It’s been a long time since I last posted -- years, actually.
Last April, I felt a spark of inspiration and wrote a television pilot titled Prairie Thunder over the course of a single weekend. I entered it into the Austin Film Festival, where it advanced to the Second Round.
That result pushed me to do something I had never done before: invest in professional feedback. I hired a reputable literary manager to review the script. While he saw strength in the dialogue and core story, he was very clear that the pilot had significant issues -- most notably the absence of a B-story, along with several structural weaknesses. To put it simply, he tore it apart.
That feedback forced me to take a hard look at the script and commit to a full rewrite.
During that process, I reached out to a respected Indigenous actor with extensive film and television credits. He responded very positively -- not only to the central character of Reggie Lonechild, but to the series as a whole. That gave me confidence I was moving in the right direction.
I then went back to the same literary manager for a second round of notes. He acknowledged the improvements and was impressed with the changes, but still identified several key adjustments needed before the project would be ready to pitch. He also encouraged me to build a proper pitch deck and to write a feature script -- both of which I’m currently working on.
From there, I continued refining the pilot -- line by line -- before submitting it to additional competitions. The script went on to become a Finalist at the Cambridge Script Festival, a Semifinalist at the Outstanding Screenplays TV Pilot competition, and received Official Selection at the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards.
After another pass -- cutting redundant scenes that led nowhere and tightening the pacing -- I submitted it to the Oxford Script Awards.
This time, Prairie Thunder was awarded Best Television Screenplay, placing it overall among the top entries in the competition.
What I’ve taken from this process is simple:
If you want to improve as a writer, you have to be willing to have your work torn apart. Honest, critical feedback isn’t comfortable -- but it’s the only thing that leads to real growth.
I plan to submit to Austin again this year. This time, I’m hoping to push beyond the Second Round.
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My Vietnam wartime script, "Nobody's Heroes" was a 2nd rounder in 2023. I'll spare you and our readers with all the blow-by-blow details in my rewrite. I didn't go through a review by anyone. I've come to the conclusion that a lot of so-called experts are anything but. Still, the rewrite was good enough to reach the semi-finals in 2024. Best of luck to you at this year's AFF.
2 people like this
Jeremy Kenneth Hunter That’s a great journey and honestly, very relatable.
What stands out is how you didn’t just rely on the initial momentum from placing, but actually went back and rebuilt the script from a structural level. That willingness to let the work be challenged is what really makes the difference.
I’ve been going through a similar phase with my current feature realizing that the real work often starts after the first draft, when you begin to understand what the story actually needs rather than what you initially thought it was.
Also interesting to see how specific changes like introducing a stronger B-story and tightening structure can completely shift how the script is received.