Success Story: Dale Kutzera
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They say that writers need to keep writing. Dale Kutzera says that writing isn’t enough. That’s not a notion he pays lip service to, it’s what the writer-director lives by.
When he was a kid, Dale Kutzera fell in love with movies, cinematography and special effects.
And he shot short films on 8mm. While in college, Dale designed his own minor in filmmaking at the University of Washington and shot in 16mm.
He also wrote about film production for magazines like Cinefex, Cinefantastique and American Cinematographer. Later, he co-created and produced VH1’s series, “Strange Frequency” and wrote on staff for the CBS series, “Without A Trace.”
Just recently, Dale wrote and directed the war satire, “Military Intelligence And You.” Set in WWII, this feature spoofs military training films and seamlessly combines archival footage from vintage war movies with new, digitally shot scenes.
Given his background, is it any wonder Dale Kutzera advocates a generalist approach to onscreen storytelling? That he embraces new technology and all media? Develops his own properties? Distributes his work online? Or that he urges other screenwriters to do the same?
Dale remarks, "Now is an interesting and exciting time for writers, because everything is changing. Writers need to pay attention to these new production and distribution models even as we work within the traditional system."
The writer-director likens what’s happening to the entertainment industry now to what happened to the music industry ten years ago. The old paradigms no longer work: the networks and big studios are hurting.
But, new technologies also bring new opportunities. The Internet and innovations like digital cameras, editing and animation software, make filmmaking accessible to everyone.
Dale Kutzera also believes that focusing on new technology helps writers creatively. He comments, "Writing is often seen as something that happens before pre-production, but the use of storyboards and animatics has in many ways merged the act of writing into the larger process of planning out and even editing a film."
While Dale promotes a forward focus and multi-dimensional approach, he feels that writers need to be grounded in the basics: craft, salesmanship, people skills and good, old-fashioned networking.
Dale credits Scriptwriters Network with being a place to develop all these.
The Network is where he joined his first writers’ group. Listened to industry greats on a studio lot. And where he won the Carl Sautter Memorial Scriptwriting Competition, which gave his career a boost.
Dale observes, “Scriptwriters Network is a community where those sharing a passion for the adventures of filmmaking gravitate.”
Dale also found the prestigious Warner Brothers Writers Workshop an outstanding place to hone his skills. He loved working with mentors during the program. What’s more, the workshop directly led to his staff job on “Without A Trace.”
Recently, Dale returned from promoting his feature film, “Military Intelligence And You,” around the country. Immediately on the heels of that, he and co-writer, David Mickel, wrote and sold a romantic-comedy feature script to 20th Century Fox.
What’s next?
Currently, Dale’s writing a graphic novel, working on scripts and developing properties. Basically, Dale Kutzera’s doing what writers do—he’s writing.
But, he isn’t stopping there.
For more information about Dale’s film, visit: www.militaryintelligenceandyou.com