OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS...
Out of 7,000 entries, I am one of the top 5 grand finalists of Final Draft’s “Big Break” screenwriting contest. I won the period/historical/war genre with my screenplay, “A Face To Paint”, and I have been invited to attend the awards ceremony at Paramount Studios in Hollywood on February 11th when the Grand Prize Winner will be announced.
Although the trip is at my own expense and I’m penniless, it’s such a fantastic opportunity to meet with movie executives and break into the industry, I would be barmy to let something like money stand in my way...
I plan to spend the entire month of February in L.A. marketing my portfolio of screenplays, but I need your help to get me out there. All last year we heard about the lack of women screenwriters, with less than one in five films written by women. Here I am, ready to be part of the solution to that problem, if you help put me in the heart of Hollywood.
WHY I NEED YOUR HELP
I’m a screenwriter with proven talent, ambition and no money. Over the past 4 years, I have thrown everything at learning screenwriting craft. I have written, attended classes and festivals, written some more, studied numerous books, written yet more, networked, and then gone on to write deep into the night...
Now, just as something is about to come of all that effort, my savings have run out. With airfares, airport transfers, insurance, accommodation, transport, living costs and US sales tax to cover, I estimate I need to find upwards of £5,500.
Openings like this simply don't come around all that often. After participating in last year’s exhilarating BFI-Creative Skillset Talent Campus at London Screenwriters’ Festival and benefitting from a 90-minute mentorship session with Julian Fellowes and his lovely wife Emma, I am confident I can make a go of it in Hollywood if given the chance.
ABOUT ME
When I was little, I wanted to be the next Beatrix Potter. Then I grew up and bought into the idea that the most important thing was to be sensible, get a steady job and aim for stability. Although I travelled far and wide, and had many adventures, I was trying to force-fit myself into a lifestyle the real me was at odds with.
One day in 2012, I jogged past a row of uniform beach huts in Bournemouth - the first town to construct these glorified sheds and now home to the nation’s first wedding beach hut. Their use and appearance is strictly regulated, so I was surprised when I saw the hut at the end of the row was breaking all the rules…
I began inventing a story about the owner of that beach hut, and the next thing I knew I was putting pen to paper… The resulting screenplay, “The Beach Hut”, has gone on to be a quarterfinalist in the Shore Scripts Competition and a semifinalist in the Screenwriting Goldmine Competition.
Since then I haven’t looked back. I’ve written a number of full-length feature scripts, including a multiple prize-winning ghost story, “Dowl’s Mill”, and a drama inspired by events I witnessed when I was caught up in Ivory Coast’s revolution, “Africa As You Like It”, which has also received excellent feedback.
I’ve got an entire portfolio of scripts ready to go. Irrespective of talent and dedication, nobody makes it alone. Everybody needs a break: please - let this be mine.
WHAT DO YOU GET?
In return for your generous support, there are some great perks! From shout-outs on social media, to tickets to the play I am currently producing as part of the Page To Stage Festival in Liverpool (4th-16th April 2016) and even feedback on your own script. After reading and reviewing well in excess of 1,100 short scripts in the Create50 “Impact” project last year, and the numerous scripts that writers then sent me outside the project, I have become adept at script analysis.
WAYS YOU CAN HELP
My future is in your hands. Please help by:-
· donating and/or
· sharing the link to this funding page and/or
· offering me advice (via private message).
All donations, even the smallest ones, will be gratefully received. Thank you in advance for anything you feel you can contribute. You can check out my campaign here.
I am so excited about the prospect of this visit and the chance to do something hands-on to convert my dream of earning my living as a screenwriter into reality. I commit to paying this amazing opportunity forward, and helping other writers in whatever ways I can.
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