Adam Davis on Mastering Story Structure, Writing Horror, and Self-Publishing Novels

Developing "Curse of the Sin Eater"

• 💡 The concept of sin eating, where someone takes on another's sins by eating a meal off a deceased body, originated in Wales and England and was the sticky idea for the film.
• 🎯 The film explores themes of power imbalances and wealth disparity, reflecting the writer's personal experiences growing up without much money and observing the divide in Los Angeles.
• 🏙️ The setting of Chicago was chosen for its aesthetic, its Gotham City-like feel, and its visible wealth disparity, which resonated with the film's themes.
• 💰 The production adapted the script to a budget by cutting and integrating elements into the story, leveraging tax credits in Illinois, and relying on connections for locations and resources.

Evolving Screenwriting Process

• ✍️ Adam's screenwriting process has evolved to focus heavily on outlining, spending months on a detailed Word document before writing the first draft quickly.
• 🤝 Collaboration with writing partner Will Corona Pilgrim involves simultaneous writing in Google Docs and leveraging their different mindsets to create strong stories.
• 📈 To improve his perceived weakness in story structure, Adam took a UCLA Extension course and studied resources like Craig Mazin's breakdown of Finding Nemo and Pixar's story structure.
• 👻 He committed to the horror genre after realizing it allowed him to tell emotional stories that might not be made as dramas and found joy in evoking strong audience reactions.

The Power of Rejection and Persistence

• 🔑 Rejection and failure are viewed as crucial for learning and growth, forcing self-reflection on missing skills and motivating action.
• 🔄 Instead of giving up, Adam emphasizes pivoting, learning, and self-reflecting as necessary responses to setbacks in the creative journey.
• 🌱 His early career was driven by an "insane self-belief" to make it in Hollywood, which, while tempered by reality, still fuels his continuous improvement and joy in the creative process.

Writing and Self-Publishing Novels

• 📚 Adam wrote his novel, Circus, to create pre-existing IP from a large screenplay idea, acknowledging that novel writing requires a different skill set than screenwriting.
• 📖 For Circus, he developed elaborate backstories for each circus performer by writing 5-20 page short stories, which informed their dialogue and made them feel specific and real.
• 🚀 He self-published Circus on Amazon KDP, learning about formatting, cover art (by Andy Park), and the importance of marketing for independent creators.
• 📊 KDP provides a robust analytics system to track sales, locations, and promotions, and offers tools for easy self-publishing, including ISBNs and proof copies.

Passion for Storytelling and the Future of Film

• 🌌 A lifelong fascination with the supernatural and the "other side", stemming from a college course on death and dying, influences his projects and personal investigations.
• ✅ Adam remains optimistic about the film industry, believing that people will always want to watch films and TV shows, despite industry flux and changing consumption habits.
• 🎭 He highlights the enduring appeal of communal viewing experiences in theaters and the current popularity of '90s sitcoms, suggesting a demand for great stories of any length.
• ❤️ His passion for thinking up new ideas, writing, and making things is a deep-seated joy that resonates with his soul, driving him forward in his career.