Airman, screenwriter says follow your dreams

  • Published
  • By Rebecca Amber
  • Staff writer
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  This past Veterans Day, Capt. Eric Koenig, 412th Aerospace Medicine Squadron dentist, accepted a mid six-figure offer from Paramount Pictures to purchase one of his screenplays - "Matriarch," a story that revolves around two powerful female characters. The story follows a female serial killer on death row and her prison psychologist who is searching for one last undisclosed piece of information that would reveal the location of the killer's final victim.

The dentist has been working on screenplays in his spare time for the past three years and managed to sell one after "Matriarch" was entered in a Launch Pad contest on a Hollywood insider information website. His piece attracted the attention of a marketing team that negotiated a deal for the script.

Koenig says he likes "dark stuff."

"It started from a nightmare that I had. I woke up in the morning and I wrote down this nightmare that was terrifying and cool. I thought, 'I can turn this into a book' and I probably wrote about five pages and thought, 'if I'm going to turn this into a book, it would make a pretty cool movie,' having never seen a script format before."

He began to write and write and write, learning as he went along and reading books on screenplay writing.

"If you read my nightmare script you would know that I could not, at that point, write a good screenplay."

He tried his hand at thrillers, family and romantic comedies, but it's the horror or thriller genre that he really enjoys. While all writers are different, Koenig prefers to write in isolation and silence.

"I am not the guy that can go down to the café and sit there and drink the coffee with all the noise and distraction. I live by myself and I have an office in that house with a desk and my laptop is on it and I don't listen to music. It's dead silent while I'm generating ideas and typing, that works well for me."

Koenig said he has three goals like most writers, which are to get representation, sell something and to get it turned into a movie. "In that order."

He regards obtaining representation as big of an accomplishment as selling his screenplay because they don't accept unsolicited material. The team works on commission and they are not available for hire. Now, he talks to his managers at least a couple of times a week.  

"Hearing the play had been purchased - completely surreal. It was a big deal."

While the purchase does not guarantee that a movie will be made, Koenig is hopeful that he will see his work on the big screen within the next few years.

"I would love for [people watching the movie premiere] to be absolutely terrified. I'd love for them to not be able to fall asleep that night. It's not about the money. I love writing; it's what I'm passionate about. I'm a dentist here during the week and that's my number one job, but evenings and weekends, I write."

The Airman/dentist/screenplay writer is currently working on a supernatural thriller, which he describes as a "creepy little ghost story" that takes place in an elementary school.

When asked if would seek a full-time career in screenplay writing, Koenig said, "I'm very passionate about dentistry, I love being in the Air Force, I love being a military dentist. I also love writing so the future is up in the air, but if I could do them both simultaneously that would be ideal."

"I would encourage anyone, and I'm living proof, that everyone should follow their dreams. It sounds cliché to say that, but it's the truth. You should never settle for anything that you're less than 100% invested in."

He went on to say that this is particularly true when it comes to a career.

"If you don't enjoy your career, there are other things you can do. Too often people can get in a rut and they think they have to tough this out. Perfect example, I have a law enforcement background and I didn't want to be in law enforcement anymore. I wanted to become a dentist and the chances of that happening were very slim, but I made that happen. Even though I love being a dentist, I had this crazy idea to become a screenplay writer; no one should settle for less than what they love doing."

But, reaching his dreams did not happen overnight. He believes that anyone can learn a skill if they are willing to put the work into it.

Koenig has served in the Air Force for 13 years, the last three as a dentist.  He first enlisted in 1992 just after graduating from high school looking for some "direction and discipline."

For the first five years of his Air Force career, Koenig was an Aircrew Life Support technician working on parachutes, oxygen masks and survival kits. During that time he worked on KC-135s, B-52s and F-16s. Once he reached staff sergeant he applied for special duty with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

"I did criminal and counter intelligence investigations at a couple of different bases. I went through the Defense Language Institute in Monterey [Calif.] for German, which was wonderful."

At the end of 10 years, he left the Air Force, not expecting to ever come back. He went to San Diego State University where he earned his undergraduate degree in biology and then attended dental school in Phoenix, Ariz. Nine years later, he came back as an Air Force dentist on a scholarship.

"I keep starting over in my career, but it keeps it fun, really fun."

You can read more about Koenig's Hollywood experience at http://deadline.com/2014/11/matriarch-air-force-dentist-veterans-day-paramount-1201282435/.