Tom Gelsthorpe's Page

I signed up for this website a few weeks ago, but am a little slow to catch on. Perhaps I should throw in a little semi-pertinent information concerning yours truly. I'm a screenwriter, among other things, studying the craft with Harvard Square Scriptwriters from 1992 to 1997. I've continued churning out spec scripts since then against the proverbial long odds, with one of three major expectations: 1. Coming up with something that enthralls a producer. 2. Receiving an assignment from a person or group who appreciates my wordsmithing, visions etc. but knows how to transform them into product. I'm more of a word man than a techie. Or 3. Go to my grave with a huge portfolio of might-have-beens.

Obviously, options 1 or 2 would be preferable to option 3.

I recently started writing an opinion column for the Cape Cod Times in which I've mentioned Plymouth Rock Studios.

As for actual motion pictures, TV shows, etc., I'm old-fashioned. I believe in heroes. I have a fine sense of the ironic, even absurd, and the eternal persistence of human vanity, but I'm not a cynic. Story, characterization and dialogue are most important; special effects and fads less so. Trenchant wit, complex irony & satire are preferable to raunchiness. I'm very fond of sight gags & chase scenes, though; both of which I consider especially suited to the medium of film & video. Even here, cliches can be avoided. Old-fashioned, yes; dopey & dogmatic, no.

Perhaps someone who reads this can grab my ear lobe and drag me into the current century. Which one is it anyway?

"Yikes! Yeah, sure. . . I'm not resisting. . . I just want to understand."