Joseph Rhea

Long ago I switched from writing screenplays to writing novels because I believed that I needed "absolute full control" of my creations. Now, as I ease back into the Screenwriting world, I'm reminded that unless you're literally a genius, or figuratively an idiot, everything you create will be a group effort. Beta readers, editors, and friends will all influence and sometimes drastically alter your final product. And that will make it better. Accept that. Embrace that.

I have now written 2 feature scripts that, due to their setting and genre (far-future underwater science fiction (imagine "Dune" but replace sand with water)), would normally require a huge (100+ million) budget. However, knowing that would kill any chances of my stories making the big (or even small) screen, I specifically wrote my scripts to drastically reduce the CGI budget in a very organic way. One of the things I liked about the TV series Firefly, was that 90% of the story took place inside the ship Serenity, and that was intentional for cost savings. However, it also forced the stories to be about the people inside and not on big sci-fi things outside the ship. I also based my stories on months spent at sea in my day job (oceanographer), where you tend to create external families and friendships to get you through the long days and nights. Both of my screenplays center on that type of "family" bonding and that allows you to focus on people and not...

To celebrate finishing my latest screenplay, I have placed every single book of mine on sale. Check them out below: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Joseph-Rhea/author/B002BLVGAY