Introduce Yourself : Southern Screenwriter and Producer by Angela VanZandt Bumpass

Angela VanZandt Bumpass

Southern Screenwriter and Producer

I am so happy to meet all of you here and hope to help and encourage you as we strive to get our projects produced. I recently moved to Burbank from Little Rock, Arkansas due to my marriage to Rodger, who is the voice of Squidward on Spongebob. I am President and Founder of Women In Film Arkansas and we are in our third year and thriving as an organization. I recently joined the Los Angeles chapter as a member. My goal as a screenwriter is to preserve the Southern voice in film, so just think of me as your Georgia-born Southern-fried screenwriter with the quirky characters and "situations" only a Southerner would know but others strive to observe. Southern films make money. Steel Magnolias, The Help, and others in that genre have becoming some of our most beloved films. I write in all genres and have 14 scripts, each with at least one Southern character. One of my feature scripts is also written as a series. I have a second series half funded with a cable company and we are seeking a second producer and investor. Rodger is attached. They have 380 Million viewers. I work with a famous Bollywood producer as well and believe a global presence is important. It is a challenge writing globally when I love the South so much, but with proper research it can be done. I also have a background in film distribution with 5 national sales awards in that aspect of the industry. I have had 2 Hollywood agents in the past and am seeking another or perhaps a manager. I plan on sitting under our orange tree and writing a new script starting next week. I am prolific and fast in my writing and can crank out a feature in 4-10 days and a series pilot in 3. My other passion is that I am an Impressionist painter and was recently asked to hang in a gallery in LA. If anyone wants to read about the wedding, here are two links. Love is grand! https://ao.pressreader.com/@RODGER_BUMPASS/csb_gma5LivAEEMOFGOKkZzLr1iqc... Pm0cZqIVctwJ4VQjVuD_ktsl_rY4 . Also, https://nickalive.blogspot.com/2019/07/squidward-voice-actor-rodger-bump... I love being the housewife of the world's funniest man, but am ready to get back to work as soon as I finish with the Windex. I feel almost uncomfortable writing just about myself. I am not sure that is polite, really. Real as a turnip green, I want to hear about YOU!

Nina Ameri

Welcome to LA Angela! Great to hear there is a vibrant community of female filmmakers in Arkansas!

Angela VanZandt Bumpass

Thank you, Nina! I love it here. Yes, we have great "local color". stories and writers in Arkansas...they just need to be mentored and encouraged. That is my mission with Women In Film Arkansas. We do not have much money in our account but are thriving! We have screenwriting workshops and all sorts of interesting things going on. We are also working with the youth in our schools. My goal is to teach them what I already know, what I am learning in the streets of Burbank, and anything else they need to know in order to break in. It is very, very hard for one to network outside of LA, so this site is helpful. I will be teaching them how to pitch and the few secrets I know about film funding via Zoom meetings in my back yard to the Women In Film Arkansas members. I am their "Boots on the Ground Hollywood Lady", I suppose! I send them little bits of information I hear out there in out world in a little secret program called Angela's Anecdotes. It is fun! I am personally making 11 pitches on here in the next couple of weeks. I know we are all good writers and we all need that proverbial "break". One thing I know for sure, there is a time and a season for everything and it will not happen one minute before or one minute after it is destined to happen. Nina, I truly hope your Hay Day arrives soon and mine as well! I know all our stories are reflections of or at least sparked by our life experiences, which makes each and every script simply "precious". Best to you in your pursuits.

Angela VanZandt Bumpass

Nina, I just realized your position as entertainment lawyer! Great! In this age of "tick tock, the door's locked" in terms of getting an agent or a manger, you are a valuable person to know. Of all the Catch 22s in Hollywood, the agent/manager issue is the most frustrating. The minute I get a project sold with blood, sweat and tears, suddenly I will be okay in their eyes. If they only knew my background and all that has happened and how close I have come they would see me and others as a "bird nest on the ground". It is as if the industry stays up nights thinking of new ways to make us beg even more, which slows down progress for everyone. I am all about giving everyone a fair chance. I just want to say to "them" ad I am not even sure who "they" are...but I believe with all my heart my scripts and projects can make the successful executives in this business even more successful. If they only knew what they are missing...but I am sure everyone feels that way. Beyond that, I wrote the scripts not for money but to change the world. Linda Seger, the famous script doctor, says that is the one and only reason to write one. Trust me, mine would change the world. I have things to say to this world.

WL Wright

Congrats Angela now that's a long love story. Cheers to you!

Ricki Linksman

I'm with you! I share the same motivation to have whatever screenplay inspire people to make the world a better place! Being in Chicago with no chance to network in LA, this forum provides a great chance to meet wherever we live. Love the Linda Seger quote.

Angela VanZandt Bumpass

WL, yes, it was a loooooooong wait to kiss that cutie pie!

Wahayn Inello Clayton

Hey Girl, Right back at You!

Angela VanZandt Bumpass

Best of luck to you, Wahayn! Maybe if I get my series funded you can jump through that blazing hoop with us!

Wahayn Inello Clayton

Angela, Stop it, but of course, I am going to hold you to that, Be Well!

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