CAST LIST:

Narrator: Steve Rizzo
Lydia: Julie Sheppard
Charmilla: Elizabeth Rose Morriss
Jilly: Hannah Ehman

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

The Susurrus is about a dollmaker who starts to date a year after her husband abandoned her. The jump back into the dating scene, and the world at large, proves dangerous, and ultimately, she must decide to keep-on despite the world’s evils, or retreat back to the familiar evils of her solitary life.

2. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

The Susurrus explores the many forms that abusive relationships take, and how they can be near-impossible to escape from. The subject is unfortunately timeless and universal, across gender, religion, and culture. So, why not now?

3. How would you describe this script in two words?

Creepy and sexy.

4. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

Probably The Goonies.

5. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

I’ve been working on this on-and-off for about eight years.

6. How many stories have you written?

I have two as-of-yet unpublished novels, three pilots, four features, and too many short films and short stories to count.

7. What motivated you to write this screenplay?

I watched a creepy story of a man who was obsessed with a woman and when she died, even though he had no rights as a husband or any other relation, he stole her body from her grave and kept it like a doll until he was discovered.

8. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

The biggest obstacles to finishing the screenplay were time and self-confidence.

9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I love acting and I love directing actors.

10. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings
on the initial feedback you received?

I was inspired to enter the festival because I thought the idea of a filmed staged reading was exciting. The feedback I received was top tier; inspiring, thorough, and insightful.

11. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

I call it a moral horror: a cross between a psychological thriller and mystery.