“This is actually my first screenplay and winning at Sedona was a huge moment,” he said. 
“This is actually my first screenplay and winning at Sedona was a huge moment,” he said. “At the time, ‘This is Jan’ was just a script, something I hoped to make but wasn’t sure how to pull off. Getting that recognition was the push we needed. It told us that the story resonated, that it was worth fighting for. We started fundraising the very day we were awarded the honor and suddenly, our friends, family and film community were willing to believe in the project with us. That award gave us momentum, confidence and, ultimately, the ability to bring the film to life.”
Set in the conservative world of the 1950s, the main character of the short film, Jan, played by Lyle Brocato – known for his work in “The Big Short” and “Bad Moms” – checks into a hotel seeking to escape the outside world. Once alone, Jan sheds the identity that the world knows them as and embraces the chance to transform, even while facing inner struggles.
As Larriviere explains, Jan and others like Jan could be themselves at secluded private gatherings, like at the real house in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York that offered a respite to crossdressers around the world in the ‘50s.
“Jan came into my life after a dear friend transitioned,” said Larriviere. “My muse led me to the trove of information that gives life to her imagined story and the histories I didn’t know. Stories like this might have vanished if not for the discovery of a box of photos, revealing people who found solace in being themselves among others just like them. I can’t imagine what it took for them to find each other; the clandestine networking, the long journey to a place that felt like home.”
For the past five years, hundreds of writers like Larriviere have submitted screenplays to the Sedona International Film Festival. Bob Reynolds, director of the SIFF Screenplay Competition says contests like this in Sedona, Telluride, Vail, Albuquerque, Nashville and elsewhere are a great way for writers to get their stories noticed.
Submitting to and attending film festivals allow writers to network with producers and directors. “It’s a wonderful way to live in the filmmaking environment for the time and meet people who are in the industry.”
For aspiring screenplay writers, he says a great script has to be a page turner. “Page one has to hook you somehow, and suddenly you are 30 pages in because you got lost in the story.”
Reynolds advises writers to do their research. “In the first one to five pages, a filmmaker or agent will know pretty quickly if they are dealing with a professional. The correct format, a lack of typos, a compelling turn or reversal in the story are all important for getting their attention.”
He also notes that it’s difficult to predict what kinds of stories will be trending in the years it may take to write the screenplay and shop it around. “Horror films don’t cost as much and they are quicker to make. Comedies are also cheaper to make [than dramatic films], but you need to be able to make the reader laugh on page one and make them wonder where the story is going to go.”
For Larriviere, he hopes “This is Jan,” which marks his directorial debut in film, continues to find its audience and opens the door for more. “I just want to keep telling stories that matter, whether that means expanding this one or moving on to the next. There are millennia of queer stories that have been lost or untold, and we want to explore and honor them.” QCBN
By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN
Courtesy Photo: Sedona International Film Festival Screenplay Competition Director Bob Reynolds says film festivals and contests are a great way for writers to get their stories noticed. More than 100 writers submitted their screenplays to SIFF this year.
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