Watch the Screenplay Reading:
CAST LIST:
Narrator: Hannah Ehman
Chip: Steve Rizzo
Raya: Kyana Teresa
Get to know the screenwriter:
1. What is your screenplay about?
Drag Me To Christmas is a modern-retelling of the classic A Christmas Carol. The film follows a lesbian scrooge-like character named Chip as she’s visited by three drag ghosts who prompt her to change her ways before it’s too late.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Queer, Christmas and Comedy
3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
We’re living in a time where drag culture is the eye of a political hurricane. It’s important for stories to exists that normalize diversity, inclusion, and drag in all its glittering glory.
4. How would you describe this script in two words?
Queer Celebration
5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
It has to be a tie between Fried Green Tomatoes and Love & Basketball
6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
Four years.
7. How many stories have you written?
Dozens. My hour long crime drama, Sutton Holler, just won Best TV Script in the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards, and I recently spec’d an episode of Hightown in the Starz #TakeTheLead Writing Intensive. Currently, I’m working on a revision of my latest feature, Wild Child, a time travel feature exploring the complexities of a mother-daughter relationship between the years 1999 and 1979.
8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
Sweet Little Thing by Lucero. I’ve been a fan since high school, and I’ve never outgrown their music.
9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
Finishing it wasn’t difficult. Getting it made has proven to be the bigger challenge. We’re artists. We want to make things. It’s harder to convince buyers there’s value in something they haven’t seen.
10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I produce a drag fundraiser every year, Gun Violence Is A Drag, that raises money for scholarships for queer students through a non-profit called The Dru Project. We’re on our fourth year and have raised over $60,000.
11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?
It’s not as user friendly as coverfly, but I appreciate a cexntralized location to apply to festivals and competitions.
12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
We’re in the epicenter of the entertainment business. I appreciate feedback from experts in the LA scene.
Matthew Toffolo's Summary 