1st Scene Reading: YONKHEER by Wendy Jane Henson

Watch 1st Scene Reading of YONKHEER:

CAST LIST:

NARRATOR – Sean Ballantyne
Jan – Brett J. Kelly
Cornelis – Jason J. Thomas
Agnes – Danielle Nicole
Hilde/Rachel – Maya Woloszyn
Magdalene – Holly Sarchfield

Get to know writer Wendy Jane Henson:

1. What is your screenplay about?

A rowdy romp with the young lord of a manor when only his wit, daring, and a saucy barmaid can save his life.

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

Offering tongue-in-cheek humor, strong characters and compelling storyline full of skullduggery and romance, it will delight audiences, male or female, age 13 and up. Based on real people and actual events, the struggles and feelings of the characters seem modern despite the fact they lived in the 1600s.

3. How long have you been writing stories?

My mother said I started acting out stories for my dolls when I was 2. I wrote a first novel at 11. (Unpublished. But most first novels are.) I wrote my first show at 13. (A spring program for my 8th grade choir.) I was first published nationally at 15. How long ago that was, I’m not going to tell you. ;o)

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

It’s not particular movies I’m inclined to watch so much as it is work by great directors, writers and actors. I have a Top Ten List if you’d like to see it.

5. What artists would you love to work with?

Great writers, directors, and actors.

6. How many stories/screenplays have you written?

OMG. I never kept count. I just keep track of the high scores and wins. My resume is attached. It pretty well covers the past 15 years. I usually sum up by saying besides three produced plays, I have two books in print, one of which is SCREENWRITNG: STEP BY STEP, a college level textbook that’s available worldwide. I’ve had some screenwriting awards and was a Nicholl Fellowship finalist. My history also includes five options, four trips through development hell, and one “almost produced” feature film. My new book, WRITING DRAMA STEP BY STEP, will be released this summer.

7. What motivated you to write this screenplay?

My family genealogy and colorful family stories about my colonial Dutch ancestors who arrived in 1632. I used the real people as foundations for the fictional characters. The action is based on real events from the lives of my ancestors and colonial Dutch history.

8. Describe your process; do you have a set routine, method for writing?

Almost daily. 9 am to 1 pm. I believe good fiction can be accurately fact-based, so I do lots of research.

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

First and foremost, my family. Otherwise, theater, film, television.

10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Festival?

Curiosity. It sounded like a very interesting program. It’s revealing and very helpful to hear actors read one’s material.

11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

If you want to write, do it for the love of doing the thing. Do it because it would be unthinkable for you to stop. But if you write because you want a quick path to fortune and frame, the odds are you will be disappointed.

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Deadline: FIRST SCENE (first 10pgs) SCREENPLAY FESTIVAL Get it performed at the festival. Full feedback
http://www.wildsound.ca/firstscenescreenplaycontest.html

– Submit the first stages of your film, get it performed at the festival, and get full feedback!

WATCH past 1st Scene Festival readings: