The Adventures of Star Girl and the Marble Roller Won Best Screenplay at NFFTY!

My script was the chosen winner of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth's Story Starts Here Best Screenplay Competition - 2018 in Seattle!

Colors.

High above the clouds the world is silent below, lines carved out in earth. Still. But the colors dance.

They bounce and leap high off the white backs of clouds and dive deep inside their bellies. The horizon has its own personal rainbow fading colors up and down, sharper and darker, thinner and fainter. But the clouds hold the colors longer, stretching the golden, crimson, wine-colored streaks farther. Instead of flying back to Michigan, I’m flying through colors. And I love it. I know I should put down my shade, it’s too bright. I know I should wear sunglasses, but not yet. I want to enjoy the colors a little longer. Breathe in a little deeper, remember a little clearer the amazing time I had at the 2018 National Film Festival for Talented Youth.

Sometimes it’s the big things, but mostly it’s the little things. A random photo opportunity with new friends in the steady Seattle rain. Climbing steep hills in red boots, trekking side by side with the first person I met walking in the door at opening night on our way to the opening showing.

Or how the air at first was heavily salty but within a day, the smell had disappeared, only to leave behind white trails on the hotel windows. The accents from countries around the world, Irish, Australian, Norwegian, Danish, thrown in with American dialects. But mostly, I’ll remember the smiling faces, the hugs, the handshakes, the way everyone seemed to light up when talking about their films and projects. The passion.

Such a fun opening night with - Caelin Moore, Me, Lucy Gale and Peter Marks at MOHAI 10/25/18

To sit in an auditorium is one thing. To bask in an auditorium filled with people who are just excited to show their work is another world. A world of creativity. A world of exploration. A world of showing stories and lives through lenses and angles, lights and sounds. It’s the stories of the filmmakers and the stories of us all. We create. And I had forgotten what creativity felt like. It had dulled without me realizing it had grown quiet. Shone a little less brightly.

But to be in the middle of all of the excitement and passion, the dreams big and the plans bigger was like three expressos on a Sunday morning after a late Saturday night. A jolt. A wake-up. Ignition. Captain we have lift-off! However, you wish to say it, in as many ways you can. It was beautiful and crazy and fun and prefect because it wasn’t prefect.  It was creative. 

Thank you, NFFTY and thank you to everyone I met who sparked my creativity again. And showed me just how much we can accomplish at any age or time when given encouragement, friendship, ideas, a space to connect, and new avenues to try.  I am so grateful I was selected as a Finalist in the Screenplay Competition. And I am so happy and excited to share I won the 2018 NFFTY Story Start’s Here Screenplay Competition! But I’m even more grateful to share in the new friendships I’ve made and to root for the dreams and ideas we have yet to create, make, and share.

If you would like to read the winning screenplay, please email me at kathrynorwigauthor@gmail.com