|
Local screenwriter releases ‘Vacancy’ |
|
|
|
Tuesday, 17 April 2007 |
by MILLIE TOLLESON
News Reporter
Watauga County resident Mark L. Smith has written and sold many movies in his career, but he will enjoy his first major release with “Vacancy,” which hits theaters Friday.
Smith said although it has been marketed as a horror film, “Vacancy” is a thriller.
“Horror movies are usually very hostile and bloody. There’s not that much blood in this, it’s just scary,” Smith said.
“Vacancy” is Smith’s first major studio release, although he has sold
many films, including one called “The Last Kiss” to Mel Gibson.
“Less than 10 percent of scripts sold are made. This is first one [of mine] to go to studio,” Smith said.
 Active Image | Special to The Appalachian
“Vacancy,” starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale, opens Friday and is the first major movie release for Watauga County resident Mark L. Smith.
|
“Vacancy” focuses on Amy and David Fox, a married couple played by Kate
Beckinsale and Luke Wilson, who are forced to check into a hotel after
having car trouble.
Upon check in, they realize the low-budget slasher movies they are
watching are set in their hotel room, and they may be the next victims
of a snuff film, Smith said.
Smith said “Vacancy” takes place over only about a 16-hour period.
Smith said the rundown motels he saw as a resident of Colorado inspired the film.
“We would go skiing and drive through the backwoods. I would see all of
these rundown motels with no cars there and wonder how they stayed in
business,” Smith said.
Smith said his writing style is “unusually fast.”
“I usually think about an idea for a long time, but once I start, it’s pretty easy,” he said.
Smith said “Vacancy” was written in about 3 to 4 weeks.
The process to sell the movie was very fast also, he said.
“I gave it to a producer friend who took it to Sony. He took it in on a Friday and it sold Monday,” Smith said.
Smith said he then worked with Sony to make some changes to the script before casting began.
Smith said he does not usually have actors in mind to play roles in his
movies, although Beckinsale and Wilson were their first choices to star
in the film.
Smith spent months on the set of “Vacancy” in Los Angeles last Fall to help with any line changes that might need to be made.
“Luke Wilson was so amazing in this. He is the last person to think of
[for a thriller movie] because of the comedies … but he is someone
everyone can relate to,” Smith said.
Smith began writing screenplays when his family owned a dude ranch in Colorado.
With the ranch only open four months of the year, he said he had eight months to fill.
“I always liked to write, so I took some screenwriting courses,” Smith
said. “When the first few things [I wrote] were optioned or sold, I
knew I could halfway do this.”
Smith and his family moved to Watauga County in 1998. Both he and his
wife have background in this area, and he said the mountains are a good
place to raise children.
Smith said he hopes to see the movie play in Boone but with one theatre, it is not guaranteed.
“I will be glad to see it with friends and with a real audience,” Smith
said. “If I get a scream or some jumps, I know I’ve done my job.”
Trackback(0)
 |
Lifestyles 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
