Emma Inspired

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea that you’re supposed to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life as a young adult – whether it be choosing your college major, starting a career, finding a romantic partner, moving out of your parent’s house, etc; there’s an immense amount of pressure for you to have it all figured out when you’re only in your 20’s. For “Emma Inspired” I wanted to explore that idea via a character that not only didn’t have a clear path to becoming a self-sufficient adult, but no specific interests or motivation either. I felt as though Emma’s struggle was relatable, and I wanted to create a world around her where everybody seemed like they had it all figured out. This heightens the stakes for her and gives her a much-needed push to take some action. Through a series of trial and error in self-discovery, and a whole lot of false starts, Emma learns that she needs to take life at her own pace.
It was really important to me that Emma didn’t figure everything out by the end of the movie, I wanted it to be realistic and if she suddenly had a clear path to what she wants to do, or had a new understanding of who she was as a person, it wouldn’t be very realistic at all. Instead- just a little step in the right direction; no matter how bizarre or seemingly small that first step may be. In the end, it’s important for Emma to learn that she doesn’t need to self-actualize or rush to “catch up” with everyone around her; she’ll figure it out eventually.
This story, for a lot of obvious reasons, is very personal to me. In writing, my co- writer (Jamie Rice) and I poured our hearts (and some of our sanity) into this thing to try to bring Emma to life. So much of our personalities and personal experiences went into Emma, and one of our main goals was to create a character that other 20-something women (men too) could relate to, and ultimately laugh with along her misguided journey.