BERL KAUFMAN
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Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Atlanta GA, but originally from New York City.
 
Your script stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your story and why did you write a script instead of a short story or a novel?
My screenplay is set during the Napoleonic wars, about a young girl who’s musical genius is discovered by the musical director of a German cathedral.  The director is desperate to replace his aging organist, as all his apprentice organists are drafted into the war and don’t survive. When he comes across our hero, he is thrilled because, as a girl, she won’t be drafted to fight Napoleon. But she turns out to be a gifted composer of secular music, which creates a conflict between the secular and non-secular world she lives in.
 
Having raised three daughters, I became sensitive to the challenges that women have had through the centuries in establishing themselves professionally.  And I grew up in a musical family:  my father was an accomplished violist and an uncle an accomplished violinist.  Classical music and church music was always in the air.  The American and French revolutions had just shocked the aristocracy, leading to a profound emphasis on the individual, on individual achievement.  Music (and later art) was shifting dramatically as the Romantic era emerged with Beethoven (who makes several appearances in the play), Schubert and others - a natural setting for conflict.
 
Finally, being Jewish, I felt inspired to express the antisemitic sensibility of the era. How poetic to have a young girl, trapped as an indentured servant in a church, discover her Jewish heritage at the same time that she discovers her musical gifts?
 
While this is my first screenplay, I’ve always been drawn to the theatrical arts. I’ve written a number of short stories, but this story just felt better as a play. It was originally written around 2001 as a stage play (unfinished), but then one day, around 2009, I started thinking about the play again and I suddenly saw in my mind’s eye the opening scene in a cinematic form, in a flash. It was uncannily real to me, like I was watching an actual film. That scene is set in the musty back room of this very old church, with mahogany pews and dust illuminated by stained glass windows; I saw all these young girls busily dressing in their uniforms getting ready for choir practice.  And I saw my antagonist, fully formed. Those opening two scenes essentially wrote themselves.
 
How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards...white board...or just start with FADE IN?
I first started the script around 2001 as a stage play, and I picked it up several times over the years. I decided to work on it in earnest in the autumn of 2023 with some intensive research on the cultural aspects of the time, the history, the musicology and church customs. I wanted the play to be largely accurate historically, to be believable.
 
After writing the first two scenes that I described earlier, I set about to flesh out the story, the conflicts and the defining moments. I created a detailed scene outline and then proceeded to tackle the dialogue and action for each one. I struggled mightily with making my protagonist both likable and believable and making the whole story interesting and fun. It was magical watching my characters, especially some of the secondary characters like Ernst, Sophia and Hans come alive with their own distinct voices and personalities. I purposefully set the play in the second-tier cultural center of Freiburg (I could have chosen Vienna, Paris or London) because I didn’t want the city, as a personality itself, to overwhelm the characters. The idea is the city and its inhabitants are buffeted by the war, but continue with their lives. 
 
Once I had the story pretty much nailed down, I needed to animate the major themes and do problem solving. Problems included, how to make the secondary characters appealing without detracting from the main protagonist and antagonist? How to keep the pacing fluid but still explain to the audience what’s going on?  I wrote the finale, in which most of the characters appear, before I figured out how to reconcile getting them all together in the same room.  So I backed into that.  Lots of fun doing that last bit.  I used the technique of a long-lost letter read aloud to provide back-story without (I hope) making it seem artificial.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
Like probably all playwrights, I would love to see my story produced.
I would love to write a biting, satirical comedy or a ROMCOM.
Also have a strong desire to write several cookbooks.
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
I loved Buck Henry’s writing in The Graduate.  But it’s hard to separate out the superb directing from the writing for this film, not to mention the score. The pacing and character development was incredibly crisp. No wasted scenes.
 
I also love Woody Allen as a writer. He dared to be honest and transparent about his complex neuroses, to laugh at his own expense. That takes both confidence and courage.  He broke new ground, establishing a new genre in comedy.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
That’s a tough question. In terms of consistently well done acting, story line and directing, it would have to be Breaking Bad. The writers cranked out great stories for each episode and engaged all the main and secondary characters in a way never before done in a TV series. Gripping and original.
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
As a first-time screenwriter I hardly feel qualified to give others advice!
But…here goes.
1.     It’s all about the story (except when it’s about a fascinating character). You need to have a compelling story that has a beginning, middle and end.
2.     Set aside time every day to write something
3.     What the characters say and do has to make sense, or you leave your audience bewildered and disappointed.  So do a reality check on your dialogue. Consider what’s motivating each character when you write a piece of dialogue.
4.     Do a reading early on if you’re just starting out. This will help get a sense of whether your dialogue has an authentic ring.
5.     Get your facts right. If you’re writing about an 18th century detective, he’s not going to have a flashlight.
6.     Mostly avoid camera placement and direction.  That’s not your job.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
I just started “Escape from Antwerp,” about my mother’s flight, at age 11, from Antwerp with her family by car through occupied France in 1940, just prior to the Nazis invasion of Belgium. I’m fictionalizing the story because it’s not especially compelling. Her family was in the diamond business. My mother told me how my grandfather collected all his diamonds into three parcels: one he sent to London  and one was sent to New York, both by ordinary mail. The third parcel was split up and sewn into the lining of their luggage. The London-bound parcel ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic when the ship was sunk by a German U-boat. The NYC parcel made it safely.
 
My idea is to embellish this story: the family is stopped at a Nazi checkpoint and my mother is sent to hide in the woods with a parcel of diamonds along with her 5 year old brother. It then splits into two stories: her parents’ survival and my mother’s survival which includes caring for her little brother and the safekeeping of the family fortune.

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