LISA SIMS HARRISON
Where do you live (City, State, or Country)?
Birmingham, Alabama, USA Your script or media entry stood out among hundreds of others. What was the inspiration for your project ? DOWN TO TUSCALOOSA is inspired by MY true life story of living terrified by my mother’s involuntary commitment to Bryce Mental Hospital which was one of the most crowded asylums in the country in the late 60s when she was there. It is about being driven to control my life to avoid being like her. But in the end, it is about coming to accept her flaws and psychosis so that I could accept and heal my own. How long did it take you to write your script...and what was your development process? You could say that I’ve been writing DOWN TO TUSCALOOSA since I was eight-years-old: I have always loved movies and dreamed of writing one. I started the treatment for this script in 2019 and have worked with two great mentors, Matthew Currie Holmes and Twich Collins who mentored me—especially Matthew Currie Holmes’ FAST DRAFT METHOD, which I used to actually finally get the script into Final Draft. What is your ultimate ambition as a writer or filmmaker? Win an Academy Award honestly, but also to inform and give hope to others suffering with schizophrenia, their loved ones, and anyone who is striving to heal generational trauma. Which film directors or screenwriters inspire you? Why? Nora Ephron (I love her characters and dialogue,) Nancy Myers (I live the way she uses place and setting and tone in her films,) Ron Howard (because he is a genius director,) Rob Reiner (for the way he makes characters come alive on the screen,) Reese Witherspoon (because she was brave enough to found her own hugely successful production company.) What’s your all-time favorite movie or television show? I have to say A Beautiful Mind, followed closely by When Harry Met Sally, and Bull Durham. What advice do you have for others hoping to win a contest or place as a finalist as you have? Always write from your heart! Learn the basics of story, structure, snd formatting from a pro mentor. And try to match your screenplay to the themes of the contest. What else are you working on that the world needs to know about? I also have a script for a romcom set in Birmingham, The Wish List, which won Best Alabama Screenplay at SidewalkFilm Festival 2024. And, I founded my own film production company SimplyFilm Productions, to produce my screenplays as well as the heartfelt movies based on others’ stories. Where can the world find you? (Website, IMDB, etc.) IMDB as Lisa Sims Harrison, simplyfilmprod.com, on Instagram as @SimplyFilmProductions |
