Jacob Chase’s spec, Infinite, was a long time coming. Inspired from his own life events and love of epic adventure movies, he outlined the script and was ready to write it when he sold a TV series, Harmony, to ABC. Needless to say, that overtook his life and put Infinite on the backburner. When his series was rolled to next season, he was devastated but finally got to write the spec he has dying to write, and thus Infinite was born and recently sold to Sony.

Jacob Chase’s spec, Infinite, was a long time coming. Inspired from his own life events and love of epic adventure movies, he outlined the script and was ready to write it when he sold a TV series, Harmony, to ABC. Needless to say, that overtook his life and put Infinite on the backburner. When his series was rolled to next season, he was devastated but finally got to write the spec he has dying to write, and thus Infinite was born and recently sold to Sony.

Sci-fi in genre, Infinite centers on a group of scientists who explore the afterlife.

FD: Can you talk about the script’s conception?

Chase: My girlfriend of eight years went through a really scary near-death experience a few years ago. Luckily she survived, but it was certainly the scariest moment of her life, and also mine. It was something that shaped our conversations and emotional life from that point on. I had also been showing her a bunch of my favorite movies like Alien, Sphere, and The Abyss, and I realized that all of these films were about a group of characters coming together for some amazing adventure. I combined that idea of a team movie with a near-death experience like Jess went through. I had this idea to have a team, and instead of exploring space or the deep sea, they are exploring the afterlife.

FD: What is your typical writing process?

Chase: I plan a lot, outline a lot. While writing, I listen to music and make playlists of scores and songs. For specific sections of the script, I’ll have tracks I listen to. I have a little home office I write in, I have a standing desk, and I pace a lot. The outlining part is the hard part for me. Obviously writing is not easy, but once you know where you’re going, it becomes a lot easier. When I know where I’m going, I could work all day nonstop and forget to eat.

FD: What draws you to a story?

Chase: I love characters having to make difficult, unique, emotionally taxing choices. And endings, too. That’s where I know something comes to full form with me. I have such eclectic taste, it’s got to be a character that I connect with emotionally. My ABC show is a musical, this is sci-fi; my other movie is horror, so it’s all over the place.

FD: Who inspires you?

Chase: I get inspired by everything, from my favorite filmmakers growing up, like Mike Nichols, Paul Thomas Anderson, Hitchcock, Spielberg … super uninspired choices. [Laughs] But those are the people I grew up loving. Now, I’m finding that I get inspired by my friends that are successful, especially the ones that are working their asses off. There’s always someone I can be like, “I’m not working hard enough, I have to work harder,” so it inspires me to stop screwing around and get to work.

FD: Do you have any tips for writer’s block?

Chase: Do you have any tips for me? But seriously, the only answer really is to just keep writing. I’m bad at it. There are days where I don’t end up writing, but the only thing to do is push through. Nothing is ever actually a waste of time. How many scripts over the years have I written that no one will see? I hope they’re not a waste of time, I hope I was learning something, getting a little better here and there. Just keep writing. It sounds trite, but it’s really the only answer.

FD: Did you always want to be a filmmaker? When you were a kid, did you see yourself in this crazy industry?

Chase: Directing is the long-term goal. For whatever reason, I knew from the time I was born basically that this is what I wanted to do. I wish I wanted to do something else, anything would probably be easier! I was an actor as a kid, I started in musical theater, and that’s where I got my first taste of storytelling. I have always wanted to do this, and I am completely unqualified to do anything else.

For more about Jacob, you can check out his website, www.jacob-chase.com or follow him on twitter @JacobSChase.