Interview with Screenwriter Monika Naidoo (Proof Positive)

Matthew Toffolo: What is your screenplay about?

Monika Naidoo: PROOF POSITIVE is about friendship, the belief in basic human kindness, and the power of the human connection.

For high school senior Grady Haynes, life doesn’t get much better. A local baseball star with a full scholarship to UCLA, the center of the popular crowd with a gorgeous girlfriend, and plans to head out on a month-long backpacking trip the day after graduation – Grady is living his dream… a dream that is crushed with the push of a send button and killed the second the message was ‘successfully sent’. Now he is stuck in an 18″ x18″ nightmare – the size of his wheelchair cushion. As he is sucked into a self-destructive tailspin, his best friend and only other accident survivor must act fast to prove that there is still a big and beautiful world out there full of places to see and people that care. All while time is running out.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

I call it an Inspirational Family Drama

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

Not too many movies deal with disability. Stories like Grady’s are historically underrepresented and deserve to be shared. Also, more than ever, we need narratives that show what can be achieved when people come together. It is the little, not-so-random acts of kindness that can make the biggest difference.

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

Heartwarmingly inspirational

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

I have seen countless movies multiple times for different reasons, be it the dialogue, visuals, soundtrack, acting, story, or any combination thereof. Impossible to say which one raked up the most views.

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

I finished the first draft in about two months, put it aside for a few weeks, then went back for a rewrite and countless edits over another two months or so.

7. How many stories have you written?

I have been scribbling stories whenever and wherever they’d come into my head ever since I was a kid, never even started counting. I do have two novels in print, five finished screenplays, two in progress, and several ideas floating around.

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

I have been playing the guitar since I was little, and music has always been a big part of my life. As a result, I don’t have just one favorite song. It always depends on the mood of the moment.

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

Time – there’s never enough of it. Like many writers, I have a full-time day job and a family.

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

I love to create, if not with words, then with paint, pencils, wood, leather, and pretty much anything that’s available.

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

Love the platform! Easy to use with great features you won’t find anywhere else.

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

I really wanted to have my screenplay professionally read and a link to the recording that I can use to promote it. It is a great tool to get exposure. The festival did a fantastic job! The initial feedback was very helpful. I’d wholeheartedly recommend entering this festival!

Watch the Screenplay Reading: