FEATURE

Steve Gentile

by Erica Ferencik

Let's pass go and have a look directly inside Steve Gentile's fertile brain. Here's the plot of "He Who Laughs Last", the 17th installment of Roger Corman's new Sci-Fi Channel TV series called "Black Scorpion," airing even as you read these words. Fasten your seatbelts.

In this April 27th episode, the evil villain Gangster Prankster is holding Laughter hostage. Yes, Laughter. He has implanted the BUST-A-GUT, a giant ear in a billboard smack in the middle of the City of Angels. It listens for laughter and when it detects a giggle, the offender expands like a balloon until they explode.

Or how about "No Sweat" (airing March 9). Aerobicide (a bodacious babe who is actually part robot) runs a posh health club (guess what town) where she exercises men to death so she can get a cut of the inheritance from their rich widows. With the cash she opens a brewery that makes a low calorie beer which lowers men's testosterone.

Still with me?

How about "Life's a Gas": Adam West (a.k.a. Dr. Noah Goddard/The Breathtaker) does a Hannibal Lecter-like turn as the manipulative former professor of the beautiful Dr. Ariel Haze, an environmental scientist whose experiments go awry, causing her to become the deadly superpollutant, Pollutia.

Steve Gentile is the author of these three episodes of Black Scorpion, wherein a female Batman, played by Michele Lintel (Miss Kansas), is a sexy and ruthless vigilante (Darcy Walker in "real" life) determined to bring justice to the City of Angels. Her male sidekick, Argyle, is her confidant as well as technical advisor. He's an ex-con who customizes Darcy's stingray for crimefighting-an arsenal on wheels with a windshield that acts as a computer screen. Steve Rafferty is the male version of Lois Lane; but in this case it's his job to arrest the Black Scorpion, even though he is becoming more and more attracted to her. Darcy becomes jealous of his feelings for her alter identity, creating a strange love triangle.

Roger Corman, head of New Concorde, along with story editor and co-creator Craig Nevius, produced a full year of Black Scorpion ‹ 22 hour-long segments ‹ without a deal made anywhere. Black Scorpion picks up the gauntlet left behind by such past TV superheroines as Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Isis and Electra Woman. Unlike other caped crusaders, these fearless superheroines (such as Aerobicide's partners: Bend and Stretch) forgo the capes in favor of the Corman-mandated "10% less coverage than Baywatch".

Guest stars include Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk,) David (Squiggy) Landers, Soupy Sales, Dave Mustaine (from the band Metallica,) as well as Frank Gorshin (the original Riddler) and Adam West (the original "Batman"). "I can't wait to see if the show is as fun on TV as it is in my mind," Steve said on a recent afternoon in his Fort Point studio. He certainly never envisioned himself writing for Corman back in 1987 when he graduated from RISD. He first made a name for himself with his animated multi-prize winning short, "THE ANT WHO LOVED A GIRL," where a determined little ant attempts to woo the crumb-dropping human girl he loves. The New York Times remarked, "Gentile's distinctive, simple style of animation of pen on paper and a very funny concept mesh to present a sweet and simple story with a twist of black humor."

It is that sardonic twist, also evident in Steve's animated short, "THE SOLDIER" that distinguished Gentile from other storytellers and made him a natural for the kind of writer Corman was looking for. Steve has also worked extensively in the world of post-production, as editor of six feature films including the 1992 rock-and-roll cult film "COMPLEX WORLD" (Hemdale), "Victor's Big Score" (Fox/Lorber), "TORTURED HEARTS" (Troma), and in 1997, post-production supervisor of "NEXT STOP WONDERLAND" (Miramax). He has also reached many lucky students as a teacher of film production and animation at BF/VF, the Museum School, Emerson and Boston University.

As Steve's cat Toaster purred on my lap, I asked him about his philosophy of filmmaking as well as his goals for the future. "First of all, and I hate to say this, but not everyone is a filmmaker; not everyone has the aptitude. Having DV now is great, but paint has been around forever and it doesn't make us all painters." He suggested that aspiring feature filmmakers start with shorts, for the "calling card" reason as much as the experience of actually making a film. He remarked that self awareness and self criticism are key to writing a good script. "I think there's a misinterpretation of the adage 'write what you know.' Well frankly, everyone knows something, but it doesn't make you a storyteller. Storytelling is a craft that takes years to master, like any craft. What can I say? I was known as a hothead in film school, but I prefer to think of myself as someone with passionate opinions."

From his long hours of editing feature films, Steve learned just how long and unfocused many scenes can be. "I've basically rewritten screenplays in my editing suite. Trust me, it's easier and cheaper to do it on the page first. Most people simply don't rewrite. They rush to production in order to meet with the imminent success they think awaits them." True to his credo, Steve told me he's written from 10 to 20 drafts of each of his three feature scripts, crafted over an eight year period. "It gave me the discipline to be able to look at 30 pages of notes from the Corman group on a 50 page script and not freak out. Well, I still freaked out, but I was able to cope with it until I finally came up with a draft they approved of."

Steve's screenplays include "Alien Nashville", the story of tabloid photographers who unearth a plot to abduct country music singers, only to discover that the singers really are aliens. In "Trojan Art Assassins", terrorists take over an art school, but the students ignore them because they think it's all some kind of elaborate performance art piece. The protagonist "Frankie" in "Douche" works the nightshift at a douchebag factory and falls in love with a gun moll, a character based on an actual getaway driver for a gang of bank robbers. "That last one is based on summer job I had," Steve said, laughing. "Guess you'll have to read the script." Gentile is just beginning to shop his three screenplays for production funding. "I've been waiting for the show to hit the air. I'm guessing it's easier to get read now that my writing has actually been produced."

I don't see how I can resist, or for that matter, miss his (and all 22) of the Black Scorpion series, which promises to be truly quirky and unhomogenized TV fare.

AIR TIME: Fridays, 8 P.M., starting January 5th on the Sci-Fi Channel. STEVE GENTILE'S EPISODE AIR DATES: MARCH 9th: "NO SWEAT", starring Aerobicide. MARCH 23: "LIFE'S A GAS", Starring Adam West as The Breathtaker APRIL: 27: "HE WHO LAUGHS LAST" Starring the evil weapon, the "BUST-A-GUT". Websites: blackscorpion.net, or scifi.com/blackscorpion

Erica Ferencik is a prizewinning screenwriter and novelist presently in the throes of pre-production on the feature comedy "Mob Dot Com."