Kristina Zacharias discovered her passion for screenwriting while living and working in New York City, a move she made after graduating from Virginia Tech with a degree in Film and Media Theory. It was around this time that she had an idea for a story and wanted to learn about the process of turning it into a film, so she decided to take a screenwriting course at NYUSPS.
The first course she took with Professor Jason Greiff, called The Screenwriter’s Craft, was where she “really fell in love with the craft and all the elements that go into writing a script.” She continued, “I would have continued to pursue screenwriting no matter what, but Jason is an incredible teacher – knowledgeable, passionate about movies and a great storyteller. For a long time, I bugged him to teach more of the advanced workshops, so I could keep taking his classes.”
One particular tip of Professor Greiff’s that stuck with her was his use of a visual marker to signal tension in a scene. She explained, “[He] uses this upside-down check mark as a visual guide to escalate tension throughout the script. If you’re not incorporating tension in every scene, then the ending will never feel satisfying. I think about that check mark all the time!”
She cites the courses that she later took with Professor Michael Zam as being equally influential on her writing, saying, “Michael Zam made me think about the actors that might play my characters and helped me focus on making the scenes interesting and challenging for them, as well. He also taught me to trust my audience. I don’t need to overload them with information. If I’m good at my craft, the story will unfold even without much dialogue.”
The idea that she developed in her courses with Professors Greiff and Zam became a screenplay called Restavek, which tells the story of a child slave in Haiti.
In Haiti, 1971, at the start of “Baby Doc” Duvalier’s notorious Presidency, a little girl named Family dreams of becoming a famous singer. Sent to live as an unpaid servant for an abusive family when her mother suddenly disappears, Family is now known as a restavek and must work in exchange for food and shelter. With the help of a politically-driven teacher and a naïve journalist, Family’s dream (and survival) hinges on a once-in-a-lifetime chance to sing for the new President.
This February, Kristina submitted Restavek to the Athena Film Festival’s Black List Mini-Lab, and was one of the four talented women selected to participate. The lab was created by the festival in conjunction with The Black List to highlight the lack of gender diversity in the film industry and give female writers the exposure and recognition they deserve. The first part of the process encourages writers to submit their full-length screenplay drafts—which must feature strong, non-objectified female protagonists—for consideration. After a difficult selection process, the chosen writers are given the opportunity to workshop their screenplays during an intense weekend filled with peer seminars, one-on-one mentoring sessions with industry professionals, film screenings and panels. The participants use the feedback and advice they received from the events to continue working on their scripts in the months that follow, in hopes of ultimately having them produced into films.
In addition to being selected for the lab, the screenplay was also ranked in the Nicholls Fellowship’s “Next 100” list, and went to the second round of the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition. Kristina is also Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellow for 2016.
Restavek, along with the other three works from this year’s lab, is now available to read on the AFF website.
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Beginning Screenwriting
Writing a Screenplay in 10 Weeks
Screenwriting: An Exercise-Based Approach
The Screenwriter’s Craft
Rewriting a Screenplay in 10 Weeks
Advanced Screenwriting