Genre: Drama, Comedy, Coming of Age
Adopted at birth, 20-something conflicted lesbian Trisha Donahue enlists her treacherous bi-sexual girlfriend to help search for her birth mother.
CAST LIST:
Max: Jarod Terrell
Motorist: Rob Notman
Sarah: Ida Jagaric
Narrator: Carina Cojeen
Trisha: Andrea Meister
Abigail: Kerrie Lamb
Danny: Charles Gordon
Get to know the writer:
1. What is your screenplay about?
My screenplay centers around Trisha, a twenty four year old closeted woman, living in a fiercely Catholic household outside of Boston. She leads a double life — carrying on an affair with an unavailable woman, whilst trying to find the biological mother who gave her up at birth — all unbeknownst to her adoptive parents. DELIVERY GIRL is ultimately about making peace with who you are, regardless of the feelings/thoughts/actions of others. The lead character spends most of the story trying to evade the truth — whether it’s being honest about her life with her parents or admitting to herself the true intentions of her elusive girlfriend…The truth ultimately prevails. It always does.
2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
Indie Drama, Indie Dramedy, Coming of Age.
3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
From a monetary standpoint, it could be made for very little. I feel it’s timely and the lead character is female and we need to see as many females as possible leading movies, and, perhaps most importantly, it shows that, even in 2018, we still have work to do in terms of accepting and embracing each other for our differences.
4. How would you describe this script in two words?
Heartfelt, nuanced.
5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
MERMAIDS.
6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
Wow… for years… I think the earliest incarnations started in 2014. Of course the character of Trisha came first. I “discovered” her in 2011.
7. How many stories have you written?
This is the only screenplay I’ve ever written, but I have bits and pieces of others floating about. Truthfully, I tend to write characters and let the story develop out of them.
8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
How much time do you have? HA! There are far too many to list… Here’s a few: Ry Cooder’s Dark End of The Street; Santo and Johnny’s Sleepwalk; Otis Redding’s These Arms of Mine; Etta James’s Trust in Me; Sublime’s Santeria; every song on The Beatles’ White Album… And when I was writing DELIVERY GIRL, there was a lot of gangster rap circulating… Specifically Gangstarr’s Full Clip and Trick Daddy’s In Da Wind.
9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
“Kill Your Darlings” comes to mind…What I mean by that is, I needed to cut the script down, but I had a hard time losing bits of dialogue or moments that — while they may have not moved the story forward — felt fun or nuanced or interesting to me — and so I didn’t want to get rid of them. Also, ACT II is a doozie to write in any script, so I think there was a great deal of revising that went on there before I submitted the script for review. At times it felt wildly frustrating. I bit most of my nails off, I can tell you that.
10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Acting, traveling, learning other languages and accents… I’m curious about people, really.
11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?
I found it rather user friendly, if a bit overwhelming at the amount of festivals to choose from.
12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
Because of the LGBT theme of my script, it seemed like a natural fit. Also, I love Toronto. The thought of having my work circulate in such a vibrant, artistic city was alluring to me…I was really pleased and grateful for the feedback and constructive criticism. It was very thoughtful and thorough.
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Producer: Matthew Toffolo – http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Director: Kierston Drier
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson
Camera Op: Mary Cox
LGBTQ+ Toronto Film Festival 