When a precocious mixed-race five-year-old wanders into a fire station with only a backpack and a cryptic note about her missing mother, she has no idea it will set off a chain of events that will reshape her life. The little girl, who refuses to give her name, is sent into foster care and given the name Mariah Foster. Despite her resilience, she often runs away, gravitating toward the fire station where Fire Chief Teresa Cortez becomes a steadfast mentor.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Steve Rizzo
Mariah: Val Cole
Gigi: Elizabeth Rose Morriss

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

Pearl Fisher" follows two parallel journeys of loss and ends in the same room.

A precocious 5-year-old girl, abandoned at a fire station by her pregnant mother fleeing abuse, enters foster care and is renamed Mariah Foster, though she continues awaiting her mother's return.

In a parallel story, Kenny MacCayne, a newly-hired investigator, searches for a wealthy woman's missing daughter who ran away years ago with Kenny's previously unknown twin brother.

After Mariah survives an attack involving a cherished pendant, clues from a library volunteer and her distinctive swimming style reveal she might be the missing granddaughter. Skeptical at first, Mariah finally believes the truth when Kenny's twin brother calls her by her birth name, "Pearl Fisher," a secret known only to her mother.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Drama, Mystery

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

"Pearl Fisher" is a story of hope and miracles, heartbreak and devastation, and ultimately the reunion of family and new beginnings.

People need stories with happy endings today more than ever.

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

Resilient Faith

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

Wizard of Oz

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

Since May of 2020

6. How many stories have you written?

10 features

6 shorts ( Two made into short films)

3 pilots

1 Feature animation

1 short animation

7. What motivated you to write this screenplay?

Some of the events in this story are true to my life and I wanted to write about it with a happy ending

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

Keeping the two time lines progressing in a coherent fashion

Keeping it under 120 pages.

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

I love music. I am a pro-bass player, both electric and upright.

I love directing— mostly have directed stage and mostly original scripts by other people.

I also really love editing film. When I edit, I edit with a musical sense of time and dynamics.

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

I was motivated to enter it because it was specifically for "mysteries."

I thought the feed back was specific and to the pointing much appreciated. Writing a mystery requires dropping hints without giving away too much too fast and without hitting anything on the nose. I agreed with most of the comments regarding clarity of plot.

A couple of comments I thought would become clear when cast since Mariah is mixed race (white mother white- black father) and Esther's parents were both black, I thought that id would be apparent that the two girls would not necessarily look a lot alike. I did go back into the script and specifically state that the fathers were not identical twins.

11. What movie have you watched the most times in your life?

Wizard of Oz