 "Photo: SHANNON CROSS/DN")
Rick Stempson's life was thrown a wicked curveball last month.
On March 27, the Nebraska assistant men's tennis coach, who was born, raised and still currently resides in Lincoln, was granted the opportunity to become a Hollywood screenwriter.
His BlueCat Screenplay Competition-winning movie script, ``Gary the Tennis Coach,'' was signed by GreeneStreet Films and will be produced by O.N.C. Entertainment. The film will be shot this summer in Austin, Texas.
``It still seems surreal to me,'' Stempson said, ``but I think until I see them film it or actually see it on the screen, I don't think it's going to hit me what's going on. Without saying, we're so excited about this. It's all I've been thinking about. We have been through so many ups and downs throughout these eight months, that hearing the news that it was going to be made was almost anticlimactic.''
By ``we,'' Stempson is talking about his cowriter and high school friend, Andy Stock, a law student at the University of Texas-Austin. Stock said the experience has changed his entire perspective on life.
``It's definitely kind of focus-shifting,'' Stock said. ``You go through life, planning it out, assuming that you know what your options are. This comes along suddenly and it kind of throws you for a loop because I assumed I knew what I was going to do. But now there are other options out there that are exciting and kind of risky.''
When the story originally went public back in August, Stempson and Stock had many contacts trying to get the movie into production. A lot has happened since then.
The two agreed to be represented by agents Tracey Jacobs, Barbara Dreyfuss and Charlie Ferraro. Between the three agents, there is representation for big names such as Johnny Depp and the writers of ``Brokeback Mountain.''
The movie has landed Seann William Scott (of ``American Pie'' films, ``Road Trip'' and ``Bulletproof Monk'' fame) as the lead actor and also will help in production.
Danny Leiner will direct. His films include ``Dude, Where's My Car?'' and ``Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.''
Stempson said both Scott and Leiner are pumped to make ``Gary'' come to life.
``Seann was halfway through it and he called his agent and said, `I want to do this.' We were just ecstatic because we actually had a face for `Gary.'
``Danny was a little more subtle, but the first time we met him, he said there aren't many scripts that he likes, and there are very few that he loves. This is one that he loved. It's so cool to have people enthused about the script because we know they're going to give their best effort when they bring it to the screen.''
In January, Stempson and Stock took a trip to Los Angeles to sort out some details with their producers, meet their agents, meet Leiner and talk to Scott via speakerphone. Stempson said everyone he and Stock talked to during the trip tried to get background on the script, asking when it won the contest.
When the two said it was only back in July, jaws dropped.
``They're like, `Six months is like six minutes in Hollywood time, that's nothing,' '' Stempson said.
Of course, it has seemed extra long because Stempson and Stock, being new to ``The Biz,'' were not ready for the waiting and the rewrites.
``I've never been on such a roller coaster ride in my life,'' Stempson said. ``From one day to the next, it's like, this actor's reading it, this actor has it in his hands right now and then, next time, this actor passed on it. OK, it's going to happen tomorrow. Well, tomorrow means two weeks from now. It's just been unbelievable.
``It gets to the point where you don't expect anything and then something big happens and you're not let down.''
Stock commented on how it can be tough writing for the film industry.
``Writing in any form is not easy,'' he said, ``and that's what we've been doing for these last months. We've been writing this same script over and over and over again to make sure this is as good as possible. It really is a lot of hard work.''
Stock referred to the situation as a ``pressure-cooker'' because people are paying millions of dollars to grant the opportunity of a lifetime, but they won't allow excuses such as homework or work get in the way.
Although he loves his new job as a screenplay writer, Stempson said he probably would continue to live in Nebraska.
``They keep talking about us moving out to L.A. and to me, it's not like you have to go to auditions to write,'' he said. ``To me, L.A. isn't funny. Lincoln's funny. The Midwest is funny. I was born and raised here. I love Lincoln, love Nebraska. This is where the characters are that are so fun to write about.''
