WRITER PROFILE
It’s always great to get together with a large group of writers and investors and keep up to date on what’s new, the screenplay contest, any recent deals, new dealmaker contacts, agents or managers that are looking and simply encouraging everyone to keep going after every dream in this difficult industry. For the hard working writer we want to do as much as we can to continue the exposure and word of mouth in the investment circles of the industry. Another way we do this is with writer interviews that we send far and wide and showcase at all possible meetings and markets.
We want to encourage your writing spirit, motivate you and again give you the accolades you so deserve.
“Prisoners in Pain Sight”
Written by Kenya Branch
What motivated you to become a writer?
My mother, rest her soul, said I started writing at age five, before I started school. I wrote everything from a make-believe neighborhood newspaper, to comic books, to poetry, to song lyrics then I progressed into essays and short stories.
Later, I became a still photographer/videographer. It was an easy progression into writing for film. The marriage of pictures and audio is the culmination of all I’ve loved to do since I can remember. I’m an introvert and writing is like an out-of-body experience where I can soar unimpeded in the imaginary realms I create every day.
Starting on a blank page is not easy- where does your creativity come from?
I’m constantly writing or thinking about something to write. Ideas can come from eavesdropping a juicy conversation or watching a movie and imagining a tangential story line. Other times, I’ll observe an interesting situation that gets the juices flowing.
In a store one day, I saw a white woman who appeared Amish shopping with a black man with long locks (before locks became popular). I wasn’t in a position to eavesdrop but my imagination was ignited. What was their deal? Co-workers? Relatives? Old friends? Lovers? Years later, they were the inspiration for undercover police characters in a crime drama I wrote.
Do you write projects knowing that so many other factors need to happen to get it to screen and does that come into your project creation?
Honestly, first, I write for me. It has to be something that I’d pay to see. I’d probably never write a horror story, for example, regardless of marketability. So many stories are untold or under-told that impregnate my mind. I’m on fire to birth them.
My stories typically feature characters of diverse ethnicities finding common ground and even love when they aren’t necessarily looking for it. During a divisive time in our country, I believe well-told stories about diverse people who society pegs as enemies are entertaining, enlightening and commercially viable.
What is your dream for this project and what other ancillary revenue do you think it could generate? Please include script title in reply.
My dream for Prisoners in Pain Sight is that it be shown as widely as possible. It’s a PG-13 type story that I think will appeal to teens and adults. It could be distributed theatrically or on Netflix or other newer platforms. To me, it’s a story that should be told, and could have “legs” on cable and broadcast TV.
How has your experience been with screenwriting contests for this project so far?
Prisoners in Pain Sight was in the top half of the Top 100 in the 2019 Capital Fund Screenplay Competition and it made the semifinals in the 2018 Story Pros Annual International competition.
If you could stand in a room full of investor partners looking at many projects what would you like them to know about you and this project?
I’d want them to know that I’m a prolific, award-winning writer, with a distinct voice, who has written and co-produced 15 short films, has written a drama for Messenger Films and has a feature in development.
Prisoners in Pain Sight is a western about a runaway slave who is saved by a white farmer who is killed in the process. The slave feels indebted to help his widow repair their rundown farm. Romance develops slowly as they are forced to bond, fending off waves of dangerous men who resent them.
It has similarities to profitable and award-winning films like Twenty Years a Slave and Lilies of the Field. Diversity is profitable. A study by the Creative Artists Agency affirmed that films with more diverse casts perform better at the box office than less diverse ones. I believe in diversity and color-blind casting.
Do you have any website links for your writing, credits, background, etc that you would like to share?
My screenplay listing site is https://mkbfilm.wixsite.com/screenplays. It lists awards won, my screenwriting competitions accomplishments and loglines of screenplays I’ve written.
My IMDB Credits page is http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5276652/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1