Steven Gamella

Author and Screenwriter

Conshohocken, Pennsylvania

Member Since:
September 2021

Last online:
2 days ago

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About Steven

From a very, very, young age, I was always told that I was different. Not in a bad way, mind you, but in a way that my family always explained as a “difference-ability,” not a “disability.” When I was in kindergarten, I wrote my first book at the age of 5, an alphabet book titled “Dizzy the A,” about the adventures of a goofy letter “A” named “Dizzy,” traveling around the world with all the other letters of the English alphabet visiting landmarks whose names began with the corresponding letter. I wrote this book for my classmates in my kindergarten class as a way for them to better understand basic phonics and grammar, which my teacher greatly appreciated. From that point on, my interest in art waxed and waned, for I pursued various interests throughout my childhood, from science and history, to mathematics and literature, but, all the while I kept writing, simply because it was something that allowed me an outlet for my own mental health issues related to autism. I also liked to draw pictures to help me cope with the psychological issues associated with autism, usually drawing pictures of animals, plants, or the characters from the short stories I’d write.
Throughout elementary and middle school, I wrote, drew and continued to study the things that interested me, and when I reached high school, I continued along this path, until I found a new subject to write about: speculative fiction and fantasy. In high school, I was always the “geek,” someone who loved computers, video games and got some of the best grades in the class. Three of my favorite science fiction and fantasy stories that I watched or played as a game during this period of my life were “Star Wars,” “Halo,” and the Japanese graphic novel series “Death Note.” George Lucas, Bungie Game Studios and Tsugumi Obha and Takeshi Obata’s styles of storytelling had a heavy influence on my art and writing style during this period, and it was in my senior year of high school, at the age of 17, that I first began writing science fiction, fantasy and horror stories. On Halloween, 2006, I wrote a short, dystopian horror story about a man from Russia who had a dream of restoring a successor state to the old USSR, and the story was so convincing and vivid, according to my English teacher, that he, a man named Greg MacAvoy, recognized my innate talent as an artist, and encouraged me to continue pursuing my creative writing, while also developing my academic writing skills, which I would later need in college.
Unfortunately, that year, my senior year of high school at Pine Bush High School in the town of Crawford, New York, was not the easiest for me socially or emotionally. I had just transferred to Pine Bush from the Summit Residential School in Nyack, New York, where I had spent the previous three years of high school as a day student, and the adjustment period from leaving one high school, where I had established friendships, and attending a new one, where nobody knew my name, was very, very difficult. In that year, I became so depressed that I was hospitalized twice due to suicidal ideation, where I met several doctors and psychiatrists that worked with me to help me learn how to cope.
It was while I was in the hospital recovering that I realized that I had a talent, one that not many writers and artists possess, and my counselors encouraged me to continue writing these stories as a way of coping with my own mental health struggles and encouraged me to pursue writing as a potential career option. You don’t recover from depression by simply “being happy.” You recover by creating a life for yourself in which it is very difficult for you to be unhappy, with understanding support systems and medical professionals that help you along the way, and so, for me, writing and drawing were the perfect outlets for coping with my depression. Despite all of my struggles that year, I still graduated with honors that year, in the class of 2007.
In college, I sought to perfect my craft as much as possible, and from 2008-2013, I wrote, and wrote, and wrote, and wrote, as well as drew hundreds of illustrations from the stories and rough drafts that I was writing. By the time I had graduated college at the age of 23, I had already written more than 200 manuscripts, including more than 80 full-length stories, and had drawn hundreds of illustrations and character concept sketches. On Valentine’s Day, 2014, however, while sitting in the master bedroom of a beach house at the Jersey Shore, I had the idea for my current project, the “Sojourn: What Dreams Await” saga, along with all of the concept sketches I had already drawn for this project. Now, at the age of 34, nine years later, I have written and published 40 “Sojourn” books and have 37 completed screenplays, as well as drawn dozens of sketches and illustrations from the “Sojourn” science fiction universe.
In keeping with my other lifelong interests as well, I have also taken up nature photography, and have a portfolio of photographs posted on my Instagram account, and I am now looking to turn “Sojourn” into the next great Hollywood science fiction franchise, like George Lucas did with “Star Wars” or Stan Lee did with Marvel Comics.
At the age of 34, I have been a writer for my entire life, and I also enjoy doing my own illustrations, taking nature photography, and outdoor activities, such as fishing, hiking, camping, and having a good time outdoors with good friends, but the main purpose of my endeavors as a writer is not money or the desire to make a living, it is the desire to inspire people, specifically others like me with autism and other mental health issues, to show them that anything is possible if they set their mind to it. A “disability” is no barrier to achieving a professional goal, so long as a person puts in the necessary time and effort to achieve it. I hope that, through my writing and my artwork, that other people with autism and other disabilities may take inspiration from me, and unapologetically follow their dreams, without a single care in the world about what the rest of society thinks of them. Writing is my passion, it is something that I feel I must do in order to live at this point, and I write and create for the sheer joy of producing original work and watching it go into the world, like a ship leaving port into an uncertain, often stormy sea. The books, as well as everything I have ever produced, have always been a coping mechanism for the storminess in my own life, and, if my work can be a beacon of light in at least one other person’s darkness, I feel that my career as a writer will have been worth it in the end.

Gender:
Male

Certifications

Photos

Loglines

Sojourn: What Dreams Await Budget: $30M+ | Sci-fi A Lightbringer named Munraito embarks on an investigation, to prevent casualties and exercise his will to keep Haruna safe.
"Sojourn: Summer's End" Budget: $10M - $30M | Sci-fi A soldier’s one-night stand gets ridiculously out of hand as his illegitimate son grows up to become an Evil Emperor.
"Sojourn: Winter Solstice" Budget: $5M - $10M | Sci-fi A powerful woman's holiday celebration goes catastrophically wrong as a gigantic monster tries to destroy her town.
"Sojourn: Midnight Sun" Budget: $1M - $5M | Sci-fi A group of four hunters seek an animal whose DNA will change the course of galactic history.
"Sojourn: Renegade Sinflower" Budget: $5M - $10M | Sci-fi The Grand Priestess of the Imperial Society of Angels and Demons conducts a macabre ritual while plotting for galactic domination over her enemies.
"Sojourn: Vagabond" Budget: $5M - $10M | Sci-fi A Vagabond of the Aeon Clan discovers the error of her ways and rejects racism against non-human species.
"Sojourn: Hunter's Star" Budget: $5M - $10M | Sci-fi The Grand Priestess of the Imperial Society of Angels and Demons leads a hunting party into the tundra, hoping to kill a massive Thunder-Footed Tromblebird.
"Sojourn: Hauling for Home" Budget: $5M - $10M | Sci-fi The Grand Priestess of the Imperial Society of Angels and Demons defends a star freighter from space pirates while the rest of the crew takes cover.
"Sojourn: Imperium Aeternam" Budget: $1M - $5M | Sci-fi The Dark Prince of the Lightbringer Order muses on his conquests from a position of supreme power.
"Sojourn: Last Song" Budget: $1M - $5M | Sci-fi The Dark Prince of the Lightbringer Order remembers his childhood, while standing on a battlefield surrounded by his troops.
"Sojourn: Sins of an Empire" Budget: $10M - $30M | Sci-fi A teenage boy from New York enters a Universe beyond his wildest dreams, only to forget that nightmares are dreams as well.

View all 11 loglines

Awards

Official Selection at Paris Art and Movie Awards 2023
(2023)
Official Selection at Snow Leopard International Film Festival
(2023)
Official Selection at the 2023 New York Screenwriting Awards
(2023)
Official Selection at the Underground Indie Cult Horror Film Festival
(2023)
Best Sci-Fi: 4Theater Selection
(2023)
Best Sci-Fi: Rome International Movie Awards
(2023)
Best Sci-Fi: Hollywood Blood Horror Festival
(2023)
Best Sci-Fi: Top Shorts LA
(2023)
Semi-Finalist: Sunvale Table Read Screenplay Contest
(2023)
Semi-Finalist: London International Screenwriting Competition
(2023)
Quarter-Finalist: Mad Wife 100 Scripts Competiton
(2023)
Quarter-Finalist: New York International Screenplay Awards
(2023)
Nominee: Festigious Los Angeles Film Competition
(2023)
Nominee: LA Film Awards
(2023)
Strathmore Who's Who Member
(2023)
Publication in "Contemporary Celebrity Masters" art book
(2023)
2023 International Prize Leonardo Da Vinci
(2023)
Stellar Publishing New York Most Influential Professional List
(2023)
BST Cinema Collective Semi-Finalist
(2023)
London Film and Television Festival Semi-Finalist
(2023)
2022 International Prize Donatello
(2022)