Armwood High Grads Script Haunting Tale That Airs Tonight On NBC's 'Fear Itself'

When a cowhand returns from being lost in the wilderness, his friends and family soon notice that he's different - very different - on tonight's chilling episode of "Fear Itself."

Character actor Doug Jones ("Hellboy II") stars in "Skin and Bones," a story that was inspired by a Robert Mitchum film, "Track of the Cat," and the ancient Indian folklore about the evil spirit Wendigo.

The script was written by two graduates of Armwood High School, and it could be one of the best on this summer horror anthology series.

"It's our first script for broadcast television, and we think we rose to the challenge," says Scott Swan, who co-wrote the episode with Drew McWeeny.

The two met more than 20 years ago when they were students at Armwood. They shared a keen interest in filmmaking and excelled in the television production classes taught by Tom Crow.

"We loved his class, and that's how we got started," Swan said in a recent telephone interview. "We wanted to become filmmakers. We left for Los Angeles in 1990, and we've been here ever since. I'm not rich yet, but I'm making a living."

Both are 38 and have families. Their parents still live in the Tampa area. Scott's father, Don Swan, now retired, was an engineer at WFLA, Channel 8, for 15 years.

"We both went to college for a while," Swan says. "Drew went to the University of South Florida, and I went to community college, but we really wanted to get to Hollywood, so we took off."

It took a while to get established, but they have been working professionally since 1994, after their plays "Sticks & Stones" and "Broken Bones" were first produced in Los Angeles.

Swan and McWeeny didn't set out to work in the horror genre, but after they worked with legendary action/horror director John Carpenter on Showtime's "Masters of Horror" series, doors have been opened.

"It's easier to get work in the horror genre," Swan says. "Things would be tough now if we were writing romantic comedies."

Currently, they are working on "Bat Out of Hell," a Joe Dante film about deadly cargo aboard an airplane. McWeeny also writes reviews for the Web site "Ain't It Cool News" under the name Moriarty.

Swan says they originally wrote "Skin and Bones" with Carpenter in mind.

"He's a big fan of the Mitchum film 'Track of the Cat,' and while it's not a horror story, it is a dark psychological thriller," he says. "We also took the Windego legend from the American Indian folklore about a spirit that transforms humans." The story involves cannibalism. "Basically, it's about what happens when someone you know and love changes dramatically."

NBC's "Fear Itself" has had an uneven run this summer. Some stories have been better than others, but that happens when every episode has different writers, directors and actors.

After tonight's episode at 10, the series will take a two-week break to make room for NBC's summer Olympics coverage.

VIDBITS: Old-timers, get ready. Dick Van Dyke is back in a new "Murder 101" mystery movie for the Hallmark Channel. The 82-year-old TV legend stars as crime-solving Professor Jonathan Maxwell in "The Locked Room Mystery," debuting at 9 p.m. Saturday.

•I am scheduled as a guest tonight on "Media Talk," the weekly webcast for the Tampa area's creative, advertising, media and film production community. I'll be talking about my recent trip to Hollywood to preview the fall TV season as well as Criss Angel's escape from a demolished Clearwater motel.

"Media Talk" can be seen at 6 p.m. Thursdays at www.tampabaysmedia

talk.com.

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