Script File

A Mother's Love (Screenplay)

A woman with bipolar disorder is released from a psychiatric hospital after an acute episode into the care of her mother, the very woman responsible for much of her emotional trauma.

  • Darrin J. Friedman
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay, Short Script
  • Number of Pages:
    13
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Portland Screenplay Awards
    Portland, OR
    March 1, 2022
    Finalist
  • Chicago Script Awards
    Chicago, IL
    May 11, 2022
    Winner - Short Screenplay
  • Lake Travis Fil Festival
    Lake Travis, TX
    July 18, 2022
    Short Script Selection
  • Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards
    Los Angeles
    August 2, 2022
    Quarterfinalist
Writer Biography - Darrin J. Friedman

After 15 years in the corporate world, he started anew by getting his Master's Degree in Writing for Stage and Screen at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

While in school, he submitted finished works to various film festivals, where he has been repeatedly recognized for his short screenplay "Mother's Love."

Also a published novelist, Darrin's work consistently focuses on the authenticity of flawed characters and their journey to seek truth in situations where they are misunderstood. From characters who suffer from the complexities of mental health issues to strong women protagonists seeking allusive answers that escape them,

Darrin believes that what he writes should matter. He lives in Pittsburgh with his wife and children.

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Writer Statement

In those early days of the pandemic lockdown, I was like everyone else. Nowhere to go. Trapped inside my home with my family for months – unless I was making one of my valiant trips to the grocery store in mask and gloves as if I were a hunter/gatherer alpha male ancestor seeking food for my kin.

A hunter-gatherer, I am not. I am a writer. And I was in desperate need to create.

I opened the Final Draft software on my Mac and eyed the welcome screen, staring at the templates, when something remarkable happened.

I started to write a play.

I had written a few novels, but I was not a playwright, thank you very much. What was I doing? Was I delusional? I don’t know, but I was writing. I was creating a world that felt real. Maybe I was just manic? The pages were filling up, which tended to happen when things got wonky in my brain chemistry, but this was different. This was dialogue! Troves of it. I was swimming in it. Then, after my first draft, I held a virtual table read with a bunch of actor friends. It was at that moment that my life changed. I heard my work being read back to me. My words! It was just a draft, but the reading changed my perspective on how I viewed myself.

A couple of months later, after continued readings and the lifting of Covid restrictions, my wife turned to me and said, “Whatever you want to do to be a writer, you have my support. Be a writer. Do it. LEARN!”

The next day I submitted my application to grad school, and soon after that, I became an MFA candidate in Writing for Stage and Screen at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. Class of ‘23. Holy shit.

I am the oldest in my class, but I’m doing it. And I’m learning, and writing, and creating characters and stories I care about. I write from my heart because I believe that authenticity means something.

By now, my work has started to get recognized, which means something. Not because awards validate my work but because I’m comfortable enough to tell a truth about the ravages of mental illness in a public way. You see, I am bipolar, and I know first-hand how those who suffer from silent diseases can be marginalized by the ignorant – including my own family. Maybe that is why my work centers around those who experience trauma. Perhaps that is why I write characters who strive to break through the stigma of those unwilling to understand.

One script I wrote, “A Mother’s Love,” (the one that has been so well received) has just been made into a short film. I even directed it. I’m evolving, and that’s meaningful.

Thank God for my wife. She's the reason I'm doing what I'm doing. She believes it's never too late to start.