MOHANNAD SALMAN 

St Christopher's School Class of 2019 Alumnus and Winner of Prestigious David and Lynn Angell College Comedy Award 

Q1: Congratulations on winning the David and Lynn Angell Comedy Award! How did you feel when you heard the news?

Honestly, I felt a mix of happiness and disbelief. Bobby Chicago is such a strange little script; it’s equal parts personal and ridiculous, so to see it recognised in this way felt surreal. I worked very hard on it, it was a concept that I developed for a few months before I started writing, so I was thrilled that it connected with people. Mostly, though, I just feel honoured and lucky.

Q2: Can you tell us a little about Bobby Chicago and what inspired the story?

Bobby Chicago is about a trench coat–wearing, 1940s-talking high school detective. He’s an outsider who distracts himself from his personal struggles by solving petty mysteries, until the stakes rise when another student drops dead at a school dance and Bobby is faced with a real crime for the first time. 

The idea actually grew out of the very first short I wrote at USC, which was about an elementary school–aged gang. What I loved most was the comic discrepancy between kids and the world of gangsters. One of the characters in that short was named Bobby Chicago, and the name stuck with me. As I developed the idea further, a lot of people told me it reminded them of Brick, Rian Johnson’s debut film, a high school detective noir story. When I finally watched it, I was surprised to see it was played as a true, serious noir. My instinct had always been that a high school noir would be funny and absurd, so I ended up writing essentially the version of Brick I had imagined in my head: ridiculous, comedic, but with a lot of heart.

Q3: How did your time at St Chris influence your decision to pursue a career in writing and drama?

St Chris was a big part of it. I always felt encouraged to explore creative and artistic paths, especially through the Drama and English departments. The staff gave me the space and encouragement to try things. Drama classes, in particular, made me realise how much I loved storytelling and performing, which eventually grew into writing.

Q4: What advice would you give to young writers or students at St Chris who want to follow a creative path?

I’d say absolutely follow your passion, but recognise that passion alone isn’t enough. There will be times when the thing you love feels like hard work, and that’s normal, even good. 
It means you’re pushing yourself. So don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t feel magical every day. Stick with it, keep going, because you can fail at things you don't want to do, so you might as well take a chance failing at the things you do want to do. That last part is something Jim Carrey said - I can't take credit for it.

Q5: What’s next for you, are there new projects or ideas you’re excited about that you can share with us?

Ideally, to continue to create projects in the comedy space, and while I won’t quite give my next project away, it’s certainly something very close to home.