August 2022
2 days ago
0
About Joan
Joan Butler (she/her) hails from New Westminster, Canada. She has not worked professionally in the entertainment industry.
When looking for a creative outlet, Joan combined her interest in writing with her love of movies and decided to try screenwriting. She began learning her craft with books from the public library, and her writing improved after numerous courses.
Then life led her to a subject she was keen to write about. Joan stayed at a women's shelter, where she met women who were risking their lives by returning to their abusers again and again. Finding the reason for this dangerous behavior became her passion. During her research, she came across this quote from the North Carolina Medical Journal: "To assert control, the abuser uses 'brainwashing tactics' similar to those used on prisoners of war, hostages, or members of a cult." She kept digging until she found that brainwashing was one of the main reasons women go back to their abusers. She also discovered that brainwashing can often be alleviated using a step-by-step process that is frequently used to separate brainwashed followers from their cult leaders.
Because Joan had never seen this aspect of psychological abuse on film, she started to write in earnest. Her strong work ethic, perseverance, and determination to meet deadlines served her well as her script progressed. It became The Way Out.
Joan believes that abused women and the subject of domestic abuse as a whole deserve to be taken seriously. For this reason, she wrote a serious drama, not a horror or a thriller. By showing life at a women’s shelter and the interventions her protagonist uses to mitigate brainwashing, Joan aims to entertain while creating awareness, understanding, and empathy for abused women.
Beverly Neufeld, Professor of Screenwriting at USC, states, "This screenplay is an important, moving, inspiring, and timely piece. In the #MeToo world, stories like this are both valuable and sought-after. Hollywood wants films with strong female leads and points of view. In addition, this script goes in depth into abusive relationships, analyzing, educating, and revealing a lot of what goes on, how they work, and why they're so hard to leave. It's rare to explore the process a counselor uses to save someone who has fallen under an abuser's spell.”
Unique traits: I have this sign beside my computer: Getting Discouraged Is Not An Option. I Choose Hope And I Choose To Write. I adapted these words from Amnesty International.
Badges
Loglines
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The Way Out Budget: $1M - $5M | Drama After a guilt-ridden counselor almost dies from an overdose, she takes work at a women’s shelter, where she must ease her conscience by saving an abused woman who does not want to be rescued.
Awards
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WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab: Quarterfinalist
(2023) -
Coverfly: top 6%
(2023) -
Catalyst Studio Empowering Women Quarterfinalist
(2023) -
Austin: considered as a semi-finalist
(2022) -
Vancouver International Women in Film: semi-finalist
(2022) -
ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship: Quarterfinalist
(2022) -
Raindance: finalist
(2021)
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