Introduce Yourself : Introduce Yourself by Jennifer Stewart

Hi. I came to screenwriting crabwise in a way. When a novel I wrote was roundly rejected I turned it into a screenplay. The storyline changed from a chic lit (I'm glad it was rejected now!) to a psychological thriller. Badly written, because I didn’t know much, but I’d learned enough to know I liked (I'd put that in italics if I could) screenwriting. I’ve learned a lot more over the years and after countless drafts have pretty much finished polishing that one and an action/thriller/drama, and have 3 others in development. I’m writing a crime novel and a memoire also. I play piano and sing jazz standards and I paint. I live in Cape Town, and it’s not the challenge of writing or having my work rejected/trashed that daunts me anymore. It’s finding a producer. I don’t want my movies to be made here; I want them to be made in Hollywood. How the hell I get from here to there is a huge question mark in my mind still. But all questions have answers somewhere. I hold onto two things: it's the people who don't give up who have a chance at making it, and Robert de Niro said [my words, not his verbatim] don't try to impress people; it waters down your focus. Do the best you can and focus on that. It's where your power is. I like that. It’s nice being in this community. Lot of very friendly people. It helps to make the movie world more real to me.