We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Grace a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Emily, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I felt deeply connected to my purpose from a young age. Since I was 4 or 5 I knew I wanted to be – UP THERE – on stage, in films, acting my heart out. I loved rallying the people around me to create something, to share the new skills or knowledge I had just learned.
I was made for creativity and empowering others by sharing what I’ve learned. It wasn’t difficult to find. I just listened to the calling of my soul.
As life has unfolded, rife with disappointment and heartbreak and rough patches, I have struggled to maintain that purpose. I’m excited to say that I feel more aligned with my purpose and my creative fulfillment than I have in years.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
This summer I’m producing and acting in the short film I wrote, The Pigeon.
It’s an off-kilter comedy that explores how unexpressed grief can turn into unhealthy obsession. The Pigeon follows a depressed woman reeling from the death of her friend who tries to heal. But instead of feeling her big painful feelings, she becomes obsessed with getting rid of her backyard pigeon.
But it’s more than just a silly film about a pigeon (and YES, it will feature a real life pigeon that lands in my backyard).
I wrote this film last year as a way to process the devastating loss of my Aunt Beth to (TRIGGER WARNING: suicide). If you’ve experienced this kind of loss, you know how gutting the pain is.
I spent the better part of a year leaving a deep imprint on my couch. I was functioning in my professional, but barely. And although I had the luxury of owning my own business, which gave me the freedom to rearrange schedule if I needed that, I didn’t have any tools to navigate the dark cloud of grief I carried with me everywhere.
I love my clients so much. I empower people to write and produce their own films so they never have to wait for permission to do what they love. But there are only so many times you can show up to class and ugly cry.
Instead I would just shove my big painful feelings as far down as I could, so I could function. But I wasn’t actually dealing with anything or moving forward.
After about a year of sitting on the couch, I found myself desperate for creative expression. The Aunt Beth-sized hole in the universe was a stark reminder that we don’t have infinite time. I had been pushing my creativity to the side to make my business a priority for years. Even though it was a struggle. Even though it didn’t always pay the bills. Even though there were many times I wanted to close up shop and quit.
I kept telling myself, “When my business gets to THIS place, THEN I’ll make acting and writing a priority.” But the goal post of that ever-elusive place kept moving.
I finally reached a breaking point. The only bright spot I can point to in losing my aunt is the deep soul-level realization that I want to live while I’m alive.
I said “fuck it.” And I started writing.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
How To Write A Compelling Script
Through my business Pickford West, and my podcast, FILM BROADS, SEE? I teach professional-level screenwriting tools
and a process of self production.
I’ve helped hundreds of clients develop scripts that they love about stories that matter to them. I live and breathe screenwriting tools. I’m surrounded by up-and-coming writers and constantly giving feedback.
Even if I’m not actively writing, being in that environment increases my confidence and speeds up my own writing process. I was able to go from idea in my head to a finished script in about a month.
How To Write A Script You Can Actually Produce
A producible script has as few locations, characters as pages as possible (without detracting from the story). That gives you the best chance of producibility with a budget you can realistically crowdfund or acquire.
And yet – the majority of my students insist on writing scripts that upwards of 18 pages (sometimes as long as 25), which makes your short A LOT more expensive to make, and harder to get picked up by a festival.
Writing The Pigeon was a secret challenge I gave to myself to show my students that you can write a powerful short and keep it…well, short. The script comes in at a breezy 9 pages.
With one location, 3 actors, and one pigeon (who is working without pay), that sets us up with a great chance of reaching our crowdfunding goal.
Knowing When To Take Notes And When To Leave Them
In my program we meet for regular feedback sessions where writers share their script pages for notes. This was instrumental for my process (yes! In addition to running the program, I also participated as a student). It gave me deadlines and urgency to build momentum.
I got to hear my work read by other people to see what worked and what needs work. And I got valuable feedback from my peers to help me improve my script.
There were times I got feedback that just didn’t align with my vision for the script. To me, that is the mark of a writer who has honed their voice and trusts their creative instincts.
And I love this script so much. I can’t wait to make this film.
If you’re early in your filmmaking journey, I recommend you seek out people who know more about screenwriting than you do. Screenwriting is a craft that you can learn. Get feedback as you develop your idea (don’t wait until your done to share it with people you trust). When you do get feedback – your only job is to listen. You don’t have to like it, or agree with it, or defend your choices, or go into a long explanation of what your were trying to do. Just listen and say thank you. If it resonates – that that note and run with it. And if it doesn’t – just leave it be. You are the expert on the story you’re telling.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
The Pigeon deals with what happens after losing someone to suicide. Which is a very specific experience and specific type of grief that people need support with. As I embark on my crowdfunding campaign, and later when my film is making the festival rounds and beyond, I’d like to connect with organizations who specifically support people through grief due to a suicide.
My intention is to spread the word about this film in conjunction with sharing these types of organizations.
According to the CDC, the suicide rate in the United States reached a record high in 2022 (the same year I lost my aunt). There are so many people reeling from these losses who, like the Protagonist of The Pigeon, don’t know how to process their grief in a healthy way.
If this resonates with you, please email me at [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: http://thepigeonfilm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theonlyemilygrace/
- Other: Work with me: http://pickfordwest.com/ Listen to the podcast: https://pickfordwest.lpages.co/essential-season-one/
Image Credits
Brooke Trantor
