In 2007 Demetrious Polychron’s first screenplay “The Unknown Actor” was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for excellence by breaking to Quarterfinals in their prestigious competition, ‘The Nicholl Fellowships In Screenwriting.’ This got him meetings all over Hollywood. But whether they loved the script or hated it, everyone asked, “What else you got?”
He didn’t have anything else. He remedied this by starting an idea file and outlining new stories. They piled up quickly and in seemingly no time, he had over 150.
The problem was – which to write first?
It’s said, write what you know. He was raised an Orthodox Christian and served in the U.S. military in combat in the Middle East. His ethnic heritage includes grandparents born in Syria, Germany and Greece. Knowing the Book of Revelations has been embraced in one form or another by more than half the world’s religions, he decided to write “The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse.”
After writing the screenplay, he entered it in the Nicholl. Instead of breaking to Quarterfinals, his rejection letter had the famous hand-written blue ink that said, “You were in the top 10% and just missed Quarterfinals. Keep writing!”
That encouraged him to adapt this screenplay into his first novel, his second to be published by Fractal Books.