“A strong premise that evokes the procedural fluency and mystical atmosphere of the first season of True Detective… a project that could find a home with Premium Cable or Streaming Networks.” – reader, The Black List
Humble Beginnings
For the past two years, my partner Erica Velis and I have been working on an hour-long dramatic TV pilot that tackles racism, Islamophobia, the rise of the the alt-right and explores the spiritual condition of the American psyche in the age of Trump. It’s a cinematic crime thriller that The Black List’s readers have called “taut” and “compelling” with a “strong premise [that] evokes the procedural fluency and mystical atmosphere of the first season of True Detective… a project that could find a home with premium cable or streaming networks.”
Although this is our first script, the idea for the show had been gestating for several years. We officially began our screenwriting journey in the summer of 2016 when we submitted a treatment to The Industry Insider TV Pilot Contest organized by The Writers Store. Our treatment made the semifinals and then we had one month to write a pilot, something neither of us had ever done before. Due to work obligations at that time, we only had 10 free days to do it. Under the gun and brainstorming mightily, Erica and I broke the story and wrote the first draft of the entire pilot in eight days. Initially clocking in at 96 pages, we spent another two days whittling it down to 82 before submitting it to the contest. In a year of record submissions—and one in which, according to The Writers Store, the storytelling was the best they’d seen in the history of the contest—only 10 projects would be selected for the final round. We were elated when we found out we were among the top 10, not just because we made the finals, but also because this very special contest provided each of the top 10 writers with complimentary coaching from an experienced screenwriter who would work with us for 12 weeks to help take our first draft to the next level.
Honing the Draft, Learning the Craft
We couldn’t have been more thrilled with our coach, Kay Tuxford, a two-time Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship semifinalist, a Scriptapalooza winner and mentor to numerous Industry Insider finalists, including some who’ve gone on to make their TV dreams a reality. Kay shepherded us through two rigorous revisions of our script, pushed us to amp up the conflict and made many helpful suggestions that allowed us to deepen our characters and the dynamics between them. She also guided us through the first draft of our season pitch bible, providing critical feedback about how to present our show’s overview, character bios and season story arcs. At the end of the process, we had a stronger script, all the material we needed for pitching, more insight into the finer points of the craft and the confidence to keep competing and doggedly pursue our goal of becoming TV show creators.
Continued Success
In 2017 and 2018, we continued to refine the pilot script and entered numerous contests. It was extremely validating to rank highly in nearly every one we submitted to: quarterfinalists in Final Draft’s Big Break Screenwriting Contest and the CineStory Fellowship Competition, and semifinalists in ScreenCraft Pilot Launch TV Script Contest. In addition, since November 2017, our script has ranked among the top 10 spots on Coverfly’s The Red List, the industry’s largest database of top screenplay contest entries and script coverage evaluations by vetted entertainment industry professionals.
Finalists at The Atlanta Film Festival
However, our biggest highlight so far has been making the final round of The Atlanta Film Festival’s Screenplay Competition. ATLFF is one of the oldest and longest running festivals in the country, and welcomes an audience of 25,000 to discover new independent, international and documentary films. More than a thousand scripts were submitted for 2018’s competition and we were thrilled to have made it into the top ten. In addition to the festival, we were invited to the ScreenCraft Writers Summit sponsored by the Atlanta Film Society and ScreenCraft. Packed with panels, workshops, pitch events, meetings, and parties—and boasting a phenomenal lineup of panelists, mentors and industry professionals—the Writers Summit seemed like a great opportunity to learn, network and connect with both seasoned pros and up-and-coming industry talent. Also, given that our pilot is set in a fictional town outside Atlanta, the invitation was that much more meaningful. We were excited to finally have a reason to visit the fine state of Georgia and get better acquainted with all Atlanta’s vibrant creative community has to offer.
“We were excited to finally have a reason to visit the fine state of Georgia and get better acquainted with all Atlanta’s vibrant creative community has to offer.”
Both the festival and the Writers Summit were inspiring and creatively invigorating. The Plaza Theatre and the Druid Hills Presbyterian Church (not pictured) were at the heart of the events. We attended numerous insightful panels on navigating Hollywood, breaking through diversity barriers, running a writers room, overcoming failure, the agent/manager relationship and film development in Georgia. We heard from powerhouse pros like Laeta Kalogridis (writer on X-Men, Shutter Island and Altered Carbon), Diana Ossana (Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Brokeback Mountain) and Eric Heisserer (Academy Award nominated screenwriter of Arrival). We also had the chance to sit down with industry mentors, ranging from Eric Haywood (writer and co-executive producer of the TV hit, Empire) and Wendy Calhoun (TV showrunner for Justified, Grey’s Anatomy and Nashville) to sought after agents like Keya Khayatian at UTA to film festival directors like Matt Dy, who facilitates the screenwriting competition at the Austin Film Festival. It was an incredible opportunity to hear inspiring stories and get direct advice from high level industry professionals—and well worth the trip down south in every respect.
As great as all that was, the best part of the experience was forging deep bonds with amazing people who are on a similar path and wavelength. On the left below, you’ll see a beautiful, talented couple: Our fellow screenwriting finalist Sean Collins-Smith (who wrote End of Life, an intriguing, page-turner of a pilot) and his partner, Allison Norlian, who is a journalist/anchor for NBC12 in Richmond, Virginia. To the right, you’ll see two Georgia trailblazers, actor/poet Shawn Singletary and his business partner, producer and activist Akima Brown. Another example of an instant soul connection as well as a deep dive into intense conversations about the struggles of minority filmmakers, social/political issues and how storytelling can be a powerful force for driving the changes we want to see happen.
With so much on the agenda, we only had a chance to see two films at the festival: Take Light, an informative doc by Shasha Nakhai about Nigeria’s energy crisis, and Disappearance, a quietly moving narrative by Ali Asgari about a young virgin who experiences a complication after having sex for the first time and takes desperate measures to avoid harsh consequences in conservative Iranian society. Though we regret we couldn’t see more films, we made the most of our time at the Writers Summit, enjoyed the Atlanta area immensely and returned home feeling more energized than ever. We’re inspired by the growing success of our peers and thankful to be part of a community of such talented people, grateful for the wisdom gained from seasoned pros, and ready to take the next steps to advance our goal: to create a compelling show that will bring new heroes to TV, challenge the the status quo and open up meaningful dialogue about issues we care about deeply.
“We’re inspired by the growing success of our peers and thankful to be part of a community of such talented people, grateful for the wisdom gained from seasoned pros, and ready to take the next steps to advance our goal: to create a compelling show that will bring new heroes to TV, challenge the the status quo and open up meaningful dialogue about issues we care about deeply.”
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