Script File
One-Woman Show
A bitter high school senior must cope with bullying while working as a sports videographer for the same students who torment her.
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Annabella Catherine ShafferWriter
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Project Type:Screenplay
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Genres:Drama, Coming of Age
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Number of Pages:90
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Language:Japanese
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First-time Screenwriter:Yes
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Student Project:No
Annabella Catherine Shaffer is a 22 year old writer and sound designer in her senior year at Ringling College of Art and Design, where she is studying film. She speaks both English and Japanese.
The reason I want to tell this story is because I lived a version of it. As a senior, I went from “the target” to “the video girl” seemingly overnight, receiving praise from the teachers that let the bullying happen right in front of them. The bullying I endured had a profound impact on my mental health. When I graduated, I felt like I’d failed by not using the voice I was given. I wrote this story because I refuse to let what happened to me and millions of others be erased with time. This story is my way of immortalizing the experiences of people who have suffered the profound impact of bullying. People can’t change if their actions are just forgotten.
I want this film to be a raw, unapologetic portrayal of bullying. Characters like Hayato are not humanized because in reality, there’s no sympathetic insecurity or trauma that causes someone to act the way he does. It’s all ego, mistreating someone he sees as lesser so he can get entertainment and a sense of superiority. The impact bullying has on its victims is disturbing and hard to watch. People isolate themselves, people harm themselves, people kill themselves. I want to be absolutely sure that no one has any doubt in their mind just how serious this issue is.