Edmonton man’s screenplay to be made into Hollywood film

An Alberta man’s screenplay has caught the attention of Hollywood.

Kurt McLeod wrote the screenplay “Cop Shop” six years ago, when he was in law school. It’s been in development over the years and will begin scheduled production in October.

“It’s a very big deal to have a movie made and it’s something I’ve been hoping for for a really long time,” McLeod said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's a very big deal to have a movie made and it's something I've been hoping for for a really long time," McLeod said.

The upcoming feature film will star actor Gerard Butler and will be directed by Joe Carnahan.

McLeod’s said screenwriting is just a hobby. His day job? Working as a financial advisor.

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“My favourite part of it being a hobby is to have a career that I love and the flexibility to write whatever you want. If you need to make money, it limits what you’re able to do. If you’re doing it as a passion hobby, you can write whatever you want,” he said.

The screenwriter says the film will shoot in Georgia and New Mexico. Its plot is still largely under wraps.

“It takes place in a single police station. There’s a number of characters involved that have goals that don’t quite match… The film unfolds over one night,” McLeod said.

The Hollywood payday will take a bit of time — McLeod said no writer sees money until the move gets made.

“So it’s an exciting time for a number of reasons,” he said.

A producer credit on a feature film is also going to be extremely valuable for future screenplay production.

“Professionally speaking, it couldn’t be more valuable. I’d love to finish something before this film comes out and continue to have films made over the next couple of decades.”

He is working towards a new goal of bringing more global film production to Alberta.

“It would be great to bring more attention to the province… have more filmmakers here be recognized and bring more big budget films here as well.”

McLeod said he is hopeful he will be able to visit the film set at some point to see his screenplay come to life.

“Just that feeling of having people you’ve always seen in movies play out the stuff you’ve written down on the page…it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty surreal.”