DAYLE ANN HUNT

ALSO ON SITE

1. What is your screenplay about?

Some secrets need to be told ....

Still recovering from the tragic loss of her husband and child and the desperate suicide attempt that followed, Kiley Robbins leaves everything behind to start over again. Retreating to her grandmother's coastal Maine cottage she finds herself mysteriously drawn to an old Victorian house, long boarded up and silent. Thinking that a project is just what she needs she buys the place, intending to bring the dreary old beauty back to life. By the time her friend, Darlene, shows up the strange occurrences have already begun. . . .

Soon Kiley and Darlene are uncovering more than old plaster and pipes. What they discover is a tragic past and a trail of buried secrets that the old house has harbored for more than 150 years. As Kiley delves deeper into the dark mystery she finds surprising personal ties that pull her own painful memories back to the surface. Is the restless ghost who haunts her dreams really trying to tell her something, or could Kylie be losing her grip once again. . . .

2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay?

I have always wanted to write a good old-fashioned "what happened in this house?" story, which is my favorite kind of film to watch. I was inspired by a crumbling old Victorian in my neighborhood, but didn't know where to start until I ran across the Greek myth of Philomena which was the perfect story for my ghost. I adapted it to the Victorian era, set it in an old abandoned house and reworked the idea of Philomena's "tapestry" as a means of revealing the young girl's tragic tale. Everything else came from that.

3. How long have you been writing screenplays?

Actively about six years. I'm just getting started!

4. What is you all-time favorite film? (name only one)

Only one? Impossible. But Dolores Claiborne would have to be up there near the top. . . .

5. What artist in the film industry would you love to work with?

Ah, Kathy Bates, of course! Again, only one? Gosh, there are so many amazing actresses out there that would be such a DREAM to work with. .

6. How many screenplays have you written?

My first script (also a WILDsound finalist!) has already garnered 12 competition placements, The Winter House Haunting is my second screenplay and I am currently working on a third. Oh, and I've written a play.

7. Ideally, where would you like to be in 5 years?

Not word processing on Wall Street and having more time to write all the projects that are rolling around in my head! And enrolled at NYU for a masters in Women's History!

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

My process seems to be grabbing time wherever I can. I wrote a good bit of The Winter House Haunting on the R Train between Brooklyn and the financial district on my way to work every day. I tend toward historical narratives so I never write on a computer. Somehow the disconnect between modern technology and telling old stories doesn't work for me. So I write on legal pads that are scattered all over my apartment, stuffed in my bag and only go to the computer when I am ready to input actual scenes.

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

Gosh, I guess I'm a person of limited interests! I'm very passionate about women's narratives in all forms, especially lost narratives, stories of unconventional women that never seemed to make it into our collective history. Largely because I never heard them when I was growing up, I write what I want to know about. Not to pull out a soapbox, but I think film, television, theater are our modern way of sitting around the campfire and telling stories about ourselves. It's how we learn who we are, how we pass that along to the next generation. And if we, as women, are not included in that process, if our stories are not shared in an equal fashion, what does that ultimately say about us as a people and about women in this society? We are more than 50% of the population, yet when you look at the small number of women in the Senate and the small number of women who are employed in the film industry today, then you have to wonder if there might be a connection? I do believe that telling our stories matters. And maybe we're starting to see that change a bit? I am hopeful. . . .

10. What influenced you to enter the WILDsound Script Contest?

Feedback! It's tough to develop any kind of project without good feedback and WILDsound is a fabulous place for that.

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

The best advice I ever got was don't chase the industry. Write what you are passionate about and chances are better that someone else will connect with the material too. I think that's true.

Dayle Ann Hunt

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