hugh ritchie

Family Best Scene Reading – NO MORE GOODBYES, by Rebekah R Ganiere

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January 2017 Winning FAMILY Best Scene Reading.

 Best Scene from the screenplay NO MORE GOODBYES Screenplay
Written by Rebekah Ganiere

CAST LIST:

NARRATOR – Victoria Kucher
TRISTAN – Hugh Ritchie
BETTY – Julie Sheppard
STAN – David Occhipinti
SHERIFF – Robert Notman
ER NURSE – Olivia Jon

SYNOPSIS:

Genre: Family, Drama

When two foster brothers lose their carer they find themselves in danger of being separated. They go on the run, finding new family along the way.

Get to know the writer:

What is your screenplay about?

After the death of his foster mother, sixteen-year-old Mark goes on the run- fulfilling his promise to keep him and his eight-year-old foster brother, Tristan, together. But when their car dies in a small town, Mark finds that hiding out and caring for a young child with PTSD isn’t as easy as he thought.

What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Family Film, Drama

Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

It helps us to look at what it takes to consider someone family. With the country divided in so many ways right now this movie shows that people of any age, race, or religion can come together to form a family. And the sacrifices that family makes for each other.

How would you describe this script in two words?

Brotherly sacrifice

What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I’ve been a nerd for a very long time.

How long have you been working on this screenplay?

Honestly, not long. I wrote it in one week last July. But I am a very quick writer. This was my first screenplay. I’ve edited it half a dozen times since then, but that’s about all. I’ve been a published author for three years and so when an idea hits me I bang it out quick.

How many stories have you written?

Stories? Man, I have no idea. I currently have 18 novels published. And sixty plus ideas still waiting to be written. I have four screenplays and a pilot I’ve written in the last six months. And several unfinished works as well.

What motivated you to write this screenplay?

My son. He is eight and he’s an actor and I have wanted to write something that would really showcase his funny, quirky, loving personality. And he has a friend who is also an actor who is sixteen. So I thought, realistically where would an eight year old and a sixteen year old meet and become best friends?

What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

Making sure if felt real and authentic. I wanted this to be a story that people could watch and see themselves in, or someone they know and relate to it with characters we cried with and rooted for. That takes some doing.

Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I am a homeschooling mom of 4 beautiful kids. Three daughters and a son. I spend a lot of time driving them around to auditions and dance classes and other classes. We as a family love Comic Cons. We go to about seven a year and cosplay. So sewing and prop making and crafting take a lot of my time as well.

What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I loved the title. Festival for Family. I felt that was exactly the kind of audience I wanted to appeal to. The initial feedback I have gotten is awesome. Some of the notes were ones I had already been thinking about myself and so they just confirmed the changes I already wanted to make.

Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Write what you are passionate about not what you think the market wants. The market is always changing and if you try to write to what you think people want to see by the time you are done, the market will have changed. But if you write what you are passionate about and what you love, at the end of the day, even if no one sees it, you will love what you did. And that’s the most important thing of all.

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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com

Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne

Editor: John Johnson

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FOUR FOR THE BORDER – Feature Screenplay Reading by Toby Roberts

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Four for the Border is the February 2016 Feature Screenplay Winner. It is considered the top spec screenplay in the world today!

Watch Four for the Border by Toby Roberts:

CAST LIST:

NARRATOR – Victoria Urquhart
SKYE – Amaka Umeh
TRAPPER – Hugh Ritchie
POLLY – Mohogany Brown
ARTURO – Isaac Alfie
RUDDOCK/GELARDI – Julian Ford
HODDER – Sean Ballantyne

Get to know writer Toby Roberts:

Matthew Toffolo: What is your feature film screenplay about? 

Toby Roberts: The story is about three teenagers from completely different backgrounds on the run in rural New Mexico with a thoroughbred racehorse. But the underlying theme is the triumph of hope over experience and whether you should grow up doing exactly what your parents tell you or sometimes trust your spirit , abandon convention and go live your dream.

Matthew: Why should this screenplay be made into a movie? 

Toby: It’s a fun, life affirming story that touches the heart, adults and kids alike. But it’s also got a profound message. I’ll leave it to you to watch the reading to discover that message.

Matthew: How would you describe this script in two words?    

Toby: Adventurous fun

Matthew: What movie have you seen the most in your life? 

Toby: Midnight Run

Matthew: How long have you been working on this screenplay?  

Toby: On and off for years. Quite a few of them!

Matthew: How many stories have you written? 

Toby: Stories? Too many to count…I’m always jotting things down. Screenplays? Three.

Matthew: What motivated you to write this screenplay? 

Toby: Ultimately, the desire to tell a good, entertaining story. My parents had a lot to do with it in that my upbringing was a little unconventional and I thank them for that. I like to think I share those parental choices in the script.

Matthew: What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay? 

Toby: Many. One of the hardest was avoiding procrastination and actually sitting down and writing. Then came the rewriting. In a sense this was more fun but the page count was always increasing as new ideas poured in and deciding what to rip out was extremely tough because once you undo one thread, the whole thing has the ability to fall apart. Then there’s a lot of patch work required. (I’ve no idea why I’ve come up with a sewing analogy as there’s no particular link to finely made clothing but it seems to serve the purpose!)

Matthew: Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about? 

Toby: Directing. Soccer. And playing squash. On a broader level, taking life by the balls and giving it a damned good squeeze.

Matthew: What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

Toby: As soon as I saw what the festival was about I knew FFTB was the perfect match, there was no hesitation to submit. The feedback was excellent, really opened my eyes to a number of issues I hadn’t considered before.

Matthew: Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers? 

Toby: Woody Allen said, “Eighty percent of success is showing up,” by which he meant, completing the script. (There are a lot more writers who talk about their ideas rather than get them down into completed script form.) So, bottom line is, write the damned thing! And to those who have achieved this, the next tip is keep rewriting. I too thought my first draft was it, that’s all I had to do…other than write my thank you speech at the Oscars. People told me it doesn’t happen that way…and I ignored them. Now I know. And I bet you most writers reading this will ignore it too. But here’s an indication of what it takes…I’ve done over 50 rewrites of FFTB. It’s won a couple of prizes, there’s been some professional interest, and yet I still dip into it and see ways of improving it. You might think it’s because I’m not good enough. But Woody Allen, one of the industry’s most prolific writers, still rewrites his scripts even during filming.

 

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Director/Producer – Matthew Toffolo
Editor – John Johnson
Casting Director – Sean Ballantyne