The ’90s teen show you don’t think of when you find yourself stuck in a bank robbery dawson creek passing through your mind. But then again, I never expected to open a bank vault for an armed robber in the first place.
Let’s back up – after graduating from a small liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan with a degree in English and Media Studies, I felt lost and unsure of where the future would take me. So I accepted a job that required neither knowledge of 19th-century English literature nor Orson Welle’s use of chiaroscuro: bank teller.
inciting incident
One day, a man walked into the bank and robbed the bank at gunpoint. I’ve left out some details, but the important thing is that no one was hurt. But throughout the robbery, I kept hearing Paula Cole’s voice singing dawson creek Theme song “I don’t want to wait for our lives to end…”
Sure, it’s a little jarring, but the feeling rings true. I don’t want to be a bank teller for the rest of my life (not even for another week, to be honest). I want to be a screenwriter. If this robbery taught me anything, it’s that life is too short not to work hard for your dreams.
I applied to the University of Texas at Austin for an MFA in Screenwriting. They accepted me right away and I was signed up by the manager the first semester. I moved to Los Angeles and sold my first show, and now I’m writing this from the pool in the backyard of my mansion in Beverly Hills.
In fact, I was on the waitlist at UT and it didn’t look like there was a spot open for me. So I turned to plan B – if I couldn’t write about movies, I could at least write something about them, so I accepted a spot in the arts journalism program.
Two weeks before I was set to leave for the program, I got a call from UT. They saved a spot for me. Do I want it?
Read more: The biggest obstacle to your screenwriting career may be…you
fun and games
I spent the next two years in Austin, studying screenwriting, meeting some of my best friends, and falling in love. This will be considered the “fun and games” part of the script. Time flew by so fast and soon it was time to leave the nest and test my wings in Los Angeles.
Moving to Los Angeles was very difficult. I’m lucky enough to live with two friends from UT. Thank God I had this support system because the transition was difficult and success didn’t come knocking on my door asking to borrow some candy or my TV pilot idea.
Instead, I worked at a Barnes & Noble bookstore as a nanny, receptionist, and personal organizer assistant. I think less dawson creek Theme song and more about the Crying Dawson memes during this time. But I kept writing. This is the one thing I can control.
Each script taught me something—these pages were a playground where I tried new things, made big changes, and honed my voice. Not all of them are great, or even very good. But each one was like a weight training rep, boosting my creativity and improving my stamina and stamina to complete a 30, 60 or 120 page story.
Read more: How writers can avoid procrastination, find discipline, and get motivated
Achieve success with the ScreenCraft Scholarship
When I applied for the ScreenCraft Fellowship, I had written 13 screenplays. This is the lucky number 13——Northport Nanny—This makes me one of the 2023 ScreenCraft Fellows. The protagonist Brynn is a student at Northport Academy, an academy that trains elite nannies for the super-rich. The Northport nanny is not only good at changing diapers and doing arts and crafts, but she’s also proficient in martial arts and tactical driving. Imagine if Mary Poppins knew how to do a roundhouse kick.
You know the adage: “Write what you know?”
Okay, I never fought off kidnappers or uncovered the dark conspiracy of the Upper East Side elite (all of which happened in my pilot) – but I was definitely in a school where my friends felt like Same with my family. I worked as a nanny and learned a lot about how children behave and react to different situations. When that bank robber broke in years ago, I did often imagine all the ways I wished I could have saved the situation.
You don’t have to write exactly what happened to you, but you can combine moments, experiences, and feelings to create a story that’s completely fictional and wonderful, but still feels real and connected to who you are.
I talked about all the influences and inspirations for my work during the 2023 ScreenCraft Fellowship. Attending these conferences is a great opportunity to connect with and learn from industry professionals who share their unique stories and advice.
—
The whole week has felt like a whirlwind, in the best way possible. The best part is meeting other ScreenCraft Fellows.
Learning about their journey reinforces the idea that there is no one right way to get into screenwriting. Some people go to film school. Others have completely different careers. Some of us have survived bank robberies. While I would never change the circumstances that led me to where I am today, I recommend avoiding the third option if possible.
Read more: How ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship Opened Unexpected Doors for Etan Muskat
After surviving a bank robbery and a single mother who claimed her father was Tom Cruise, Brittany Worthington now incorporates that chaos into a script that explores how underappreciated women gain power. The Midwest-born writer’s journey can be traced through her shoes: snow boots (Michigan), cowboy boots (Texas) and now, Birkenstock sandals (Los Angeles). Her feet (and scripts) helped her land a job as assistant showrunner at Freeform (cruel summer) and Starz script coordinator (Power Book IV: The Force & Power Book III: Raising Kenan) and HBO (the upcoming green lantern TV drama). She participated in the Blacklist x Women in Film Episodic TV Lab and the Women in Film Mentorship Program. her pilot script, northport nanny Placed in the top ten in Tracking Board’s Launch Pad Pilot competition and won the ScreenCraft Fellowship and WeScreenplay TV Lab. her pilot, accelerateis a featured project on the blacklist website, ranking among the top 1% of scripts on the website.
