Alumnus writes script to Seven, watches film career take off

By TONY LAYSER
Collegian Staff Writer

Penn State film students constantly hear this little voice:

"You're never gonna make it in this industry, kid."

Thirteen years ago, Andrew Kevin Walker also was hearing that voice. But Walker, a Penn State film and video graduate, had no way of knowing by 1995 he would be a scriptwriter lending voice to the likes of Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey in the blockbuster film Seven.

This year, he's stepping it up a notch with the Feb. 26 release of 8mm and this summer's Sleepy Hollow.

Walker didn't originally want to be a scribe. After graduating from Mechanicsburg Senior High School in central Pennsylvania, he entered Penn State's College of Communications to pursue filmmaking. After graduating in 1986, and with little money, he left State College for New York City.

"A small part of you really believes you're capable of making it," Walker said. "It comes down to making the choice of whether you are heading for Hollywood, New York or the local TV station."

Walker's confidence was tested. While working at Tower Records, he collaborated with a small New York production company, producing the first film spawned from one of his scripts. The film, Blood Rush, was a low-budget horror movie. He followed with the videogame-inspired horror film Brainscan, which still didn't gain him much notoriety.

Never discouraged or satisfied, Walker continued to hone his writing skills on the screenplay that would propel him to Hollywood. The story of Seven was forged from the cultural jolt Walker experienced moving from a largely rural area to an urban setting.

Seven is different from the standard slasher flick. It's graphic but remains realistic, exploring the complex psychology of the murderer without presenting him as a demon. The killer, who uses the seven deadly sins as his motive, feels at odds with the city in which he lives, much like the protagonists. The apathy of the urban setting stifles each character.

Even though Walker didn't originally sense the work's potential, others in the film industry did. After the script was passed around, director David Fincher, who made Alien 3, expressed interest in making Seven. Heavyweights Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman signed on, and with this support, New Line Pictures took on the project.

The stage was set with Pitt, Freeman and then-newcomers Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey under the direction of Fincher.

"It was a great experience," Walker said. "I got to be on the set for the entire shoot."

Walker developed a strong working relationship with director Fincher, so when Fincher needed help with his next film, The Game, he asked Walker to add some finishing touches. Because the Screenwriter's Guild didn't recognize his work, Walker's name doesn't appear in the credits.

Rather than becoming complacent -- a danger for aspiring writers -- Walker wrote constantly. Last year, Walker finished the script for a film called 8mm, a story about a millionaire who dies, then, when the millionaire's safe is opened, a snuff film is found. 8mm is directed by Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys, Falling Down, A Time to Kill) and stars Nicolas Cage. Sources close to the project report it is dark and disturbing, much like Seven.

Departing from his pattern of strictly original scripts, Walker also recently finished work on Sleepy Hollow, adapted from Washington Irving's short story about the ill-fated schoolteacher Ichabod Crane. Walker says the film, slated for summer release, will have a more dominant horror flavor than the original tale. Tim Burton (Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands) will direct, and Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci and Christopher Walken will star.

Right now, Walker is putting the final touches on Fincher's next film, The Fight Club, which will star Pitt and Edward Norton.

For many Penn State film majors, writing a film for Burton is just a dream. But Walker made it happen by taking advantage of his Penn State experience, both in and out of the classroom.

"I believe Penn State helped prepare me, but I wouldn't be where I am now if I had only gone to classes," Walker said. "You have to work on projects outside of the stuff you are assigned by professors."

Working from his North Hollywood home, Walker writes mostly at night, when there are fewer distracting phone calls. But he stresses the importance of writing on a daily basis. Aspiring writers and filmmakers should go beyond writing only short films, which are the dominant format of Penn State film students' works, Walker advised.

"It is important to form your ideas beforehand, and then write 120 pages with a three-act structure. That is the only way you will get the practice," Walker said.

Walker also encourages writers to read other scripts, such as the ones he donated to Penn State a few years ago, and to take advantage of screenwriting classes.