A former cop’s search for her missing sister leads her into the dark world of a witch’s coven, where ancient rituals and forbidden magic force her to confront her deepest fears and uncover the truth about her family’s past.

https://instagram.com/stripcraftmovie

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?
Strip Craft is about the complexities of sibling love. How familial trauma can perpetrate choices that compound that trauma. In the story of Strip Craft, sisters Hailey and Amanda had experienced varying degrees of uncomfortable conditions and found themselves making choices that would compound their trauma. Hailey consumed with guilt, a drive to make better choices and help others headed on a separate path than her sister Amanda. When an ancient blood born connection to the occult warns Hailey that her sister is in dire trouble, she sets out to find her sister and bring her to safety. Little does Hailey know that this journey will bring her face to face with an ancient entity who may have a noble cause but their execution of retribution is evil.
So this story is also about the perils of extremism within any ideology.

Also, Jeffrey Epstein did not kill himself.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
This is perhaps the toughest question for me to answer. The clearest answers are “Horror” and “Erotic Thriller”, but there are so many sub-genre’s. Sub-genre’s include; Body Horror, Supernatural, Suspense and LGBTQ+ love story to name a few.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
I believe while the thematic elements in the story may be too much for mainstream audiences, there is definitely enough audience out there who enjoy the movies of John Waters, David Cronenburg and other alternative auteurs in the film industry to merit the production costs. I also believe that the script possesses both an honest and absurd approach giving it a very unique voice.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?
Fun & Thought-provoking (One word because of the hyphen right ;)

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
Such a difficult question. To the best of my memory…. Probably Empire Strikes Back.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
Since April of 2018

7. How many stories have you written?
Roughly 10.

8. What motivated you to write this screenplay?
It was inspired by a short film I made back in 1999 on Super 8 called "Bloody Mary’s”. The premise was very similar and in fact the first 10 pages of Strip Craft are a version of that short film. My friendship with a (now ex) sex worker brought on the initial collaboration that birthed Strip Craft.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
I think the usual stuff like having to kill babies. One of my favorite side characters, the dancer by the name of Tassel had to go at one point. The script started out as a bit campy and over the top which it still has some of, but when I brought on a more experienced Producer with access to name talent, I worked hard to make the more identifiable themes stand out over the excesses.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Cinematography and Comic books. I do a fair amount of camera work as a job and I’m adapting a different screenplay I wrote to a comic book. I’m having so much fun, I’ll most likely adapt Strip Craft to a comic book when I’m done with “Dark Darkness”.

11. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
Having recently moved to San Diego and coming out as queer, I was inspired primarily by the proximately of LA to San Diego and of course that it’s an LGBTQ+ identifying festival. The characters are queer too but I hadn’t yet submitted to a “queer” festival.

Regarding the feedback I got, I can honestly say it’s some of the best feedback I’ve gotten. The feedback gives broad notes that can be applied across the whole screenplay. I’ve also felt reading notes from other sources that they are simply giving notes because they need to and were more about personal preference than notes on good screenwriting and better execution as were the notes from LGBTQ+ Los Angeles Film Festival focused on.

I’m excited to use the notes on the next draft.