PATTI FLATHER

ALSO ON SITE

1. What is your screenplay about?

A mysterious letter sends a retired African-American historian back to the Alaska Highway he helped build, where he discovers the part-Native son he fathered a half-century ago.

2. Why did you decide to write this screenplay?

I have lived in the Yukon for almost 20 years. The idea came around the time of the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Highway's construction. I was fascinated by stories of Yukon people searching for their birth fathers who had been American soldiers working on the Alaska Highway during the Second World War. I always have been intrigued by how people of different cultures connect and disconnect, how society's values and prejudices shape and influence those relationships, how individuals cope and survive and live with dignity in a given environment. I'm in a cross-cultural relationship as are many Yukoners, many Canadians nowadays. I hope my daughters never face the kinds of discrimination that happened here not so long ago.

3. How long have you been writing screenplays?

10 years.

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

The Piano (dir. Jane Campion)

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

Morgan Freeman

6. How many screenplays have you written?

I have written three screenplays, including one for a short film, "Getting Real" produced in the Yukon last winter and very well received. I am part way through another, a romantic Christmas comedy set in my old hometown of Vancouver, B.C,

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

Writing new screenplays and plays with memorable characters and situations and seeing them produced -- being able to share them with audiences. Spending part of the year in a writer residency in another country, perhaps warmer than a Yukon winter!.

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

I try to write for a few hours in the mornings, avoiding any look at e-mails, and then focus on my other arts administration work and contracts in the afternoons. I also try for some chunks of the year, two or three weeks at a time, where I focus only on a major writing project.

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

My fabulous daughters, husband and other family. Travel. Sports including soccer, squash and cross-country skiing. Food. Being out in nature. The North. The sea.

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

I have had excellent feedback on this screenplay but it hasn't found a home yet. Through Wildcard I want to try and connect with possible producers, and also to receive feedback as a writer.

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

It's easy to give up in this solitary business of writing. It's always a gamble. But if you have something to say that you care deeply about, keep at it. It's worth it when you connect with another person through your art.

Patti Flather

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