A Magnolia family tradition has turned some heads in Boulder, Colo., and could turn even more in Hollywood.
Julie Bliss, a grandmother and a seasoned screenwriter who lived in Magnolia for 30 eyars, had made it a tradition to write stories with her grandchildren. She would sit down with them, one at a time, and share story ideas, write them down and see if they went anywhere - maybe a book or a treatment for a film. Recently, she and her granddaughter, Catherine Carr, completed a screenplay called "Dragon Flute" based on an idea by Carr that went on to win them best screenplay in the children's feature category of the Moondance International Film Festival in Boulder.
"I came up with it when I was six," said Carr, now 11, and who lives in Magnolia and attends the Northwest School in Capitol Hill. "She [Bliss] thought it was pretty interesting so we started writing it when I was 10."
The couple would sit at a Starbucks armed with a laptop and their imaginations. Then they would head out to a restaurant, write, eat and write.
Bliss had entered "Dragon Flute" in the Boulder competition earlier this year and was notified by email that the entry had won.
"My parents were happy for me and we got the plane tickets for Boulder," Carr said. "I flew by myself."
Bliss, who now lives in Memphis, met her granddaughter in Boulder. The couple went to workshops, hobnobbed with agents, instructors and fellow writers. They spoke with one agent who wants to see the entire screenplay and has shown interest in representing them.
"We worked together marketing the screenplay and have pitched it to potential buyers," Bliss said. Interested parties consistently noted that the pair was the only grandma/granddaughter duo they had ever come across.
The duo is now working on a story about a mock trial, inspired by a mock trial lesson Carr has been learning at school. Carr will jot down ideas and email them to Bliss, and the edits go back and forth.
"We told the idea to someone who might be our agent and he said it was a good idea," Carr said. "We're going to write it and see how it goes."[[In-content Ad]]
