THE BARGAIN, 15min., USA Directed by Alec Patchin A young girl summons the Devil to get revenge on her former foster father who abused her. The Devil is willing to make a deal but the cost is more than she bargained for.
Get to know the filmmaker:
1. What motivated you to make this film? I was struck by the strange nature of revenge and the lengths people will go to feel like they “got even”. Often people are willing to go out of their way and further negatively impact their own lives if it means the person who wrongs them also suffers.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film? I’d say it was about a six-eight month process. We added an additional day of photography during post production once we saw the rough cut.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!? Hellish revenge!
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film? Being an indie production the scope of the project was fairly large for the resources we had. Finishing the film took quite a lot of time and planning but we had a talented team to bring all these ideas alive.
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video? I was super flattered and grateful for all their wonderful feedback. Sharing your movie with the world can always be nerve racking but you are never quite sure people will feel the same way about it that you do. But their feedback was so nice and I’m glad the movie we made resonated with them like we hoped it would!
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?\ I loved movies since I was a child but I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed being behind the camera till my mid-20’s. For years, I thought I wanted to be an actor but I find the creative journey of writing and directing behind the scenes to be a much better process for me. Now, I just hire all my talented friends to be in front of the camera!
7. What film have you seen the most in your life? As funny as it sounds, probably A Christmas Story. It was a family tradition to watch it every Christmas Eve.
8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career? I love the audience feedback video. It was super fun and it’s rare you get such direct and thoughtful feedback. I’m also super excited about the possibilities of the What’s App Group.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site? In general I find it very helpful but like any platform you have to do your own due diligence on the festivals. Not all of them provide an equal experience.
10. What is your favorite meal? Sushi. Too much of it.
11. What is next for you? A new film? We just completed my latest short and are about to start submitting it to festivals. It’s a modern adaptation of the Peter Pan story set in NYC.
DON’T LET THEM IN, 15min., Canada Directed by Peter Collins While dealing with the aftermath of escaping an abusive relationship, Heather starts to believe there is a vampiric shape shifting creature trying to trick her into getting inside her home. Memories of witnessing a traumatic event years ago involving the same creature come flooding back after she is mysteriously gifted the creatures calling card – a smooth stone engraved with a strange symbol. With the help of a supportive friend, Heather must finally confront her demons in the form of the monster that is haunting her, and summon her inner strength to finally defeat it.
I had recently gone through a separation, so I guess I had that topic and those themes that comes with it on my mind and just wanted to express it somehow. I wanted to do something involving a character going through a similar situation to that as well, where they kind of want their ex-partner back but deep down they know it’s not good for them in the long run. The story sort of grew from there, to involve an abusive ex trying to worm their way back into the main character’s life, and the main character’s trust in people being damaged to a point where they can become suspicious of anyone at their doorstep. That’s where the title Don’t Let Them In comes from, it’s a cautionary warning about letting abusers from your past back into your life.
Around the same time I had an initial idea of a creature inside a room in a house, trying to trick the homeowner into opening the door to that room. That sort of got spun out into the shape shifting, vampire-like creature on the doorstep that’s in the final film. I thought that concept paired really well with the aforementioned theme of ex-partners trying to get back into your life, and that’s how this film came to be.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
I wrote the first draft of Don’t Let Them In several years ago, back in 2020. It really wasn’t until Spring of 2023 that things actually began moving forward on pre-production. We had a 3 day shoot that October, and post wasn’t finalized until May 2024. So overall, it’s been roughly a 4 year journey.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Metaphoric Vampire?
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
I’d have to say that the biggest obstacle was just getting the ball rolling in the first place. It kind of felt like I was floundering aimlessly a bit at first, but once I had the producers on board things started to slowly but surely fall into place.
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
To be honest I wasn’t exactly sure how people were going to react. At this point I’m so familiar with this story and had seen it so many times I’m not even sure if it’s scary or fun or whatever, or if the themes are too heavy handed or handled in a clunky manner or not. I’m really glad that people seemed to enjoy it, though! Hearing the feedback put a giddy smile on my face. I love that all the hard work and effort that everyone put into this project has come together into something that seemingly resonates with people.
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I feel like I was kind of a late comer to the world of filmmaking. I was actually working as an engineer for years before an untimely layoff made me want to try something else. I had always enjoyed films, and I liked watching breakdowns and analysis of movies, so I guess at some point there was kind of an ‘ah-ha’ moment where I realized that filmmaking was something I could actually try and do. I eventually started writing scripts and shooting small films on my own, and then some more with a few friends, and it just sort of progressed from there.
7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
That’s a tough question, I have so many favourites. I think I’m going to have to say Jurassic Park. I watched the hell out of that movie growing up, and it’s still something I watch once a year at least.
Maybe an honourable mention goes to Halloween (1978). That’s required watching every October.
8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
I really enjoyed the viewer feedback video this festival does, but I think it would be beneficial for the reviewers to try and give even more pieces of constructive criticism. I know there’s definitely lots of room for improvement in my work still, so having people point out more areas that might be lagging would be a huge help!
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
The entire process is so streamline. It’s easy to search and discover festivals, including ones that you might not have known about, and it makes the process for applying to festivals incredibly simple as well. So, overall I’ve had a very positive experience with FilmFreeway.
10. What is your favorite meal?
I’m a sucker for pasta. A nice spaghetti and meatball dish is one of my main go to comfort foods. It’s something I ate a lot as a kid growing up so I guess there’s some aspect of nostalgia to it.
11. What is next for you? A new film?
I’m doing a lot of writing. I have several scripts and ideas that I’m currently developing, both shorts and features, but I think my next immediate project will be another short film. I want to do something that starts off as a bit of a slow burn that builds into something very tense and suspenseful, and just dripping with atmosphere.
It’s a memoir about my cousin who was more like a loving older brother to me. He died at 47. He was a third-generation Mardi Gras sculpture artist and float builder in New Orleans. I quit graduate school in 2011 and spent one year working full-time for him. This is the tale of our relationship.
2. What genres would you say this story is in?
Non-Fiction, Memoir, Biography, Art History, Mardi Gras History, Friendship
3. How would you describe this story in two words?
Brother Lost
4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?
Either E.T. or The Big Lebowski
5. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
So many favorites! Fast Car, Gloria’s Step, Tell It Like It Is, Window Seat, Can’t Do Without You, Just, Susanne, Alison, Redemption Song, In the Meantime, Province … I could put you to bed, you know!
6. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
Toss-up among In Cold Blood, The Brothers Karamazov, A Confederacy of Dunces, and The Catcher in the Rye.
7. What motivated you to write this story?
My cousin was such an amazing guy! He needed to be remembered, and I needed to grieve.
8. If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Charles Bukowski, Jack Kerouac, or Bill W. Someone willing to wear their heart on their sleeve. Since it’s just one dinner, you want to make it count.
9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I’m most passionate about my wife and family. Music and basketball are my other hobbies.
10. What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?
I self-published the book in 2022. It sold several hundred copies but has since plateaued. I wanted to breathe new life into it.
11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?
Writing is great. It has taken me on so many adventures. I’m always learning about writing. Even into my 40s I’m working on a master’s degree in English. I would suggest remaining open to learning. I think writing, too, takes a bit of patience and sobriety. I also think it should come from the heart and contain something that you really want to say. Read poetry, too, and pray for inspiration when you’re at a pause or confused.
Vivian Maier is unattractive, too tall, has big feet and a strange accent. She is often unable to read social situations. She struggles to keep a job as a nanny, but finally she has some success working for a family on Riverside Drive in Manhattan, taking care of a little girl named Joan McMillan. She begins to like and trust Joan, and for the first time in her life, she finds a real connection. Vivian is taking pictures in the city of New York which gives her a growing sense of control over her life and a new way of seeing.
When she is asked to go on a family trip to Los Angeles with Mrs. McMillan, Joan and her cousin Natalie, she decides to accept the invitation as an opportunity to expand her portfolio. They will travel across America, to the American plains, the wild west, up to Vancouver, Canada, and down the California coast. As she learns more about the McMillan family, she has flashbacks about her own unstable family life and worries about the legacy of mental illness. The challenges of travelling with her employer bring Vivian’s conflicts to a head. She feels the need to choose which version of herself she really wants. Artist or nanny? Abandoning Joan and her family at a hotel in L.A., she disappears from the McMillan’s lives forever. With the help of money from her savings, Vivian goes back to New York and takes the best pictures of her life. It’s 1953 and she’s twenty-eight years old.
Get to know the writer:
What is your novel about?
Vivian Maier Framed is a story of one woman’s struggle to become an artist in 1950’s America where everything was against her. This nanny/artist who became famous in 2009, after her death, when her 160,000 photographs were discovered in a storage facility. Some called her a hoax. Others called one of the most important photographers of the century. She was an elusive and sometimes unsympathetic character whose behaviour was questionable, but this novel explores who she might have been in her very private world.
2. What genres would you say this story is in?
Literary fiction. The first chapter has been published online by The Write Launch Literary Journal and it was shortlisted for the Plaza Literary Chapters contest both in 2024.
3. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin
4. What motivated you to write this story?
I’ve been reading about Vivian Maier with great interest since 2009 and thought about how we have framed her story in our time in such a way that tells us a lot about our own anxieties about the fame of a woman who didn’t have the resources to become famous in her time. I identify with her struggle to be a woman artist in a male dominated world and marvel at how easily she is dismissed and even erased by some who refuse to believe she could achieve greatness on her own. They myths that people still have about artists and madness, and women and madness make these stories more about us than about the person. This story has many layers and complexities to it that interest me and it was a great pleasure to write.
5. What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?
When I came across this platform and saw that you were performing novel chapters, I thought it was a great idea and really enjoyed hearing it performed. It adds a new performative aspect to the writing and I hope it attracts readers to want to hear more from Vivian Maier.
1) What is the theme of your poem? The wonder of nature.
2) What motivated you to write this poem?
The Aha Moment is when you get an epiphany by observing nature. It’s when you are in nature and “get” the bigger truth contained within.
3) How long have you been writing poetry? Well over 30 years.
4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be? Mary Oliver or Annie Dillard.
5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
I feel it could express the passion in the poem.
6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..? Lots and lots of nature writing. Google me or Instagram @badpennywriting and Pinterest @EducatedbyGeese.
7) What is your passion in life? Finding the awe-inspiring things in the world and sharing them with others.
The theme of “Stages” revolves around grief and the stages of emotional turmoil. The poem metaphorically illustrates how grief or pain grows from an initially rejected presence (denial) to something inescapable, ultimately accepted and lived with (acceptance).
2) What motivated you to write this poem?
“Stages” was inspired by my own personal experience with significant loss and grief, particularly the impact of losing my little sister. Her death has left a lasting mark on me, and this poem reflects the emotional journey of grappling with that pain. I aimed to convey how grief evolves over time, from something resisted to something that becomes a part of you, growing alongside you.
3) How long have you been writing poetry?
I’ve been scribbling down my random thoughts and calling them poetry since I could hold a crayon, but I’ve recently committed to focusing on writing and honing my craft.
4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
That would be a tough choice between Silvia Plath or Chris Cornell! They have both influenced my writing with their shared ability to turn deep pain into something hauntingly beautiful.
5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
The power of hearing poetry read aloud brings the emotion to life in a different way. I was very grateful to hear the layers of emotion in “Stages” read by a professional. She was able to amplify its impact.
6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?
Yes, I primarily write poetry, but I have dabbled in short stories and narrative work. My writing often revolves around themes of internal battles and loss, but I also explore lighter themes such as humor, children’s poems, etc. I have two little girls who are constant sources of inspiration!
7) What is your passion in life?
Other than being a mom, my passion is writing, particularly poetry. It serves as both a creative outlet and a way to process complex emotions, giving voice to experiences that are sometimes hard to articulate. It’s my essential outlet and part of who I am.
It’s a theme of acceptance and respect for the unknown and unseen and all of the new friends that may be there.
2) What motivated you to write this poem?
I wrote this poem after a visit to The House of Wills for a modelling photo-shoot. Not only did I experience some extraordinary events, but they seemed to follow me home and have stayed with me ever since.
3) How long have you been writing poetry?
Several years
4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?
Winston Churchill
5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?
I find it interesting to hear my words in someone else’s voice…it lends a degree of merit to them.
6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..? I write essays, blogs, short stories, novellas and novels as well.
1) What is the theme of your poem? This poem explores the simultaneity of speechlessness and the articulable in the wake of sudden trauma.
2) What motivated you to write this poem? Writing is equivalent to breathing; in is an elemental feature of being this version of myself.
3) How long have you been writing poetry? Since childhood, although it never occupied this central position before my stroke.
4) If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be? Jorie Graham, my favorite living poet.
5) What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor? I am eager for my voice to be heard after almost 2 years of silence since my stroke.
6) Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..? I am a poet and craft poetry on a daily basis as a survival mechanism.
7) What is your passion in life? I am passionate about language, about converting silence and suffering into a sacred ritual of music making.
When a New York City Nurse becomes trapped in the south because of their backwards bodily autonomy laws, she must brave the folks of Mississippi and the Appalachian Mountains in order to make it home.
Get to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
My script is about Marie Voland, a nurse from NYC who travels to visit her boyfriend’s family in Mississippi. Her visit quickly turns from a vacation to imprisonment. When she does escape, she still needs to face the treacherous Appalachian trail on her way home to NYC.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
It’s the social commentary sub-genre of horror.
3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
Many scenes of my screenplay are not even “embellishments,” because there have been news around the country of far worse things happening to women. A few scenes were taken from my own life. After Roe V Wade was overturned this idea—this feeling— had been circling me. I wrote this as a creative way to release my anger about the situation.
4. How would you describe this script in two words?
Embroidered reality.
5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
Either any of the “Back to the Future” franchise or the three original “Indiana Jones” movies.
6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
I wrote the majority of this between April 2024 and May 2024 for my screenwriting class.
7. How many stories have you written?
With this one—nine features. I’ve also written three TV pilots and fourteen shorts.
8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
That would be hard to track to be honest, because I love music. According to my Spotify, I’ve listened to 442 hours of music (not including my cassette tapes). Ironically, the song I’m replaying these days is “Yet Another Movie” by Pink Floyd.
9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
I worried a lot about putting in the supernatural element and if that would take away from the overall message. I also wanted to make sure that Marie was a lived-in, believable character. Furthermore, I wanted to make sure that the “villains” were not cartoonish, but looked and acted like normal people.
10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Music! I love going to concerts out of town, especially 80s-bands like Metallica, GNR, Alice Cooper, and Megadeth. I collect memorabilia and cassette tapes. I catch guitar picks at concerts as mementos and I try to get the VIP experience when I can (meeting the bands).
11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?
I’ve not had any issues with it.
12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
I was looking for horror-specific festivals to join and happened upon this one. Initially, I was surprised. As writer, I’m more used to receiving negative feedback and for a while I couldn’t believe I had received such positive comments. I think it took me a few days to reply from the shock.
A newlywed couple takes on a one time gig to make ends meet and wind up creating America’s very first sitcom in the process… based on a true story.
Get to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
This is easily the hardest question – there’s so much to say about this!
This screenplay is a based on the true story of Mary Kay and Johnny Stearns, a couple of Broadway-bound newlyweds living in New York City during the dawn of the small screen. It’s an interesting time to be sure – post WWII, there are less TV sets in the U.S. than residents in all of of Manhattan. There’s more dead air than actual programming, and anything that does make it to air is done live. The pair manage to get their hands on 15 minutes of precious air-time, and are given carte blanch to make something great with it. They have no idea what they’re doing… but, then again, neither does anyone else! What they come up with is a show about their lives, featuring them as, well, themselves. In doing so, they accidentally create America’s very first sitcom, breaking barriers that would soon be too taboo to show on screen, from sharing a bed, to sharing a child years before I Love Lucy and The Munsters.
… And yet, nobody knows about it!
The reason for this is multifold. Some seasons weren’t recorded at all, or were recorded with lackluster equipment. Years later, company takeovers resulted in entire reels being thrown out. Of 300 episodes, only one remains.
What I’m proposing is a show about the making of this show. This screwball dramedy miniseries would follows the three season timeline of the original, and be in the vein of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but with the self-awareness of Kevin Can Fuck Himself.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Too many! For sure it’s historical by default. It toes the line between Comedy and Drama (both according to myself and the Austin Film Festival, where it placed as a Second Rounder in both categories). I like to describe it as a Screwball Dramey, with Screwball being a farce of RomComs.
3. Why should this screenplay be made into a TV series?
There is nothing more sour in my mind than a life’s artistic work being thrown in the trash. To be fair, the remaining reels were technically thrown into the Hudson, not the trash, but still! I want more people to know about these two and what they did for the sitcom landscape.
4. How would you describe this script in two words?
“True Story”
5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
Family car trips have forced this one on me – Dodgeball. Still, I love it.
Of my own accord, I’d probably go with “The Nightmare Before Christmas”.
6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
Off and on for a year or two.
7. How many stories have you written?
Not including several NANOWRIMO attempts, I have written a handful of short scripts and pilots alongside hundreds of articles. I am hoping to complete my first novel and my first feature film within the next year.
8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
God, I am such a dork… it’s probably from a musical, like Cell Block Tango from Chicago? I wish I had a cooler answer. My husband has be on an Epic: The Musical kick. Snippets of lyrics from it keep making their way into my everyday earworm. I’m also a sucker for stand-up.
9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
Maybe other neurotypicals will respond to this better, but I found it so hard to motivate myself to finish the last 1/3 of this project. I didn’t want it to end. I had a clear picture of what I wanted to happen, and was just like, can’t you see it? It’s right there! Openings and closings are my specialty… it’s all the in between nonsense that gets in the way.
A technical note – I’m a stickler for accuracy where it matters, so I’ve been working with a local school’s law clinic to make sure I’m covered on the technical details. Talk about nail biting! The good news is, I am. Still, a lot of this is educated guesses and inferences due to the lack of original source information. I’d love to get in touch with surviving cast and family members to hopefully get their insights, and, of course, their blessing.
10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Aside from the obvious answer of movies and tv, I am passionate about my work in libraries. I’ve been in the field for the past decade, and cannot wait to see some of my own stuff on the shelves! It should go without saying I’m a reader.
After years participating in every sport imaginable, from softball to fencing, I’m now making up for lost time by signing up for ice skating lessons in an attempt to take back the Mighty Duck seasons I never had as a kid. I’ve tried just about everything on the ice rink, from Theater on Ice and Synchro to Hockey. Needless to say, this might not me the brightest idea considering my age, but I love it!
11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?
I have worked with FilmFreeway as both a Filmmaker and as a Festival Subuser (I’m a Script Reader on the side). It’s fairly simple to use, with a name based URL that’s easy to remember in a pinch. Plus, the more you add to it, the more you get out of it.
12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
After years to submitting to anything and everything, I’ve been motivated more recently to only submit to competitions that promise tangible winnings for readers – actual meetings, monetary compensation, table readings, etc. Of the latter, I thoroughly believe that having our work as a screenwriter played out is a necessary part of development. Things like tone, cadence, gaps, are all picked up by speaking the words aloud… and having an actual person versus an AI voice doing it makes such a difference!
My initial feelings on the feedback I received were, and I quote: “WOW! They Liked it! They actually LIKED it!”. I’ve only started submitting this work to competitions in the past few months, and have received mostly positive results. The outpouring of support for this work has been absolutely incredible… and the notes, both positive and negative, will be easy to implement. At the end of the day, I just want someone to enjoy what I put out there, and I believe this script does just that.
