An Interview with A Piece of Pie Screenwriters

About Scott and Paula Merrow

Scott and Paula Merrow have each written short fiction individually, as well as collaborating on screenplays. The prize win for the 2006 New Mexico Governor’s Cup Short Screenplay Competition was for their combined work on A Piece of Pie.

Scott recently retired after a 30-year career in the Air Force, while Paula retired from a career in medical Speech-Language Pathology. Both wanted to try their hand at writing and their retirement situation allowed for a new career for the couple. Paula is especially interested in “generating visual composition and expression,” which includes film, photography, painting and sculpture.

The couple started dating in 1967, staying together through high school and most of college. They broke up and lost touch for over 30 years. The two reunited in February 2005 when Paula emailed Scott while he was in Baghdad. They started writing to each other – and ten months later got married.

About A Piece of Pie

The real-life Pie-O-Neer Cafe.

Scott provided this synopsis of the film: “It's a light comedy conveying some unique bits of New Mexicana. It's set in Pie Town, New Mexico (which is a real town). The main character is Pete, an "average Joe". He has a flat tire out in the middle of nowhere and discovers he doesn't have a spare. He hitches a ride to the nearest town, which turns out to be Pie Town. While he's waiting for his flat to be fixed, he goes to a cafe for pie and coffee. The problem is, the piece of pie he wants is already spoken for -- by a big guy named Lester. The remainder of the film is a battle of wits to see who gets the pie. It has some nice twists and surprises.

Incidentally, the cafe in the screenplay is based on a real cafe in Pie Town called the Pie-O-Neer. The film was shot in Pecos, New Mexico, because it was too expensive to transport cast, crew, and equipment out to Pie Town. But there is an exterior, establishing shot of the Pie-O-Neer in the film. And Kathy Knapp, the owner of the Pie-O-Neer is an extra in the film. She also baked the pies that appear in it.”

Interview Questions

Shooting a scene inside the cafe, with actress Olive Gallagher.

You have also written short stories for young adults and middle grade readers – which do you prefer writing, short stories or screenplays?

Scott: I really enjoy writing both, but I would have to say I enjoy screenplays just a little more. The difference between the two is that in a story or novel, the writer gets inside the head of the characters. He can describe the characters' thoughts and emotions. In a screenplay, he can't -- it's all visual. If you want to convey a character's thoughts or emotions, you have to show it on the screen. I enjoy that challenge. I love movies, and I enjoy visualizing the scenes as I'm writing them, making sure the dialogue makes sense and the right message is being expressed to the viewer.

Paula: Scott and I share the love of movies and screenwriting is my favorite, too. I love writing short stories for expansion and adaptation to film. As Scott mentioned, we tend to write our short stories independently, then we adapt them to screenplays together. It's really fun.

How long did it take you both to write A Piece of Pie?

It's hard to remember, but I think it took us about a week to write the first draft (it's only ten pages), then we went over it and over it and over it, editing and rewriting, for probably a month.

Have any of your other screenplays been made into films?

Not yet, but we've come close.

Was the 2006 New Mexico Governor’s Cup Short Screenplay Competition your first competition?

Yes, it was. We've entered several since then. Our second short screenplay was entitled, Ooh La La. It was the first runner up in the Duke City Shootout, a screenplay competition here in New Mexico. The winners of the Shootout have their screenplays made into films, so we were one place away from having two of our screenplays produced in less than six months. Ooh La La also recently won an honorable mention in the Hollywood Creative Connection Short Comedy Screenplay Competition. Several of our other short screenplays have done fairly well in various competitions.

Did you imagine that your screenplay would someday make it to the big screen?

No. When they called and told us we were finalists, we were astounded. The next step was to "pitch" our screenplay to a panel of film experts in Santa Fe. It was fun, but a little nerve wracking. Then, a few days later we found out that we won. We were very surprised, but, of course, ecstatic. We danced around the house for a couple of days.

As screenwriters, do you have a lot of say in how the film is made? Did you work with the director on the actual film, or does your role end after you have written the story?

Filming a scene from A Piece of Pie, with actor Josh Berry.

We're new at this, but we understand that in major films, the writers often turn the script over to the producers, then basically disappear. We've heard that some directors won't even allow the writers on the set.

That wasn't the case with this film. We interacted with the director, Janet Davidson, quite a bit throughout the process. There were a couple reasons for this. First, this was a smaller film, shot in New Mexico, so the sets were smaller, the cast and crew were smaller, and we could be there without getting in the way. Plus, this film was the result of a contest, which we won, so it made sense for us to be part of the entire process.

As far as how much "say" we had, it was limited, but for good reasons. There are quite a few differences between the screenplay and the completed film. Some of those differences were for technical reasons. We didn't have much say about those changes. For example, in the screenplay the main character, Pete, is hitch-hiking and gets a ride from a man in a pick-up truck. They have a conversation in the cab of the pick-up. But it's difficult (and therefore, expensive) to light the interior of a vehicle. We had a limited budget. So, in the film, that conversation takes place in the bed of the pick-up truck, which required adding another character.

Some of the differences between the screenplay and the film were for "artistic" purposes. Janet made those decisions, but talked to us about them first, and in general, we were okay with them. For example, in the back of the pick-up truck and again in the cafe scene, a few lines of dialogue were added to inject some humor.

Overall, we were fine with the changes.

Have you and your wife collaborated on other writing projects? How does the writing process work with a partner?

We've collaborated on a lot of projects. All of our screenplays are collaborations, and we've written eight short screenplays, so far. We're currently working on a feature length script. Generally, one person has the idea and runs with it, then consults the other person as required. Every script has a "honing" process, and that's where the collaboration comes in. Sometimes an idea is just an idea, and it requires us both to turn it into a screenplay. Other times, one person can almost write the entire first draft, and the collaboration part is just a matter of "tweaking" it.

What other projects are you working on?

We just finished a short screenplay entitled Playa Fantasma about a haunted beach in the Caribbean.

We're working on a feature-length screenplay, tentatively entitled The Third Spell about a young widow and her ten-year-old daughter who live in colonial America in 1706. Out of desperation, they consult a witch for help, but her spell goes awry, and they become lost in time. Most of the story takes place in the present time, where they have a great adventure in order to undo the spell-gone-bad.

We're both constantly writing stories, mostly for middle grade readers and young adults. Paula recently wrote an award-winning, middle-grade short story that we're about to start expanding and adapting to a feature-length, family film. It's about a young, New Mexico girl of Mexican heritage. She suffers a family tragedy, struggles to overcome sadness and frustration, and regains happiness and inspiration in a surprising way. Paula is also currently working on a fictional story based on an actual archaeological discovery in Oregon. Scott has been writing a lot of flash fiction, and is also developing a series of stories for middle grade readers about three ten-year-old friends who are all geniuses, but a little nerdy. The first story in the series is entitled, Mortimer Smedley's Invention.