Rachel Jacob

Short Script Winner
​
"Four on the Mantle"

Where do you live (City, State, or Country)? 
I currently live in New Orleans, Louisiana.
 
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? 
I wrote this story, “Four on the Mantle” in honor of my close friends and family that have gone through miscarriages. I had the privilege of walking with them on their journeys and it hit my heart in a certain way. This subject is not talked about a lot, mostly because people don’t know what to say. I wanted to shed a light on the realness and the impact of that experience. I had to write it as a screenplay because I see it play out as film in my head, scripts are the best way I can express myself.
 
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? 
For short films I usually just start with FADE IN - for Features I do a beat sheet first and then get into it. This script took my roughly 2 months on and off to complete.
 
What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
Ultimately, I would love to be writing, directing, and acting in my own stories. Movies have my heart but some long form series have my attention as well.
 
Which film or television writers inspire you? Why?
I could take days to answer this question, haha! For now I’ll keep it to Jenny Lumet, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Phoebe -Waller Bridge, and Alfonso Cuaron. They write with a rawness and realness that I hope to emulate.
 
What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show?
This question I think is so difficult because so many pieces of this type of art mean so many things to us in so many different way, so how can you possibly compare or rank them?! I’ll do my best but even putting into words feels limiting somehow. The Film of films to me is 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick. It represents everything that the art form of cinema is capable of.  Favorite TV series are Mad Men and Killing Eve because of the extremely layered and witty writing and character development. The Original Star Wars and Lord of the Rings my imagination explode like it never had before so they have a special place in my heart. Again I could go on.
 
What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Keep writing, keep submitting, but most importantly, get professional script coverage before you are ready to turn a project in or submit. It is a painful but beautiful process where you will grow the most.
 
What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
​I have two feature scripts ready to go, one is a family adventure film and the other is a dystopian thriller and I hope to be rolling into production for one or both within the next 8 months. I’m also refining a third feature script that I hope to do a festival run with and then produce.

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