The other day I read some press releases via twitter about this Writers Lab for women, funded by the divine Meryl Streep, with such excitement; thinking, I’m well over 40, I can abandon the family in September 2015, I can write scripts (just need someone to show me when to stop and how to edit…) then came to my senses and accepted that I do not have a properly edited and polished draft of any of the film-length scripts I have ever scribbled… but I could spend some time on an existing one now and send it in, and ooh! wouldn’t that be wonderful…
Then I read the small print and deflated almost as quickly as I had got excited, when I realised that not only would the competition for a place be intense, you also have to be a US citizen to be eligible to apply. For just a moment I wondered how to go about becoming a US citizen even though I live in the UK, as it would be worth it just to be able to meet and listen to that list of mentors for the workshops:
Caroline Kaplan (Time Out of Mind, Personal Velocity), Kirsten Smith (Legally Blonde, Ten Things I Hate About You), Jessica Bendinger (Bring It On, Aquamarine), Mary Jane Skalski (Win Win, The Station Agent), Gina Prince-Bythewood (Secret Life of Bees, Beyond the Lights), Lydia Dean-Pilcher (The Lunchbox, The Reluctant Fundamentalist), Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys) will be serving as mentors, pending scheduling. Mentors advise in one-on-one meetings with additional events to inspire artists to hone their creative vision.
Am now day-dreaming about what it would be like to attend such a thing, and have bought a pencil-sharpener. Honing my creative vision after I’ve cleaned the kitchen.