VICTORIA JENKINS

Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Knoxville, TN, USA

Your script stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your story and why did you write a script instead of a short story or a novel?
I had thought to myself one day: What happens if an animal escapes from the zoo? What if two escape? Twenty? I did some research and found a lot of incidents, then formed a story idea around a small town not being able to contain them as easily as a larger one might, but my story didn’t really fall into place until I aligned it with a childhood favorite of mine: The Wizard of Oz. Then, I mixed those ideas in with some of my favorite horror comedies. From there, I was writing twenty pages at a time with characters that I came to love all while weaving in structure and tone from one of my absolute favorite stories. That’s where Oh My! came to life.

How long did it take you to write your script...and what is your writing process? Do you outline...use index cards...white board...or just start with FADE IN?
I think roughly a month and a half. I usually get my stories rolling by bouncing my ideas off my best friend, who loves fun and lively story telling just as much as I do. That’s the most important part of my writing process, just talking it through and hearing an enthusiastic reaction. From there, I do the old index card trick for a few scenes and just get to typing. I find that if I’m meant to tell a story, it’ll find me eventually. Even if that means collecting dust in my projects folder for a few months.

What is your ultimate ambition as a writer?
Ultimately, I’d love to see something that I’ve written come to life on screen. Movies have made my life better when nothing else could, and I can’t imagine a better feeling than seeing my name in the credits one day.

Was your entry at The Wiki Screenplay Contest a full script or “the first ten pages”? Why did you make that choice?
A full script. I made the choice to do an entire script because I wanted raw judgment on where I was at as a writer. Oh My! is my second feature, after a screenplay titled Bergfilm. I’m entirely self-taught, so I really struggled formatting Bergfilm, but Oh My! made me feel confident and accomplished when I stepped back to see the entire thing. It felt like the first time I could really write a screenplay, and going on to receive finalist on my very first feature-length submission was beyond validating.

What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show...and why?
Something about The Hateful Eight has always made it my favorite, and I can never pin down why. Though, I do love any story of isolation set in the snow. I’m also huge on Game of Thrones.

What advice do you have for writers hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have?
Literally just keep trying. The time will pass anyway. You just have to be entirely unafraid of embarrassment. You’ll find that more people than not will be kind to you and your passion. You’ve heard that voice telling you to write too many times to ignore it for a reason. Write for yourself. Write for a loved one. The story that you’re meant to tell will come out. And also, format correctly the first time. Trust me.

What else are you working on that the world needs to know about?
Currently I’m writing another fun horror film called Maple, Maple. It’s about a young woman who falls into a whirlwind romance with a man 25 years her senior who takes her on a weekend lake vacation to meet his all-too-perfect ex-wife and children. In their picture perfect home, all hell breaks loose. Other than that, a change of tone with One Day of Plenty, a drama set in 1840s Ireland where a chain of deadly events is set off by the murder of a young girl. Wish me luck! Maybe you’ll see one one day.