If screenwriter, actor and director Adam Hampton’s producing partner, Luke Wyckoff, had asked him before entering Kinolime.com’s screenwriting contest, he would have told him to not even bother.
“I’m kind of cynical, but he was excited about it. It’s the first year of this contest and… I give total credit to him. I would have said, ‘Don’t do it,’” Hampton quipped.
Hampton’s script for “The Waif” was one of three finalists chosen from over 600 scripts, according to a press release from the Shawnee Film & Music Office. The script will get a production budget, taking it to the big screen. Kinolime.com is a platform that wants to help bring writers into the industry, according to the website. They put scripts before the public, and if the people like it, they will make it.
“To have the community support that I’ve had, and friends and family and the film community here in Oklahoma to support it and get us through these first few rounds and to make it past the judges and to be in the finals. That’s really inspiring,” he said. “It feels like a lot of love. To have it made into a movie, you know, I’ve never had a script that I’ve written have any kind of a budget behind it.”
“The Waif” is a horror/thriller based in Oklahoma. It tells the story of a man who, after losing everything, arrives at his family cabin with thoughts of ending his life. His plans are flipped when he encounters a mysterious woman who introduces him to her own twisted family.
Hampton said the story was inspired by his fascination with civility and society’s rules.
“You can tweak that, and it becomes a comedy like ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ Or you can tweak it in the other direction, and it can become scary. So, the idea of inviting someone into your house and they don’t leave, what does that look like?” he said. “And how quickly do we lose our humanity?”
Growing up in Dale, Hampton said he’s always been fascinated by scary stories and haunted houses. He joked that as a child, he was cursed with a pretty big imagination that left him scared of everything. He was certain there was a werewolf on Bethel Road, and every swimming pool in the dark had a shark in it. But he was then fortunate to have some great teachers who encouraged him to write and his love of reading.
From there, Hampton went to East Central University on a writing scholarship. He combined his love of movies with writing and has been working in independent film for the last 20 years.
“I love movies. I’ve always loved writing. Once those things kind of crossed… it was sort of magical to me. The whole process is very magical,” he said.
Just out of college, he started a production company called Outsiders Productions with Jason Alexander (not the one from Seinfeld, he clarified), and they began making indie films. Hampton wrote scripts, Alexander shot them, Hampton directed, and then Alexander edited the movies. They kept plugging away, even with no money, so they could tell their stories and what they thought was important.
“It’s been sort of a natural progression of being on this journey and just loving the process of it,” he said. “It’s less about an end goal and more about the process that I’m really in love with.”
Hampton recently acted in Kyle Kauwika Harris’ thriller “Reverence,” which was filmed in Chandler in November and December 2023. He played Shannon Sadler in the film, which is currently in post-production and may be screening soon. He said it was awesome filming in the town and that he sings the film’s praise to anyone he talks to.
“I’m a big Oklahoma guy. I’m from here. It’s in my blood. It’s in my DNA and dirt roads are, I think they’re in my chromosomes. So, I really love it whenever we’re able, and it finds its way into my writing,” he said. “I love it when we’re able to tell stories—even if it’s a weird take on it—about Oklahoma.”