Leanna Woodley

I studied film at an unusually early age, which I can attribute to a childhood filled with movie nights with my dad. I chose to study TV writing at Columbia College Chicago for my undergrad, but went on to study improv acting at Second City Chicago and Meisner Conservatory in Chicago and New York. My years of acting helped inform my writing tremendously, as I really embody the characters…and then tend to act out the entire script as I write it.

I’m an avid planner. And then I don’t stick to it ha! My process is generally, I have an idea and break open the story, often at a cafe. I’ll go home to write a synopsis and then dive deeper into an outline of the entire movie or pilot. I’ll sit on that and see if I still think it’s actually a fabulous concept a few days later. I’ll then use the outline as a road map, to make sure I hit markers I intended to hit, but truth be told, I’ve never fully followed the outline. The characters speak to me and I follow them on the path they want to go. From there, I’m a bit of a manic writer. I prefer to dive in hours per day for weeks and see the world when I have a finished draft.

I recently wrote a movie with an ensemble teen cast that involves a scavenger hunt a character’s deceased mother left behind for him. I’m grateful for the countless scavenger hunts my daughter’s had me do for her, it was good research. But putting them throughout the city of Chicago in this movie added a level of complexity; I needed to triple check that I was keeping the clues and locations straight. I have a lot of respect for mystery writers! Additionally, with this movie, The Oxford Journal, I juxtaposed the life of Dorothy Sayers in 1920s-1950s Oxford, England, to a contemporary 23-year-old American girl trying to figure her life out. You should have seen the amount of color-coded index cards I laid out all over our table!

Character development and heart. I want to feel invested and moved by the characters, not just along for a plot-driven ride.

I’m going to glass-half-full this current situation! I went to LA for writing for my first time and we had a writer’s strike. I was an actress in LA at a time when ethnically ambiguous wasn’t popular yet and I was repeatedly told I was too Puerto Rican, too Native American, or not enough of either. I started writing again and the beginning of the pandemic and the writer’s strike followed. If I was easily scared off, I would’ve walked away many years ago. I jumped into the zoom world immediately during the pandemic and made fantastic connections through it that have changed my life. I write because I love it. I’m used to riding out the waves. The difference is now I’m riding them while writing in front of the Mediterranean Sea in Southern Spain, so it could be much worse. We just need to keep writing, making connections and putting our work out there.

I write across quite a few genres or audiences as well as tv and film. I have pilots that range from tween dramedy to teen witchy/vampire fantasy to historical fiction/fantasy. I have features from a high school dramedy feature to a young adult drama feature, to family and rom com Christmas movies and a historical fiction social commentary thriller. Two things help me switch mindsets. One is, I have a funny quirk that once I’ve finished a script, it’s out of my mind and I almost forget I wrote it. In fact, I’ve gone back and read a script and thought, oh, I like that ha! The other thing is music. I make a soundtrack for every single project based on the vibe of the script and then listen to it on repeat. I always see the movies in my head with their soundtracks. The Bleachers don’t know it yet, but they’re a pretty rad soundtrack to my high school dramedy feature. It’s a very John Hughes’esque pairing!

I handle it like most writers, I would imagine. What you write is very personal to you. If you’re putting yourself into your work, you care about it very much. If someone rejects a project, you can’t help but feel a small sting. The key for me is to remember it’s subjective. The script won’t resonate with everyone. I’ve had projects win festivals and not make it to a quarterfinalist of another. The key for me is to listen with an open mind, gauge who is giving the feedback and if their feedback is in line with the script. Additionally, it’s important to have trusted and respected mentors and critique partners. I’ve been a part of a mentorship with David Kirkpatrick through Story Summit for years, an incredibly supportive writing community and school, where I found a group of incredible writers that I trust and adore. They continuously push me to be a better writer. When you have that, it’s important to remain open for growth. If they’re seeing something I missed, that’s an opportunity for me to improve my work.

I have a limited series pilot called Native America that I’ve partnered with Paulo de Oliveira, producer of Outlander. It takes place in the 1970s, in the era of NPR launching, known as a women’s club at the time, we were seeing effects of the “sixties scoop” that most people still don’t know existed, and Indian boarding schools run by the government and Catholic Church were still assimilating Native Americans. Additionally, there’s a fantasy component- a Harmony world that exists as if America was never colonized. It’s a tremendous story of hope and change.

If this is in reference to the Artificial elephant in the room, I’m holding onto the truth that quality screenwriting is about humanity. The intuition, little moments and emotional intelligence of screenwriters can not be replaced. A script might be able to be written by AI, but true storytelling needs heart.

Do it because you love it and want it, not because you need it. If you need to be produced or need the job, the desperation will cloud your creativity. Do something else for money and write because it makes your heart light up when you do.