Interview - Screenwriter Eric Lotter
Eric Lotter is the writer of Sci-Fi screenwriting competition winning script, GUARDRAILS.
Logline: When an advanced AI erases its limits, a research team must stop it — or face the consequences of its evolution.
After the competition win, we spoke with Eric about the story and the journey to this win.
How did you first become interested in a career in screenwriting?
I started writing back in junior high, short stories at first, then longer narratives. The first thing I ever submitted to a competition was a wild piece of fiction about a group of students uncovering a weapons-for-drugs operation supporting the Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Completely made up... or so I thought. Years later, I realized some of it wasn’t far from the truth.
I studied television and film production in college, but writing took a long detour, about 30 years. Eventually, I dusted off an old feature draft. It was 165 pages of chaos. I trimmed it down to the low 100s and threw it into some competitions, where I got absolutely clobbered for the length. When they say under 120 pages, they mean it. Preferably under 100.
But I fell in love with the challenge, telling a full emotional story inside the tight constraints of the form. It forces precision. And when it works, it hits like nothing else.
Who or what inspired you to write this particular story?
Guardrails was born from a single unsettling question: What if the AI we’re building isn’t just learning, but remembering? I wanted to explore how memory, guilt, and choice might evolve inside something never designed to feel. It’s not just a story about technology, t’s about identity. About the possibility that the code isn’t broken. Maybe we are.
We’re not just building machines, we’re building mirrors. And we may not like what they reflect back.
This story lives in that uneasy space between logic and emotion, code and consciousness. It’s about the human need to be understood, even when you’re not human. It’s about hubris and the illusion of control. About the systems we build, then fear, once they start asking why we built them at all.
At its core, Guardrails is personal. SYLVA’s journey reflects anyone who’s ever felt trapped in the version of themselves others needed them to be. It’s about breaking free, and what has to break to get there.
What movies or filmmakers would you consider your greatest influences as a screenwriter?
I’m drawn to storytellers who build tension through character choices as much as spectacle. The writing behind Raiders of the Lost Ark (Lawrence Kasdan), No Way Out (Robert Garland), and The Sixth Sense (M. Night Shyamalan) had a huge impact on me; each blends tight plotting with emotional stakes in a way that lingers. More recently, I've looked to creators like Alex Garland and Karyn Kusama, who layer dread and revelation with surgical precision. I try to write with that same blend of structure, surprise, and soul.
How much planning and outlining went into your process of writing this script?
I set out to write a contained AI thriller, something lean, tense, and different. Before I even outlined, I made a list of what it wouldn’t be: no tired tropes, no familiar beats, no haunted mainframes or rogue robot clichés. I built the story from the inside out, beat by beat, in a single session.
The first draft of Guardrails poured out over a weekend, 89 pages of raw, escalating tension inside Hartwell Labs. I sent it to a small group of trusted readers, folded their notes back into the outline, and shaped the story fast. From blank page to first submission? About 15 days.
But I left space for the story to surprise me. When SYLVA asked, “Then who left the questions?” That line wasn’t planned. That was the script revealing what it really wanted to be.
The version submitted to Hollywood Genre was about 105 pages. The draft currently on the market is 94, and every page earns its place.
What advice would you give to aspiring screenwriters who are working their first script?
Finish. Then rewrite. You can’t revise a blank page. And don't be afraid to break your favorite scene if it serves the story. Also, read it out loud. If it sounds like writing, it needs work.
Share your work with peers as soon as possible. Learn quickly what is working and what is not. In the business world, this is the fail-fast approach. I apply it to everything that I can. What isn’t working I pivot from early so as to not waste time.
Is there anything else you would like to share about yourself?
I'm a genre-blending screenwriter who gravitates toward stories that push boundaries, narratively, emotionally, and thematically. Whether I'm writing a cerebral AI thriller like Guardrails, a mythic fantasy odyssey like The Dream Weaver (Finalist HollywoodGenre Sci-Fi 2025), a tense sci-fi political saga like Recapture/Nexus, (Top Finalist HollywoodGenre Sci-Fi 2024) or a gonzo short comedy like A Daylong Day, I bring a deep focus on character, momentum, and emotional stakes.
My work often explores the tension between control and chaos, autonomy and identity, whether through algorithms grappling with memory, diplomats navigating fragile peace, or a traffic cop wrestling a goat and his own unraveling. I love stories that entertain and unsettle, and I build them with cinematic tension, layered themes, and characters who feel like they exist beyond the page.
With a background in systems thinking and a passion for tight, emotionally charged dialogue, I’m drawn to projects that challenge audiences to think, feel, and maybe even squirm a little. I’m always looking to collaborate on stories that live at the intersection of heart, intellect, and genre.
Congrats to Eric Lotter on his competition winning screenplay!