1. What inspired the creation of the character’s backstory, specifically the choice to incorporate a traumatic foster home experience into the narrative?
The backstory of the abusive foster home is actually used to set up the character’s development. It provides an explanation why Richard Spong becomes so driven. The anti-protagonist does many reprehensible maneuvering while trying to succeed. He swears to not become like his foster parents only to become worse than them. Consequently, they greatly influence his behavior and feed his driving ambition at any cost. They represent the exact opposite parental care than his natural born parents. Introducing the two sets of parents illustrates their impactful influence on a child’s upbringing. It leaves an indelible mark on the child’s psyche.
2. How does the film explore the impact of past trauma on the protagonist’s journey to success in the corporate world?
There are two traumas in Richard’s life. The first is when his natural parents die in a horrible car crash. He spends his formative years with his loving natural parents who instilled values and principles during that short time in his life. Their deaths at such an early stage of Richard’s impacts how he finally sees himself. As a result, he eventually sees what he has become. His conscience overcomes his lapse in morality as he attempts to get ahead at any cost. He learned that virtue at an early age. The second is the abusive environment where he suffered at the hands of his foster parents. He witnessed and experienced behavior that he never saw before. He suffered a sexual encounter with a degenerate babysitter. He managed to succeed in college despite them. However, since he was very young, he was unable to completely escape his environment. He lost his moral compass. He felt justified in using people to achieve his objectives, regardless of how he felt about the person. He became an alcoholic like them.
3. Can you elaborate on the themes of ambition and the cost of success depicted in the storyline? The story of Richard Spong is a cautionary tale of what can happen when a driving ambition hurts the people who get in the way of his goal. Unbridled ambition destroys everything in its path. This is eventually depicted after his crushed ambitions result in crippling an innocent bystander in a horrific car crash. He then realizes what he has become at the cost of success. The event jogs his indelible memory of his own natural parents dying the same way. Only then, he stops and sees himself in the mirror.4. What was the creative process behind developing the character’s internal struggles and the portrayal of a mental breakdown? As previously mentioned, Richard has two vastly different sets of parents: his natural born parents and the foster home parents, both of whom affect him drastically. He fights both influences internally as he continues his destructive path to succeed. He is a torn man. Then enter Traci. She becomes the exact opposite of his wife Jeanine. She is manipulative, controlling and calculating. She also influences Richard in his path to the top. Jeanine has become unnecessary and an “albatross” to him because she can only hinder and block his way to the top. At least that is what Richard believes in his mind.
5. How did the filmmakers approach the depiction of the corporate environment, and what aspects of real-world business culture influenced the narrative? I worked in the metals industry for over twenty years. I founded and ran a successful aluminum distribution company. Richard’s character is based on many people who I met in the industry. Richard’s character is an amalgamation of despicable behavior and characteristics of people who had questionable ethics in the industry. I observed first hand or heard stories from industry people regarding this type of unethical behavior.
6. In what ways does the film address the ethical dilemmas faced by the protagonist as he uses his co-workers as stepping stones in his climb up the corporate ladder?
I was trying to point out that his excessive obsession is a pathological behavior. Richard becomes consumed with rising to the top. He doesn’t care how it hurts or damages others, even people he loves. His own wife takes the brunt of his drive for success. He uses Danielle to remove an obstacle in his path to rise to the next level even though he actually has strong feelings for her. He dumps on co-workers. However, Traci’s manipulative, diabolical and calculating ways wear thin on him but he uses her help to advance his career. His obsession overtakes his true feelings. As he gets deeper in his drive for success, the more it prays on his mind and conscience. He becomes a torn man.
7. Can you speak to the psychological elements incorporated into the storytelling, and how they contribute to the overall tone and atmosphere of the film? I discussed much of the psychological elements in my answer on question 6. The psychological aspect always starts at home, the influences, the values and disciplines and parents acting as role models. When Richard leaves home, he doesn’t leave what he is taught by his parents behind. They follow him to his work, his home, in his relationships, and more importantly, for the rest of his life.
8. Were there any specific challenges or considerations in portraying the balance between the character’s ambition and the toll it takes on his mental well-being?
It made me think of my own upbringing and appreciate that I wasn’t from a broken home. My parents were caring, understanding and loving while teaching me proper behavior. I greatly appreciated it even more while writing this screenplay. I drew from my own experience when I wrote about how he cared and his parents cared for him early in life. It seems like it was the only way of being brought up. Richard has to deal with a traumatic number of issues he is not prepared for when his parents die and he goes to an abusive foster home. Richard’s mental well-being gradually deteriorates. He begins to feel something he’s doing isn’t right. He drinks excessively to eradicate those feelings, but they don’t go away and he starts to fall apart. After he is fired over Traci’s embezzling scheme, he takes a step back and does a mental inventory. He searches within himself to do the right thing. He finally sees himself in the mirror. At the end, he comes to grips of his wrongdoing because of his conscience. It goes all the way back to his upbringing by his natural parents.
9. How did the filmmakers work to create a compelling and authentic representation of the protagonist’s struggle with his past, and what research or resources were utilized in this process?
I used my experience in the workplace to essentially develop Richard’s character. I also researched ambitious behaviors of workers in order to understand their thinking and their situations from their perspectives. I used the information that I felt was apropos.
10. What do you hope audiences will take away from the film in terms of understanding the complexities of success, trauma, and mental health in the context of the corporate world?
The corporate world is tremendously vicious and sometimes unfair. Many workers are turned off by this atmosphere. Some feel it’s useless to try. They give up hope of moving up the ladder. They become apathetic or hate their job. There are some who want to take a shortcut to the top of the hierarchy by any means. This screenplay deals with this type of employee. He ends up badly but not all of them do. The story is a cautionary tale. It’s a warning signal to watch out for such bounders. This is what I hope a reader, or if it becomes a film, an audience takes away from my vision of Richard’s journey through the corporate world.