Several years ago, I noticed how my older children and their friends seemed to have little interest in marriage compared to previous generations. Seeing news of marriage and birth rates dropping, and having endured the ups and downs in my own marriage, I began formulating a world which would turn into my drama pilot SPLIT DECISIONS.

With feedback from fellow writers about the strong premise of the script, I entered it into a few competitions, including an entry in the final hours of Stage 32’s 2021 Television Writing Contest. While I had joined Stage 32 for networking opportunities years before, I’d never entered any of their contests. That last minute decision was one of the best decisions I made this year…having won Stage 32’s grand prize trip to LA for my first ever water bottle tour.

Poster for "A Particular Minute" A Short Film Directed by Layla

I think many will agree that some screenwriters start out with visions of a huge sale on a single script. A sale that’ll allow them to sit on a beach with tropical drinks for years to come. Others may picture themselves giving their Oscar or Emmy speech before they’ve hit page 30 on their first feature or pilot script. Then there are those who can’t seem to plow through enough books about the craft. Or they’ll spend hours happily reading screenplays - the good, the bad, AND the ugly.

I’m in this final camp of screenwriters. Before discovering the script format, I was wrapped up in my love for crafting characters and plots for my short stories and a suspense novel. Making lots of money and giving speeches hadn’t even entered my mind (besides, public speaking to such large audiences is more fodder for my nightmares than a dream. Though if the opportunity ever presented itself, I would of course do my best!).

I wasn’t one for flowery prose, so when I first discovered screenwriting, I was…jazzed? Yeah, jazzed about a format where I could concentrate on plot and characterization with strong dialogue. Probably like many newbie screenwriters, David Trottier’s The Screenwriter’s Bible was my first book purchase about the craft (since it was one of the first things to pop up when researching how to write a screenplay). I used the book as a guide for my first script, JUST SAY GOODBYE. And pretty much following the instructions to the letter, the script was actually a finalist in one of the first contests I entered.

Newspaper clip about "A Particular Minute" A Short Film Directed by Layla

That finalist script lead to my first short film writing project back in 2013. After that film won some awards, JUST SAY GOODBYE was produced, also winning a couple of awards. A connection with that film lead to another script polishing project, this time for a video game. This business really is about making those human connections…leading to the next, hopefully bigger, project.

After several years of writing and reading screenplays, immediately internalizing the magic of a scene or entire script comes pretty naturally now. It’s also just as easy to detect the mud in which plotlines, characters, and poor dialogue are sinking within.

One water bottle tour meeting was with Emmy and BAFTA-nominated writer/director Boman Modine. After a quick change in venue when our initial café was already overrun with patrons, Boman suggested a place across the street. A short walk away, we then sat outside on a day I believe was a bit on warm side for his taste, but that didn’t deter him from giving me over an hour-and-a half of his time and insights into the industry – the good, the bad, AND the ugly.

During that chat, Boman asked me if I had interest in script-doctoring and/or ghostwriting. I’d had some experience already, so answered that I’d love more work like that. Well, within a couple of weeks, while I was in the middle of a four-day shoot directing my first short film, he introduced me to a writing team based in Germany and France who were working on a pilot for a drama series. A Zoom call a few days later lead to a signed script analysis agreement. I dived right in.

After nearly three weeks, I wrapped up the project and gave Boman my heartfelt thanks for trusting me enough to offer his referral based only on reading my pilot, and an hour-and-a half conversation. My hope is those script notes are well received by the team in Europe, so that not only are they happy, but Boman has confidence in referring me again. Because while I’m not sleeping on a bed of money, or being invited to give speeches in front of large audiences, being involved in creating (or polishing) strong content is my idea of joy.