Script File

Isabel and Her Purple Marker (S1)

This script is a coming of age web series about a young Latina girl who uses her purple marker to understand her reality. As she ages, her art becomes her tool to figure out who she is as an adult.

Isabel is quiet, observant, and poor. She's growing up in government housing in Hialeah, Florida. A place where the heat doesn't just make you sweat, it sets fire to your dreams. It's a place where Isabel's mother, Veronica, does whatever it takes to survive and protect her children. It's a place where her brother longs to get money so his family can live like the Joneses.

But Isabel has a tool that helps her keep her dreams alive: Her purple marker and the wall at the back of her bedroom's closet. It will be her pathway out of what could be an endless cycle.

The story is a web series. There are three seasons. Each episode is five pages. The project file is season one.

  • MJ Moneymaker
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Short Script, Other
  • Genres:
    Drama, coming of age
  • Number of Pages:
    30
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English, Spanish
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Global Shorts
    Los Angeles
    March 31, 2018
    Honorable Mention
  • Top Shorts
    Los Angeles
    January 28, 2018
    Honorable Mention
  • Barcelona International Film Festival
    Barcelona, Spain
    June 17, 2017
    Official Selection
Writer Biography - MJ Moneymaker

Not a gimmick, just a name. I am a Chinese-Puerto Rican U.S. Navy veteran, artist, writer, geek and learner. I use art, code, data, copy and technology to tell stories. My philosophy is storytelling through any medium, shares experience, adds to life.

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Writer Statement

Our histories, tragedies, experiences are packaged and shared by this one five letter word: s-t-o-r-y. The structure and medium can change, but it's essence... if it slips past our minds and into our hearts; it motivates, it moves, it swirls and can manifest action. Only through practice can I learn to be a storyteller that can do this.

I envision the style of this web series to have a first person vérité feel with low-angle shots to reveal her real world, while her second world that lay in her purple marker be introspective and whimsical. As Isabel ages, the two worlds should merge.

At the heart of it all, people's stories and my experiences are why I write. This web series is a combination of my experiences and stories shared with me. My hope is... should a little girl looking for something or someone to turn to... just maybe, my story will be there for her.