Starting the Script 😆

Every great film starts with a script. And every great script starts with a spark. For my short film, the spark was a simple but funny idea: what if a job interview slowly turned into complete chaos? That idea became the foundation for my office-comedy short film, and writing the script was the first real step in bringing it to life.

Since the short film leans heavily into comedy, I knew from the start that the writing had to have a very careful balance. It needed to be unpredictable but still grounded enough that the audience could follow the story. 

1. The Concept Phase

Before I even opened a document to write anything, I spent a lot of time just thinking. Trust me 😍. I thought about the genre, the characters, and what kind of humor I wanted the film to have. I knew I wanted an office setting, and from there the idea of a job interview came naturally. Interviews are already awkward and high-pressure, so exaggerating that made for a great base for comedy in my opinion.

I was really inspired by mockumentary-style humor like The Office, where uncomfortable silences and weird characters create the comedic energy. But I also didn’t want the whole film to rely on cliché jokes, and that was really difficult because all of my jokes are corny. I wanted moments that felt original even if they were absurd.

That’s when I came up with this specific idea: what if the main character comes in for a serious interview but everything that ends up happening is mad weird? 

2. Building the Characters

Once I had the general idea, the next step was thinking about the characters. I started with the main character, Ashley Lawson, and immediately knew I wanted her to be a Type B personality. She’s not super organized, she’s a little scatterbrained, and she kind of fumbles her way through things. That contrast makes her a perfect character to throw into an intense, structured environment like a corporate job interview.

Then came the supporting characters:

• Christopher Matterson, the love interest and eventual boss, is there to give Ashley’s journey an unexpected twist at the end. Their chemistry adds a little spark in the beginning that’s fun and subtle because I feel like a lot of people appreciate subtle romance in films that aren't about a romace. I'm not sure that makes sense, but whatever.
• The receptionist is going to be a very funny character. They’re chaotic and unhelpful, and they set the tone.
• The random other interviewee is there to make Ashley feel even more out of place—he’s nerdy, prepared, and intense. He is basically what she is not.
• Finally, Kate Carson, the interviewer, is where the real climax of the comedy happens. Her shift from normal HR questions to absolutely wild ones is what drives the second half of the script.

Each character had to serve a purpose: to push Ashley further out of her comfort zone while also building the overall humor.

3. Structuring the Script

Even though the film is short, it still needs a clear beginning, middle, and end. In fact, having so little time makes structure even more important. I started by sketching a basic three-act structure:

Act I: Ashley arrives at the building, bumps into Christopher, and has a strange interaction with the receptionist.

Act II: Ashley meets the other interviewee, gets called in by Kate, starts answering basic interview questions.

Act III: The questions get increasingly bizarre, Ashley tries to hold it together, and finally, we end with the twist that Christopher is her actual boss.

Once I had the outline, I started writing rough drafts of individual scenes. I didn’t worry about the dialogue being perfect just yet—I just wanted to get the beats of the story down. I have even added placeholder lines just to keep things moving. Editing and polishing will come later.

4. Finding the Right Comedy Style

Comedy is subjective, which made writing even harder. What I think is funny might fall flat for someone else. So I wrote multiple versions of scenes and shared them with my group to test reactions. Sometimes, a joke I really liked didn’t land, which is soooo embarassing and other times, something random I added ended up being hilarious to everyone else.

Conclusion: The Foundation Is Set

This was just the beginning of the writing process, but it was one of the most important parts. Getting the concept, characters, and structure in place gave me the solid foundation I needed to start crafting scenes with purpose and personality.