A.C. Patterson

Born in Inglewood, California and raised in Manhattan Beach, California in the shadow of the entertainment industry, I've been surrounded by its influence my entire life. I was such a film buff as a kid that I'd frequently go see movies in theaters by myself. I made little 8 mm "action movies" as an 8-year-old, so I think my parents missed a huge clue to steer me toward film school. Then I became a musician around 11 years old, and that sidetracked me big time with respect to the film arts.

Still, the fascination had been planted, and it never goes away. Eventually, I started reading books on screenwriting in the 1990s just for the pure interest in the subject and not because of any big ambitions at the time. I've been studying screenwriting for over 20 years, but didn't actually get serious about writing until the last several. However, all that previous study gave me a great foundation to work from when I finally plunged into it.

A primary reason I've joined here at Stage 32 is to explore possibilities for collaboration. However, I hasten to add that I'm not that guy who is desperate to collaborate because he needs to find someone to help him write or learn to write. I've already gone through that whole painful evolution from rank beginner to intermediate or whatever you'd call it. I'm looking for collaboration because I would like to experience the accelerated creative pace and interaction that comes from it, the joy of knocking things around with another creative, and I also see it as a great way to potentially get more product out there (more projects in the works).

I'm mainly interested in finding writers who are in the L.A. area as potential partners for the obvious logistical reasons, and because I live pretty close by in the Bay Area, so if I ever got any meetings with a partner I could get down there easily enough (and I'd know they were already in L.A. as opposed to being in a far-flung state and having to stress over getting to L.A.).

GENRES OF INTEREST:
Thriller, horror, drama, period drama, action, sci-fi, and all multi-genre hybrids of them (not a comedy, dark comedy, or rom-com guy)