Mare, a graduating high school senior, must navigate the bittersweet complexities of leaving her hometown for her dream school while grappling with her growing romantic feelings for her best friend, Jules.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10589329/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
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CAST LIST:

Narrator: Steve Rizzo
Student 1/Dad: Geoff Mays
Student 2/Chris/Mom: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
JULES: Val Cole
MARE: Julie Sheppard

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

In short, "Wishing on Stars" short film is about high school sapphic pining. It follows Mare, a graduating high school senior, as she navigates the complexities of leaving her hometown for her dream school while grappling with her growing romantic feelings for her best friend, Jules, who she'd be leaving behind in their home state.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Coming of Age, Drama

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

My hope is that making this short script into a film will lead to making its companion feature script into a film. There aren't enough happy sapphic rom-com films in the world, and that's what the feature is, and it speaks to a different type of character than what I've seen before.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

Sapphic pining.

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

Definitely "Legally Blonde". It is my favorite movie of all time.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

This screenplay was finished in a couple of months actually, which is fast for me. It's a prequel to a feature I wrote before it by the same name, "Wishing on Stars", so once I knew what time point I wanted to cover in this short, the story came together relatively easily.

7. How many stories have you written?

Quite a few at this point - 2 features, and around 10-15 shorts/episodes

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

That's so hard because my music tastes change from day to day. I guess I'll say "Everywhere" by Fleetwood Mac.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

I'm a perfectionist so making sure that I was communicating everything I wanted to communicate in less than 15 pages was a big challenge. There were several different directions I thought about going and it was difficult to narrow it down. But I am happy with how it turned out.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I love music. It's been a part of my life since childhood, and it inspires me every day, whether I'm playing it or listening to it. I'm also obsessed with my dogs and animals in general, and I'm a huge fan of travel which I've been trying to do more of in the last couple of years.

11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?

FilmFreeway makes everything super easy. After adding projects to my profile, it just takes a couple of clicks and everything is submitted.

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

This is an LGBTQ+ script so I wanted to enter it into a good festival with those specific themes. Feedback is always helpful, especially when it's someone outside of my own circle giving it so I took it and made some little edits.