INTERVIEW: GEORGIA LIN SUNDLING ('11)

Georgia's first story was written in first grade. It was a nonfictional, first-hand account of the Captain EO experience at Disneyland. Many years later, Georgia went on to receive a BA in Film and an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA.  During her time in the program, she received the Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting Fellowship and the Women in Film Foundation/Eleanor Perry Writing Award.



Can you tell us about your writing process? Did it change while at the Colony?
G: I like to write in very intense periods in which I get completely immersed in the work. I'm a night writer, but the colony provided such an amazing creative environment that I found myself working all the time. Sometimes I'd write until seven in the morning, go to sleep, and then start again five hours later. It definitely helped that when I wasn't writing, I was being spoiled with delicious food; the company of wonderful mentors, advisors, and fellow colonists; and gorgeous scenery. It was kind of hard to believe that all they asked of us was that we write. But it really was true.

What were you working on?
G: I worked on a western about a sheriff's daughter who enlists the help of a female gunslinger to save her kidnapped father, but discovers along the way that the gunslinger has her own vendetta against the sheriff. I came to the colony knowing that I wanted to strengthen the relationship between the two women, but I didn't have a specific plan yet for how to do that. One of the mentors I worked with suggested that I drop the flashbacks, which would force the reveals and conflict to play out between the two women rather than between the past and the audience. That simple, elegant solution was the starting point for my rewrite.

How was it living and working with the other Colonists?
G: My fellow colonists were amazing. We had all written very different scripts and came from different backgrounds, but we got along beautifully. We'd go on small adventures—riding bikes out to the beach, roaming cranberry bogs, watching stars, swimming among seals—and come back to the house full of fresh ideas and a sense of excitement about what we were all working on.

How were your Mentors at the Colony?
G: Ben (Robbins, Alum ’04) and Jen (Grausman) were the dream team. They were master shepherds of our motley crew of colonists and mentors, erudite conversationalists who kept our dinners lively and interesting, and genuine friends to us all. They were also absolute heartthrobs--easy on the eyes and well-coiffed--which came in handy when they smooth talked the Chicken Box bouncers into letting us in with a team discount.

THE LONG SHORT DROP, which she workshopped at The Screenwriters Colony went on to win a 2011 Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award.