Peg Cheng may look like a responsible adult, but for more than a year her mind has been on high school. That鈥檚 because Cheng, who works as an adviser in the UW鈥檚 Gateway Center, has written a screenplay about high school students 鈥� a screenplay that was recently declared a finalist in the Washington State Screenplay Competition.
She earned the distinction by submitting a two-sentence synopsis and 10 consecutive pages of her screenplay, Boyfriend Girlfriend, to the competition, for which there were about 50 entries. Now one of 10 finalists, Cheng had to submit the full screenplay to the judges last week, but she鈥檒l have to wait until May to find out if she鈥檚 one of three winners.
How did a woman who spends her days working with pre-major students decide to write a screenplay? Maybe a sign that sits on Cheng鈥檚 desk says it best: 鈥淚 am always doing things I can鈥檛 do. That鈥檚 how I get to do them.鈥�
Or, as Cheng tells it, 鈥淚 just decided I wanted to do something for myself, something creative.鈥� So in the fall of 2003 she signed up for the screenwriting program offered by 91探花Extension, and for the next year she labored on her writing.
鈥淚 had this idea in my mind of two people opposite from each other 鈥� a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who鈥檚 kind of alternative and punkish and then a boy who鈥檚 very popular, a football star, rich,鈥� Cheng said of her screenplay鈥檚 origin. 鈥淎 lot of times when you think of movies you try to picture what the poster would look like, and I just saw these two characters and thought of the title. From there I thought, 鈥榃hy would these two be together? They鈥檇 have to be thrown together.鈥� Then ideas came from that.鈥�
She wanted to do a teen comedy, Cheng explained, because she was influenced by the movies of John Hughes when she was growing up 鈥� The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller鈥檚 Day Off and 16 Candles 鈥� and she thinks it鈥檚 a fun genre to play with. The students who come through her office daily help her stay current with the age group鈥檚 concerns, but when that fails, she turns on a CD from her high school years and the feelings of those days come right back, she said.
In her screenplay, the girl knows a secret about the boy and is blackmailing him. Cheng doesn鈥檛 want to say much more about the plot than that.
Despite her inexperience 鈥� Cheng hadn鈥檛 written anything remotely like this before 鈥� she said writing the screenplay was fun. It was the preparation before the writing that was hard. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e writing the treatment (an eight to 10-page summary of the plot), you have to figure out your entire movie,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he structure has to be pretty precise. The teachers in the screenwriting class would challenge us. They鈥檇 say, 鈥榃hy would this person do this?鈥� and 鈥榃here鈥檚 the conflict here?鈥� And we鈥檇 say, 鈥楥an鈥檛 I just write it this way because that鈥檚 how I want it?鈥� And they鈥檇 say no.鈥�
The entire first quarter of the screenwriting course was devoted to this kind of logistical planning. The second quarter was for first-draft writing and the third for revising. Cheng signed up for an optional fourth quarter class to further refine her work and is currently on her fifth draft. She has nothing but praise for her instructors, calling the program 鈥減robably the most rewarding class I鈥檝e ever taken.鈥�
And speaking of rewards, if she鈥檚 the top winner in the state competition, she鈥檒l get $1,500 and a pair of round trip tickets to anywhere Alaska Airlines flies, plus a one-night weekend stay at any W Hotel in the continental United States. And her script will be performed by professional actors as part of a series sponsored by Seattle鈥檚 Warren Reports. The second- and third-place writers will each receive $500. And all three winners will receive a copy of Final Draft software and a gift from Starbucks.
The most exciting prize, though, according to Cheng, is the announcement of the winners that will appear in Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter ads in June. That might precipitate calls from agents and producers. It鈥檚 something that frequently happens, according to Suzy Kellet, managing director of the Washington State Film Office, which sponsors the writing competition.
鈥淥ne of our Seattle winners found an agent through the competition and sold a script called 50 First Kisses to Columbia Pictures,鈥� she said. 鈥淯nfortunately, Adam Sandler was cast, renamed the script 50 First Dates and took the project to Hawaii.鈥�
(Entrants in the competition are required to set 75 percent of their scripts in Washington, but that doesn鈥檛 guarantee they will wind up here.)
Cheng says even if the ad doesn鈥檛 generate immediate interest, winning the competition would still confer an advantage in that it would give her some clout when she queries producers 鈥� which she definitely intends to do.
And while she鈥檚 waiting to find out whether her script has been chosen, she鈥檚 already at work on her next screenplay 鈥� a remake of Snow White. No, it鈥檚 not even close to the Disney version. In fact, it isn鈥檛 even aimed at children. It鈥檚 about these seven misfits . . . . but Cheng doesn鈥檛 want to say any more, except that there will be no rescuing by Prince Charming in this version. In fact, Prince Charming is going to be a jerk. But then, you wouldn鈥檛 expect one of Cheng鈥檚 characters to be lying around waiting for a magic kiss. Like Cheng, they鈥檙e busy doing things they can鈥檛 do.