Script Files

Perry

A mother and daughter from Connecticut and a victim of sex trafficking from Haiti are drawn into a dangerous web of exploitation on the streets of San Francisco.

While not based on a true story, the characters are amalgams of real people and documented cases. It is the tragic story of love and innocence destroyed by dark forces and contains echoes of the Persephone and Demeter myth.

Perry (15) and her mother Julia are estranged and, in an effort to repair their relationship, Julia sets up a vacation in San Francisco. Her plans are quickly overturned, however, when her plane is delayed and Perry is left on her own in the city. There she meets Bea, an exploited youth from Haiti.

Perry and Bea set out on a series of adventures and quickly develop strong feelings for each other. When Bea reveals she is the victim of sex trafficking, they try to extricate her from the ever-tightening web of danger which threatens to engulf them. Bound by this threat, they are in many ways mirror images, thrown together by chance and unseen forces, their fates gradually merging as the protections of class, race and gendered privilege slowly fade away.

Julia travels her own journey as her daughter pulls her out of her ordered life and into this volatile one. Initially focused, she mobilizes an effort to locate Perry, working with private detective Peter Wilson. Over time, her despair grows as she haunts the city’s dangerous streets, searching ever more desperately, often seeing Perry in the faces of passing teen girls. She is eventually brought to the depths of her grief as her search takes her to the backroom of a massage parlor. Throughout, a strong bond of love and resentment tie mother and daughter together even as they are threatened with permanent separation.

Peter’s search reveals a complicated system of sex-trafficking, but just as he is about to solve the puzzle, Perry and Bea are abducted with dire consequences. Eventually released, the girls are separated and Perry is reunited with Julia. Together, they return to Connecticut to a life forever altered by the events of the story.

  • RJ Watson
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay
  • Number of Pages:
    120
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Nice International Film Festival
    Nice, France
    May 12, 2018
    Winner Best Uproduced Script
  • COSMOCINEMA FESTIVAL
    London
    May 19, 2018
    1st Place, Best Fictional Feature Script
  • Meraki Film Festival
    Madrid, Spain
    March 19, 2018
    2nd Place, Best Screenplay
  • NYLA International Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    April 24, 2018
    Award of Excellence
  • Los Angeles Movie Awards
    Los Angeles
    May 9, 2018
    Honorable Mention/Finalist
  • Madrid International Film Festival
    Madrid, Spain
    July 28, 2018
    Best Unproduced Script
  • International Independent Film Awards
    Encino, CA
    June 22, 2018
    Platinum Award
  • New Renaissance Film Festival
    London
    August 26, 2018
    Award of Excellence
  • Los Angeles International Underground
    Los Angeles
    June 24, 2018
    Honorable Mention
  • Toronto Screenwriting Competition
    Toronto
    June 9, 2018
    Finalist
  • Filmmatic Screenplay Awards
    Los Angeles
    August 17, 2018
    Finalist
  • Amsterdam International Filmmakers Festival
    Amsterdam
    August 18, 2018
    Finalist, Best Unproduced Script
Writer Biography - RJ Watson

RJ (Jim) Watson is an award-winning writer, producer and director of films, documentaries, children’s television and video programs.

RECENT PROJECTS

Perry (2018), a screenplay on sex trafficking. A mother and daughter of privilege from Connecticut and a victim of sex trafficking from Haiti are drawn into a dangerous web of exploitation on the streets of San Francisco. Loosely based on the Persephone-Demeter myth, it is the tragic story of love and innocence destroyed by dark societal forces.

Awards and Nominations
Meraki Film Festival (Madrid), 2nd Place, Best Screenplay
Nice International Film Festival, Nomination Best Unproduced Screenplay*
Sacramento Int. Film Festival, Official Selection American Screenwriters*
Grove Film Festival, Nomination Best Screenplay*
*Awards ceremonies pending

Humor, Heart & Hope: Women Living with Cancer (2014)
An honest and moving documentary short profiling the lives of six women who have a variety of cancers and diagnoses. Platinum Award Best of Show, 2015 Aurora Awards. (42 min)

Stepping On Up (2012), a sixteen-part puppet show for elementary students on bullying, cyberbullying and life skills. Awards: CINE Golden Eagle, Gold Remi - WorldFest Houston Int. Film Festival, Gold Aurora Award, Parents’ Choice Award, Teachers’ Choice Award, Pegasus Award of Distinction, Silver Davey Award.

TELEVISION
Writer, Producer, Director of several multi-part series for Public Television.

LifeSteps (2004)
Saving Our Schools (2000)
PeaceTalks (1998)
Big Changes - Big Choices (1994) (producer/director)
You Can Choose! (1992) (writer, producer)

These series enjoyed broad carriage and solid rating on American Public Television and won acclaim in the press and at festivals, including: the CINE Golden Eagle, The NY Festivals, Houston WorldFest, Chicago Hugo and Intercom, the Columbus International Film and Video Festival, the San Jose Film and Video Competition, US International Film and Video Festival, The Telly Awards, Parents' Choice, Teachers' Choice Awards, Aurora, Omni, The Cindy’s, and the National Educational Media Network, among others.

In 1995, Mr. Watson founded Heartland Media and in 2001, established The Heartland Media Foundation.

Mr. Watson began his professional media career working on a variety of public television documentaries, which include: The Cost Of Cotton, a thirty-minute expose on DDT poisoning of Guatemalan cotton workers; The I Hotel on senior housing; Mad River, an environmental documentary for the PBS Crisis-To-Crisis series; and Talking Dustbowl, a personal portrait of Okies in the central valley of California.

In 1983, he co-founded Fine Line Productions, where he produced a series of informational programs, including The Yosemite Institute, narrated by Robert Redford and Classrooms Without Borders, a series on bilingual education.

He lives in San Francisco with his wife, Davida Desmond, an educator and former Superintendent in the San Francisco Unified School District.

IMDb: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm9721853?ref_=nv_mp_profile
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-rj-watson-6203305/

Add Writer Biography
Writer Statement

I am a first-time screenwriter though I have been writing and producing youth programs and documentaries for American Public Television for many years. For these programs, I have interviewed thousands of teens and have developed an appreciation of the complexity of their emotional life. This work is, in many ways, the basis of the script and its eponymous main character.

The Perry script is a challenging one in many ways. While it has elements of a thriller, a noir, a coming of age drama, it is none of these and in fact seeks to subvert these standard conventions in an attempt to create something new in story, tone, structure and the issues it raises.

Non-sensationalized portrayals of sexual exploitation and trafficking are rare in film, and it is rarer still to see realistic and sympathetic representations of homeless refugee youth. This script brings these characters out of the shadows and humanizes them, deconstructing the prejudices that denigrate them and belittle their exploitation.

This story is not new; it is the basis of many of our ancient myths. But there is a break in the way sexual harassment, rape and exploitation are being treated and this new frankness and empowerment make these issues more accessible -- and more relevant. It is my hope that, in this moment, we can bring this moving story to the screen and help create a new and urgent awareness of this widespread, and largely unanswered, victimization of innocent children.