Genre: Fantasy
Logline: A 7-year old girl turns to her pet goldfish, Gerdie, to help her cope with her mother’s cancer.
So I made it to the finals…
I wrote this in one weekend for challenge #4 of the NYC Midnight Short Screenplay Challenge (2010). The 25 writers in final round had to write a fantasy short featuring a goldfish. The location for the short: a hospice.
So here I am in the final round, pitted against the 24 writers who consistently placed at the top of their heats in the first 3 rounds. When the parameters for the final round were announced, I was both elated and somber.
I’m a genre guy, plain and simple. Horror, sci-fi, fantasy… I love to read ‘em, love to watch ‘em, love to write ‘em. Regardless of how the final scores shake out, I got to write a genre script. Win.
Having a goldfish as the prop was another win. Anthropomorphism, anyone? If it worked for Disney for over 80 years, chances are it would work for me for one weekend.
Which brings us to hospice…
When I was in high school, my father died from cancer. A few years later, my aunt (Dad’s younger sister) also died from cancer. Almost a decade after that, when my other aunt (Dad’s older sister) was diagnosed with cancer, my grandmother chose to voluntarily end her dialysis instead of watching cancer take another one of her children. Grandma died in October. My aunt died the following April.
My mother, who remained the rock through all of this, starting working in hospice when I was in high school. Decades later, she’s still there.
Let’s just say that writing about hospice, with all the associated emotions… well, write what you know, right?
Fast forward 20 years (give or take). I’m married to the love of my life, raising three beautiful, brilliant kids. If I told you I didn’t wonder about whether or not cancer is going to invade our lives sooner or later, I’d be lying. Morbid? Maybe. Realistic? Definitely.
And who’s going to be the main character of my script? I quickly decided on a 7 year-old girl. Writing from the viewpoint of a 7 year-old girl is easy when your own little girl is about to turn 7 herself.
All of these thoughts run through my mind in the 5 seconds after I read the email from NYC Midnight with the parameters for the final round. After 5 revisions, I felt that script was finally ready. I showed it to my wife, and her reaction clinched it. I submitted the script a few minutes later.
Once again, I’m grateful to the folks at NYC Midnight for prompting me to write a script that I ended up loving through and through.
Download screenplay: Gerdie
