GRETCHEN RATCLIFF SAWYER
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Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
I live in Pasadena, California. I am a native of Los Angeles.
 
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?
The story of Andrea Tootie Shining…Talk Show Host, was born in film school, Spring semester 2019. It was originally an assignment to write a pilot. I thought hard about stories not often visited about the African American community and I invented Tootie Shining, a quirky high school senior superhero and social media influencer from South Central LA with a big dream, and with support of family, her besties, her street block of comically odd and curious neighbors, a talking coyote and a little magic, her dream comes true. It’s modern day coming-of-age story about family, community and the will to bend the universe toward your ambition. Tootie Shining was created to inspire young girls, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to be blazingly bold in dreaming bigger than their circumstances. My goal was always to expand the pilot into a full-feature comedy after graduation, and that’s what I did. Eventually, I brought in a writing partner, Kevin Keith, to help with more rewriting and to sharpen the story.
 
 DHow 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?
The entire writing journey for Andrea Tootie Shining, from film school and the original 60pg pilot to expansion into a feature film, to bringing in a writing partner and then doing another rewrite; it took 2yrs.
 
My writing process is first developing the central character or protagonist and what they want and what stands in their way. Then I create a log-line. I completely develop my main character with profound detail and find an image of what they may look like. Then I create the supporting cast and I find images for them. Then I write a treatment, an outline and a story summary. All of this is the hard work in my opinion. I call it “pouring the cement to create the foundation of the story,” so that I can build the house. Now, I’m ready for my colored index cards that represent Acts 1, 2 and 3. I use a different color for conflicts and where they should go in the acts. Sometimes, I move the conflict cards around because a particular conflict should happen earlier or later in the story. This also lets me know where I need conflict.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
I’d like to get into a writer’s room and be part of a team of content creators where I can contribute to telling diverse stories with eclectic and everyday characters who encounter extraordinary and ordinary situations. My ultimate ambition is to create and produce African American stories with characters who encounter and work through extraordinary and normal situations that take them into diverse worlds with diverse people. From comedy to science-fiction, there are so many stories to tell.
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
I like Shonda Rhimes, Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Shaka King, Rueben Santiago-Hudson, Aaron Sorkin, Diablo Cody, Francis Ford Coppola, Richard LaGravenese, Issa Ray, Richard Brooks/James Poe, Frank Darabont and Nora Ephron to name a few. I like these writers because they splendidly write diverse, exciting, conflicted, deeply complex, flawed and tragic characters that reflect the human condition.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
My all-time favorite movie is still The Wizard of Oz.
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Write consistently because it makes you a better writer. It’s comes down to
Setup + Confrontation + Resolution/Payoff, and the miraculous journey lies between these.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
My pipeline includes a sci-fi series; a suspense thriller; an animation feature film with a TV series spin-off. A documentary about farm family. A drama pilot that I’ve written, and I’m writing 9 additional episodes for a season. And I still plug away on my romance novel.
 

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