1. What is your screenplay about?
My screenplay is about Jade, a K-12 visual art teacher, who in the wake of her estranged father’s death, decides to seek out the daughter she abandoned at birth. When Jade discovers that her daughter is part of a cult, she must confront the leader who controls her daughter’s life and the childhood authority figures that shaped her own.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Drama
3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
This screenplay should be made into a movie, because it treats the theme of incest with intricacy and complexity, while offering a vision of empowerment for victims. It accomplishes this by featuring a protagonist, who in fighting to protect her young and vulnerable daughter, discovers that she needs to address the adults who were complicit in her abuse as an adolescent.
4. How would you describe this script in two words?
Mystery. Empowering.
5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
Julieta by Pedro Almodóvar
6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
Six months
7. How many stories have you written?
Two.
8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
But I Might Die Tonight by Cat Stevens
9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
The story is quite heavy in emotional terms, so I stopped writing it for a year before picking it up again. At that time, I was also having trouble finding a structure that would serve the story. Once I understood what the structure was, that enabled me to start writing again, along with a desire to finish what I’d started. I wrote it in six months.
10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I love to paint and am also a visual artist. I am also passionate about directing the stories I write, and am currently directing my first short film, Keys.
11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?
My experience with the platform has been great.
12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
I live in Chicago and wanted to enter my work into a local festival and was excited about receiving feedback, as not all festivals offer that.
I watched the Youtube video with the reading, and really enjoyed it.
Watch the Screenplay Reading:
In order to form a connection with the daughter she abandoned at birth, a woman must confront the cult leader that controls her daughter’s life and address the childhood authority figures that shaped her own.
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Val Cole
Jade: Kyana Teresa
Ashley: Elizabeth
Charles: Steve Rizzo
Matthew Toffolo's Summary 