Interview with Screenwriter Fabian Martin (HALFWAY TO MARS)

1. What is your screenplay about?

Fabian Martin: My screenplay is about “Lucy”, a transgender, whose ambitions to complete her transition leads her into a “hellhole” which she fights to crawl out of.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

The genre my screenplay falls under would be LGBT and Thriller.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Although LGBT films are on the rise, there are very few LGBT films that feature Latino characters. Last year’s academy-award-winning foreign film, “A Fantastic Woman” illustrates the fact that there is a thirst for such stories.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

How about a hyphenated word: self-preservation.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

Wow, that’s a tough one. However, I’d have to say whenever “Shawshank Redemption” or “Seven” is on television I will sit and watch them through.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

I worked on this particular screenplay for four months but did a few months of research beforehand.

7. How many stories have you written?

I’ve written over fifty stories and over twenty screenplays.

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

Another tough one but I can always listen to “Lovely Day.” That song always puts me in a good mood.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

No real obstacles but doing thorough research was important. Because I was creating a transgender character, it was important that I got it right so as to not misrepresent the transgender community.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Apart from writing, my other passions are health and fitness and traveling.

11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?

I love FilmFreeway. The submission format is very user friendly unlike others.

12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I know the Toronto community is both film savy and LGBT-friendly so it was important for me to enter my screenplay in a community that respects this particular genre. In regards to feedback, well, you did a reading of my screenplay….what can be better than that! I hope to parlay this recognition into a film version….I’m looking for investors!!

Watch the Screenplay Reading:

Genre: LGBT, Drama

Lucy is a transgender in the process of transitioning, determined to see it through at any and all costs. So when an opportunity arises to accelerate this process, she seizes it unabashedly. This decision though casts her unwillingly into the dark, violent world of prostitution and the ruthless, cold-blooded drug-dealing pimp behind it who goes by the name “Soup.” Here is where Lucy’s real transformation begins as she fights to escape Soup’s relentless grip and free herself from the dangerous vestiges of a debt she cannot pay.

CAST LIST:

Summer: Kyra Weichert
Narrator: Matt Barnes
Lucy: Rob Notman
Rocky: Jarrod Terrell

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Producer: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Director: Kierston Drier

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: Kimberly Villarruel

Camera Op: Mary Cox