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Shuffle: From the Shelf to the Screen
Kurt Kuenne on the set of Shuffle. Photo by Dan Austin.
I was on page 60 of my first draft when I got the bad news.
I was in a groove. The story was flowing out of me. My fingers could barely type fast enough, and I wanted nothing more than to get the whole thing down on paper. I was right in the middle of a major set piece when the phone rang. My managers, Aaron and Sean, were on the line.
“Got some bad news for you.”
“Yeah?”
“Chris Columbus just sold a screenplay about a guy who lives his life out of order to Warner Bros.”
I was two-thirds of the way through the first draft of my screenplay for Shuffle… about a man who begins experiencing his life out of order. “You’re kidding me,” I said. “How similar is it?”
The competition’s screenplay was more of a broad comedy/adventure, which bore little resemblance to what I was writing, at least in my mind. My script was something that might best be described as Frank Capra meets “Twilight Zone”: A desperately paced fever dream where circumstances terrify the film’s protagonist until he becomes aware that there is a pattern to his experience. He then works to uncover why this is happening and what (or who) is behind it. Its very concept demanded uprooting the structure of conventional storytelling, and one of my favorite things about it was that sequences taking place years apart were often juxtaposed right next to each other, leaving the audience to wonder not how things would turn out—that much was obvious—but, rather, how they got that way. What had happened during the intervening years to change the circumstances and disposition of the lead character? The narrative conceit gave me many delicious opportunities to reveal layers of character in an unusual way and have a character go on a detective odyssey whose subject was himself. I was excited to get this thing out the door and share it with everyone.
And now I was being told it would never see the light of day.
As different as the two scripts may have been, the loglines sounded exactly the same. There was no way around that one.
“You may as well put it down and move on to something else. Sorry ‘bout that, man. I know you’ve been working hard.”
But I didn’t put it down. I wrote around the clock for two more days, powering through the climax of the film. The uselessness of what I was doing didn’t matter to me. I wanted to tell the story so badly that it had to come out of me and onto the page. I knew that if I didn’t seize the moment and write it right then and there, it would eventually unravel in my mind and I would lose it forever.
I showed it to my managers. Though they liked it, they reiterated that there was nothing they could do with it. I put it in a manila envelope, shoved it in the closet, sulked for a day or two and then moved on to other things.
A few months later, my friend Dan Austin asked: “Can I read that out-of-order thing you were working on?”
“If you want to, I guess,” I said. “It needs rewriting, but there’s no point. Nothing’s ever going to happen with it.”
A couple of months passed. I got busy writing a new script, shooting a documentary and making a short film. One afternoon, Dan called.
“Dude, I read Shuffle.”
“Oh, yeah—I forgot that I gave that to you. What did you think?”
“You were so down on it that I was expecting not to like it. Also, it just sounded like an experiment in form, which I’m not big on, so I was wary going in, but—dude, this is really good. I cried. I love the characters. I love the story surprises. You’re right, it needs rewriting. So rewrite it. You should do something with this.”
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by Ryan Searl on 10/20/11 at 9:31 pm
Kurt, this story was pure inspiration. As a fledgling filmmaker, reading this has really given me some gumtion to keep on writing. I can’t wait to see Shuffle at Heartland, and I really appreciate you sharing this amazing story. -Ryan Searl
- Comment by Stella J on 10/21/11 at 9:11 am
I can’t wait to see your latest work. Whew, 7 years.. Glad to know you are friends with TJ, loved him on Bones. BTW, I heard about “Validation” as well as your new feature film through Michelle Krusiec’s tweets. Good Luck.
- Comment by Andy on 10/21/11 at 10:29 am
This is one of the best moviemaker articles I’ve ever read, very powerful message. Well done, Kurt, I can’t wait to see your film.
- Andy ("Directing on a Dime")- Comment by Roberta Buckberg on 11/07/11 at 12:48 pm
Glad it is coming out...cannot WAIT to see it! The way you express your imagination and sensitivity are at the core of why I have loved movies for 40+ years!
- Comment by برودكاست on 11/25/11 at 4:26 pm
- Comment by Görkem CAN on 11/30/11 at 2:03 am
I think It would be better if you put some photos and maybe videos or links here… This is great article and ı’ll share this site with my friends when ı find free time..
- Comment by relojes barato on 12/09/11 at 3:15 am
When in trouble, never give up. The road of filming making gonna be long and tough.
- Comment by Réplique Montres on 12/10/11 at 2:50 am
So nice to see such a good guy transcending himself to become spotted!
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