I have been asked, “why did you get into screenwriting when you were a musician, are you nuts!?” The honest answer is yes, certifiably! I always wanted to write for TV and film, you know, the glamorous world of screenwriting - where dreams are made, hopes are crushed, and sometimes someone’s life’s project is thrown into a crapper, labelled “You Serious?”

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My grand journey into this sparkling abyss began back in 2003, thanks to an online chat with a random guy working at Burbank Studios in California. His job? Oh, just the highly enviable task of sifting through mountains of TV screenplays and deciding their fate: drama, comedy, or toilet paper. Naturally, I thought, “Wow, this dude can change lives overnight!” So, we struck a deal: he’d bring the clients (aka the hopeful pilot writers praying for their big break), and I’d supply the screenplay covers and original opening and closing credit scores for their pilot shows - good, bad, or “Why did anyone write this?”

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Armed with nothing more than a synopsis for each project, I cranked out hundreds of scores and covers like a Hollywood and UK music factory. A few of these masterpieces have survived to this day - some even made it onto YouTube under “Curt James TV Themes” (feel free to have a rummage at your leisure). Some memorable casualties include:
 

• PLASTIC FANTASTIC vs. the medical soap giant GREY’S ANATOMY.

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• BLACKHEART vs. ANGEL, the brooding Buffy spinoff.

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• ILLEGAL ACTION vs. the legal juggernaut BOSTON LEGAL.

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• And, of course, the tragically doomed Life on Mars 3: WHEN THE WIND BLOWS, which never made it past the “Ugh, no more shows - we’re done” phase, courtesy of the cast’s unwillingness to make more episodes.
   

We even pitched a few projects, with the writer, to the big man himself - Dick Wolf! Yes, Mr. Law and Order, SVU, Chicago Fire, and Basically Every Cop Show Ever. And surprise, surprise, they didn’t make the cut either. Why? Because apparently, we were competing against his own shows. Classic Hollywood, right?

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So there you have it - a crash course in what inspired me to step into the writing pilot seat both in film and TV. Let’s hope I never have to push the pilot eject button!

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Here are some samples. [Best listened to with earbuds or headphones].