Screenwriter | Desposyni Movie

SCREENWRITER – JEAN GALLIANO

What motivated you to become a writer?

I had been writing poetry since I was in high school. There is book that I thought should be a movie and for many years I kept saying, “Someone should make a movie of this!” Time was passing, and one day I realized that I was that Someone. When I was 21, I had a Near Death Experience which completely changed my perspective and the direction of my life. It caused me to think about the story I wanted to tell and the way I wanted to tell it. My experience taught me that there is more to our existence than our everyday awareness.

But it was late in my career, and I had no script writing education. I was undaunted. I sought out screenwriters, partnered up with them and wrote several scripts to learn the format. I took some classes at Community College and in the mix; I realized that I was an Outsider Artist. I just had to move ahead and dare to break-in on my own.

Starting on a blank page is not easy- where does your creativity come from?

My Near Death Experience caused me to become widely researched on mystic and mysterious content like ancient civilizations, obscure scriptures, pyramid science and metaphysics, etc. With all this in my background, I have been able to write amazing stories for myself and for others who have their own arcane interests and tales to tell. Also, I am a child of the 60’s, and I have a rich vault filled with extraordinary and exciting Bohemian adventures! When they say, “Write what you know,” it’s true! I utilize my own experiences, those of my closest friends and foes, and then elaborate upon them to create entirely new stories.

Do you write projects knowing that so many other factors need to happen to get it to screen and does that come into your project creation?

Well, I did not start out considering any other factors but the trajectory of my story. I began writing period pieces and sci-fi from full scale imagination which required a lot of special effects, exotic locations and elaborate costuming, etc. I was not having much success because my scripts had astronomical budgets – definitely too high for an unknown writer to catch a break. So, I began to task myself to write for low and medium budget productions. My current screenplay, Desposyni, is a revisionist account of the life of Mary Magdalene and falls in range from 3-6 million. I am working now on a new script that hopefully can be filmed in my beautiful city of Philadelphia.

What is your dream for this project and what other ancillary revenue do you think it could generate? Please include script title in reply.

Desposyni won 1st Place Gold in The Jewish Film Festival in 2019 attracting the attention of production companies. Of course, my dream is to see this script come to life on screen and with an appropriate budget in place, which I believe it will! I dream of being there on set and meeting the actors and characters. I dream of traveling to exciting places and establishing alliances with wonderful people. I dream of Desposyni igniting tension, stimulating controversy, and inspiring the exchange of ideas. I dream that Desposyni will be an alluring and enlightening story for all. Potential viewing platforms include the likes of HBO, Showtime, Starz, Network Television, Amazon, Hulu, Vimeo, You Tube, Netflix and Gaia.

How has your experience been with screenwriting contests for this project so far?

Fantastic!! Amazingly rewarding! Desposyni has been very successful on the competition circuit with numerous Wins, Nominations, and Official Selections:

[2020] ZERO Degrees Film Contest – Best Plot
Red Flight Pictures Screenplay Awards – Finalist
[2019] The Jewish Film Festival – 1st Place Gold
Film Festival of Time: Ancient Futures – Best Screenplay
Prix Royal Monthly Screenplay Awards – Best Screenplay
Mexico International Film Festival – Finalist
Life Fest Film Festival – Finalist
Top Indie Film Awards – Finalist
LIFFT INDIA World Cine Fest – Finalist
Meriaki Film Festival – Semi-Finalist
Atlanta International Screenplay Awards – Semi-Finalist
[2018] CHHATRAPATI SHIVAJI IFF – Best Screenplay
Genre Celebration Festival – Best Screenplay
Rome Independent Prisma Awards – Finalist
Near Nazareth Film Festival – Semi-Finalist
And many Official Selections