objective‑based. When I write a scene or when I have a scene in mind I ask myself, “What am I trying to say here?” The very first scene, you talked about the intro where Jerry’s on top and I explained, I wanted to show that his whole hunger and drive has been misdirection. Now he needs to be a good family man, which he hasn’t.

Then, “How do I establish that? How do I throw him into this world? How do I capture the craziness of Jerry Springer?” He’s a man right in the middle of a storm looking for the calm.

Let’s deal with Jerry’s propensity for multiple women, but also his honesty because he owns up to his mistakes. It’s like, let me capture Jerry’s integrity and honesty along with his adultery and mischievousness.

Every scene should say something. There are some times where I’ll indulge myself and I’ll let the fun take over. When I was writing the scenes with the crazy Jerry Springer guests and stuff, a lot of those were based on true stories, but I embellished.

“Let’s have fun with it. In this scene, this is where we get to play a little. Let’s not get bogged down with the larger narrative or theme here.” Let’s add fun for the audience. Let this be the popcorn scenes for the people in the theaters.

Scott: What’s your actual writing process? Do you write every day? Do you have a specific time of day that you want to write? Do you have to go to a coffee shop, or do you listen to music, or does it need to be quiet? How do you approach writing?

Greg: For me when I wake up, I watch a movie before I do a lot of stuff. I usually watch maybe two movies before I start writing. I watched just over 1,000 movies in 2022.

Scott: Wow.

Greg: I’ve been glued to TV. When you have ADHD like me, it’s the only thing that satiates you. For me, I have to force myself to write. I forced myself to write three to four hours a day. I’m also in a both fortunate unfortunate position where because I am a writer with a disability, sometimes some of my friends will help me.

I’ll dictate and they’ll type it. In a way, I don’t abandon that free‑associative process where I can think out loud and then I’ll vomit all the words. Then later at night, I’ll spend an hour editing and formatting. When you write, when you try to type something, I feel like your mind changes.

You very much want it to be like, “Oh, I want it to fit this way.” Being able to dictate to someone or when I use Dragon or some of my speech to text programs, it allows me to vomit freely. From there, becomes a version of “write drunk, edit sober.” Say what you feel and then you can edit it.

There’s something inherently valuable about the most nonsense things you have to say. You said it for a reason.

Scott: I know a lot of writers who say the best writing is subconscious writing. You’re right. It’s the receptive writing. You can always edit it, but you want to get to that place where the characters and the moment are speaking to you, or like Ray Bradbury says, “When you sit down to write, don’t think. Feel.”

Greg: Yeah.

Scott: Doing stand‑up comedy, do have any aspirations to write in TV?

Greg: Oh yeah. If you’re doing comedy writing, TV is the land of milk and honey. Again, I love TV. I think TV has usurped movie theatres when it comes to some of the best comedies around. That’s just the market, and the way streaming services disrupted the way we consume comedies.

I go to my Netflix or HBO Max, and I just see cornucopia of comedies. I very much like to live in that space and write there.

Scott: What advice can you offer people who want to learn the craft and try to break into Hollywood as a filmmaker or a TV writer?

Greg: I would say learn from the masters, and learn from your instructors, or whichever path you take. Also, don’t be afraid to skirt some rules, like add your own idiosyncrasies to your writing. I remember in film school, you were taught the old cannon of this is “Lawrence of Arabia,” and that’s fine.

But if for whatever reason, if there’s some sub‑genre or something weird that you like, don’t be afraid to synthesize those things. Even with writing, give everything equal credence. While writing, I was reading Phillip Roth or Dostoevsky for that literary narrative approach. At the same time, I was listening to old Lenny Bruce records, or watching Jerry Springer. That weird, post‑modern idea of there is no high or low culture. Just throw everything you can in there and whatever feels right feels right.

For Part 1, go here.

Part 2, here.

Part 3, here.

Part 4, here.

Part 5, here.

Greg is repped by Bellevue Productions.

Twitter and Instagram: @gregroqueislame.

Website: gregroqu.com.

For my interviews with dozens of other Black List writers, go here.