Elgin James has lived a full life. He still is. A checkered history including seventeen years in street gangs, and even a stint in prison. He lost his mother at a young age with little direction and meaning in his life. Young Elgin could have wallowed in self-pity, but instead, he took pen to paper and demanded his voice be heard via his writing. And the world listened. He spoke with Creative Screenwriting Magazine about his pained journey from wild child to produced screenwriter.

Early Years

Elgin is an intense writer, spouting endless anecdotes about his upbringing. He is full of rich stories and indelible images that form the basis of his storytelling. “Subconsiously, there is so much that frightened me and I may not be aware of, ”  he said as he still process his life. This is sound advice for all screenwriters.

“Growing up, I was the only brown-skinned kid for miles. I grew up on a farm in Massachusetts and my only friends were the animals, especially the pigs. They are incredibly intelligent. They are even smarter than dogs. I was called Nigger and Spic in school, but the pigs were always there to greet me when I came home. I saw them get rounded up for slaughter in our back yard and murdered.” Wow.

He sought solice and peace in farm animals. The searing images of pigs being “murdered” have led Elgin to become a vegan. On a deeper level, the images of animal slaughter had a huge impact on his life in comprehending the evil many humans are capable of. “They have this poison inside them.”

Elgin James

James was no stranger to domestic violence from a young age. “There was a lot of violence in our household.  Growing up in life threatening, terrifying situations allowed me to bond with gang members. There is also something about making art together with these [former] gang members that bonds you and shapes you.“

Elgin also faced death at a young age. “My mother died when I was in gangs. I felt like I was nothing. I was a loser. I had never done anything for her to be proud of. During the last few weeks of her life I made these promises that I’d change. That’s what brought him out here [Los Angeles] to find his way in the world. “No matter how old you are, when your parents die, you feel like an orphan.”

Despite his tumultuous family life, he would read as much as he could in the library. When Elgin ran out of books “my father would read me short stories. I discovered Raymond Carver and Irwin Shaw. I kept writing journals which still inform my current writing style; muscular, short and to the point. I wrote song lyrics to learn screenwriting – short and to the point dialogue.”  All his stories gravitate toward one central theme “boys in trouble,” he added.

Escaping a Hard Life

“When I was a kid I had these nervous ticks. The only time when they went away was when I went to see a movie. Even when I was in a gang, I’d sneak away to these arthouse theaters and discovered great directors like Terrence Malick.”

“This spawned my dreams. I gotta make right with my mom. So I came to Hollywood to make movies.”

“I just wanna write movies about the disaffected for the disaffected. Because I’m still disaffected. I still have this pain. I have this rage inside that needs a way out.“

His writing passion finally found an outlet. The screenwriter was accepted into the Sundance Labs in 2010 and was given a way to express himself through art. He met Robert Redford who helped him channel is internal fury more constructively. This experience gave him a healthy way to confront his perceived powerlessness and fear that he previously reacted to with violence. For Elgin, it was screenwriting or a prison cell.

He wrote Little Birds at the Sundance Labs. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. 

Leslie Mann & Kate Bosworth on the set of Little Birds

Healing Power Of Story

Elgin’s stories are primarily about self-healing. Writing screenplays is a way for James to reflect and understand himself. “You have to be so raw and so truthful with yourself. It’s a trojan horse and writing releases all kinds of issues. I had to expel my demons through storytelling or I’d revert to expressing myself a negative way.”

Elgin has an interesting philosophy. He dislikes preaching. Writing screenplays is his way of connecting to his audience. Hopefully, his stories will help people heal themselves. “If you start out thinking you’re helping someone else with your writing, your audience will walk away. If you start examining yourself, the audience will respond. I’m fucked up. I make art for other people who are also fucked up, and hopefully they’ll see themselves in that.”

James started journaling from a young age to organize his thoughts. He kept these journals hidden under his mattress for fear of being ‘outed’ for using ‘big words’ or sharing intimate thoughts.

The material in Elgin’s diaries found its way into his screenwriting. To Elgin, screenplays are sacred documents. “Screenplays are our diaries. Our most personal thoughts. We often put it all out there and nobody cares. It’s a cry into the darkness and often nobody cries back. If someone does, I’ve touched someone.”

James still suffers from deep-seated shame and guilt. These are powerful emotions that fuel great screenwriting.

“Everything writers are ashamed of is our superpower.“

Millions Of Dead Cops

Elgin spent seventeen years in street gangs. The time wasn’t entirely wasted. He infused his love of the rebellion and justice of Punk Rock into his gang life. He listened to a band called Millions Of Dead Cops” (MDC). They sang about inequality, gay, trans and civil rights. Elgin asserts that his sense of morailty and values was instilled into him when he was twelve years old, listening to Punk Rock. It became part of his DNA. Around that time he discovered veganism. He questioned the lies he was taught about intensive farming and food production and stopped consuming all animal products.

Still a strict vegan, Elgin joined street gangs. He fought against Nazis, skinheads and drug dealers. He rebelled against the establishment and the status quo. “We were punching Nazis in the face twenty-five years ago before it became fashionable,” he remembers.

He understands why people joins gangs, but won’t become a poster boy to preach against them. “We were just  throwaway kids that nobody have a shit about.”  James knows the sense of family that gangs provide and the need to feel safe. “Safety is a complicated feeling because the trade off for having others having your back is obeying brutal gang rules.”

Gangs served their purpose for James. He finally realized that if he was going to make his mark on the world, being in a gang wasn’t the way to express himself. So he moved on. Filmmaking was a far better option. Besides, his sense of fairness and social justice found in Punk Rock was hijacked by the brutal thuggishness of gang life.

Jailbird

Elgin exchanged the premiere of Little Birds in 2011 for prison. “It premiered in January at Sundance and I was in prison in March. It became a phenomenon while I was gone.”  He honed his screenwriting craft and kept writing on the inside.

There is no Starbucks in jail, or power outlets for Elgin to plug in his laptop. He wrote everything in long hand on paper. “While others were trading drugs and other things, I traded paper in the prison black market so I could write. I read over a hundred books,” he said. Elgin’s cell mate was a ‘meth head,’ but used heroin because it was cheaper to obtain. After he [cell mate] passed out for the night, Elgin got to work writing without any interruptions. He hid his notes and sheets of paper to avoid them being confiscated during frequent prion searches. Upon his release, he smuggled out a screenplay he wrote for a film studio.

Diversification

There is a current gold rush for “diverse” film and TV writers in the film and TV market. Most “ethnic minority writers” are working. Elgin ponders whether this is a good or bad thing. “It can be insulting or condescending when the amount of melanin in your skin determines your storytelling ability. It’s more about your socio-economic status. On the other hand, it allows under-served voices to be heard.”

Elgin also warns against the film establishment which is often self-congratulatory after having funded or watch a “diversity” film. Such people sometimes claim to understand “what some people are going through in the comfort of their Prius, after having shopped at Whole Foods with reusable bags, as they listen to NPR. On the other hand, there are many people who genuinely want to give these under-represented writers a chance in the industry,” expounds Elgin.

JD Pardo as EZ Reyes (L) & Elgin James (R) Credit: Prashant Gupta/FX

Mayans M.C. (FX Networks)

James found his way onto the writing staff of Mayans M.C. on FX as a diversity hire. He was initially resistant to the idea. “I spent my entire life trying to avoid the cops. I’m not gonna spend every day in a room with cops. Finally they broke me down after I realized I was going to be in the writers’ room. Criminals and police officers have more in common than you think.“

The writers’ room for Mayans is full of diversity hires; the majority of writers (nine in total) are women. Elgin doesn’t view his “diversity hire” status as either a privilege, a handout, or a right. “You neeed to make stories work. You’d better deliver,” he insists. “Be truthful and honest as possible in your room, because nobody else can tell your story the way you do.“

Mayans M.C. showrunner Kurt Sutter sets the parameters of the Mayans world in the TV writers’ room. He is the final quality control.  “It’s a heightened world that was created during Sons Of Anarchy.We have to strictly keep to the rules and mythology of the gang world, so there’s little room for self-expression” continues Elgin. On the plus side, “you find your own voice in the writers’ room,” he adds. james savors the process of discovering his internal truth in the writers’ room. He also adds “What is different in my world than the Mayans’ world? Where are the commonalities?” He strives to keep the show grounded and exciting.

Final Thoughts

Elgin James has a lot to say about being a screenwriter. His final pearls of wisdom for film and TV writers are simple:

“Everything you hide because you’re scared of is your ticket into the business.”

“Your pain is your truth and your pain is your voice.”

“When you go to sleep every night ask yourself what you’ve done to move your vision forward.”