Member Spotlight: Harry Reite

I started writing my screenplay after having an idea related to cryptocurrency, a topic that has interested me for several years. What really pushed me to start writing was a significant personal event that aroused a very negative emotion in me. I looked for a way to transform this energy into something positive and constructive, and writing seemed like the obvious choice. Putting this story down on paper allowed me to make sense of what I had experienced.

I'm currently working on a feature-length fiction film that I would classify as a psychological thriller or film noir. This project excites me because it allows me to explore power dynamics, profound human conflicts, and the fascinating world of cryptocurrency.

What particularly excites me is all the upfront research: for the crime to be credible and for the character to survive, I have to identify all the flaws in the system. It's a real investigative effort—I research, I make phone calls, I dig into every detail as if I were the one planning the robbery. The only difference is that I stay within the law by doing it through fiction and writing.

It's about an ordinary, discreet employee who is pushed to the limit by a malicious superior who plunges him into a professional hell of humiliation and manipulation. But behind his apparent docility, the protagonist hides a hidden rage, a sleeping beast that awakens when he discovers that his tormentor holds a fortune in cryptocurrency. In a world where decentralized finance transforms every individual into a walking safe, the protagonist devises a daring and methodical plan to steal this fortune and ruin the man who destroyed his life. It's not just revenge; it's a psychological and strategic battle where every move must be calculated to strike hard, without leaving a trace. A story where malevolence, humiliation, and human failings collide with the cold intelligence of a man willing to do anything to regain control of his destiny.

This is my first feature-length fiction film.

Yes, SoCreate has influenced my writing style. It allows me to be very precise from the start, without going over the elements. I write like a director: I incorporate sets, photos, actors I know or envision (and I know what music I'd like to include in certain passages, which I can add in NOTES). This gives me an almost storyboarded vision of the project, very close to what I have in mind on screen.

I regularly take notes in a small notebook, that way I'm sure I don't forget anything. No matter the time of day, as soon as an idea comes to me, I jot it down right away. Often, one idea leads to another. I think my brain works 24/7—I stay inspired because I'm going through the emotions while living my story.

I write at home, always sitting on the far left side of my couch. My phone sits on the left armrest, and on the small table to the left are a lamp and a power strip where I plug in my phone and computer chargers. On the cushion to my right, within easy reach, I keep my notebook, pen, and glasses. There's also a small blanket always placed behind me, on the back of the sofa, and a bottle of water at my feet. My MacBook is always on my lap.

I generally write for between 3 and 4 hours, in the morning or afternoon, never longer. I know in advance what I'm going to write, and I move through it scene by scene. At the end of each session, I save my work, export it as a PDF, and save it in a dedicated folder on my computer. I always take the time to reread what I've written before turning off the computer.

When writer's block strikes, I work in an office outside my home. Just being in a dedicated workspace is often enough to bring back the ideas and inspiration I need to move forward with my story.

The most difficult moment was in December 2024 (it was very cold in Paris), during work on my apartment. I had to stay on site to open the doors to the workers and supervise the construction site. It was noisy, dusty, the furniture was covered in tarpaulins, and it was cold: the heaters had been removed to redo the walls and paint. Despite these very uncomfortable conditions, I had set myself a deadline, and I had so many ideas in mind that I absolutely had to write down. So, by settling into a small corner on a chair, I persevered. With courage and determination, I managed to overcome this period and move forward with my work.

What I like about SoCreate is that it allows me to dissect my scenes and easily rearrange them in the timeline if I change my mind. I also appreciate being able to export my work as a PDF, and integrate my sets, photos, and characters. And the new feature that allows you to scroll through the story at the end is very interesting. I hope one day the platform will go so far as to offer a real storyboard. And it's translated into French.

One day, God willing...

Yes, just writing the word "END" at the end of my screenplay. And being able to tell myself that I did it.

To bring the project to fruition and see the film come to fruition.

I would say you have to visualize your film and try to showcase it through the platform. For this, it's important to have characters in mind to highlight them, as well as photos of the settings you imagine using. This helps give substance to the project and make it more vibrant.

The best writing advice I've received is that for any story, you must first know the beginning and the end. That's the most important thing. Once you have those two points of reference, it's like two slices of bread: all that's left is to add the filling in the middle, which comes little by little. That's exactly what I did. I started from the beginning, I knew the end, and I moved forward step by step. Each idea led to another, inspiration came along the way, and that's how I constructed and completed my screenplay.

And it's also very important to set a deadline, because otherwise, you end up constantly rereading and wanting to make changes, because you become perfectionists. You never manage to say to yourself, "That's it, it's finished." By constantly rereading, you always find mistakes, typos, or elements that need adjusting. It's a never-ending cycle that can also become a source of torment. You then tell yourself, "I can't stop there, there's always something to improve." Setting a deadline allows you to free yourself from all that.

I was born in France, in the East, near the Luxembourg border, and I am of Italian descent (hence the title of my screenplay, "DISPETTOSO," which I wrote in Italian). I grew up in a small town on this border. I learned to read very early on, and I've always loved reading stories.

I've had a roller-coaster ride, with experiences in many sectors, which allowed me to discover different facets of the working world, including its toughest aspects: hierarchy, manipulation, and abuse of power. I've also worked in film production, which gave me an inside look at how a film is made, both technically and financially.

I've been fortunate to work with several producers, and some have told me that many screenwriters write with budgetary constraints in mind: for example, grouping several scenes on the same street to avoid travel and optimize shooting days.

My life experiences, like those of my loved ones, have also confronted me with extreme human situations. This is what fuels my writing. What I don't like about cinema is when stories lack plausibility, internal coherence, or a grounding in reality.

I wanted to make something credible, a bit like a crime manual. You can criticize me for that, but I prefer to say that I'm exposing the flaws in the system.

I live in Paris. I've been working in film for several years, where I've worked in productions, in various positions, in management, in technical work, on short fiction films, music videos, television commercials, television series, and also on a few feature films. I've also discovered the field of post-production. Today, I want to bring a project to fruition, and to do so, I've written a script incorporating elements of directing. I deliberately structured this script so that it could be used with artificial intelligence tools in the future, thus allowing for rapid budgeting and near-instant visual rendering. I chose actors with whom I'd worked in the past, which allowed me to have their voices and emotions to bring my story to life.