Austin Film Festival’s mission is to further the journey of all storytellers, and there is no better single example of this than the annual Ghost Ranch Writers Retreat. Amongst the amazing high desert landscape, you can find true inspiration in your work. One past attendee to do so is Meg Swertlow, who has attended the past three retreats, even while having her first child. Read about her experiences below.
In the Spring of 2021, I got a mass email from the Austin Film Festival announcing their inaugural writers’ retreat at Ghost Ranch in rural New Mexico. I impulsively signed up, despite the fact that I had never been to AFF and none of my scripts had ever made it to the second round of the screenplay competition. But after being a near shut-in for the prior year and a half, I needed a break from the interior of my East Hollywood apartment. I signed up. My husband asked if he could tag along. And that was that.
Before I arrived, I had the expectation that I would finally “finish” my horror script, No Overnight Parking. Oh, the hubris! But it was clear after Barbara Morgan’s introductory speech that the retreat’s mission wasn’t to meet goals or hit deadlines, it was to enjoy where you were, to literally look up and see some of the most beautiful views you’ve ever seen, to be inspired by nature and other writers – and to acknowledge the power of storytelling and the storyteller. I let myself off the hook for the first time in years. I didn’t have anything to achieve. I merely had to be.
On the first day of the retreat, we were placed in workshop groups based on our self-diagnosed abilities. I was in Group D, mentored by Irishman-turned-Texan Johnny McAllister, a longtime friend of the Austin Film Festival. Within minutes of meeting the other six writers, Group D—which we self-diagnosed as the “fun group”—was vulnerable and honest with each other. There were no pretenses, but there was laughter. A lot of it. These were good writers – and good people. I learned that many of them had already written and directed features. I was both intimidated and honored to be among them.
Everyone in Group D returned for the second year, and we added some folks too. It’s hard to encompass three years’ worth of retreats into one blog post, but these people have been a constant in my life since year one. We still talk or text daily on WhatsApp, we have a regular writers’ group that grew out of the retreat, and I have hung out with literally every one of them since leaving Ghost Ranch.
That second year was pretty special though. First, because I was six months pregnant. Second, due to scheduling issues, I had to remotely direct a short scene for the proof of concept for that horror feature I mentioned earlier. As a lightning storm raged around me, I directed French Stewart, who was in Atlanta, via Zoom while sitting outside the visitor’s center, praying the Internet didn’t give out. The finished short film had the honor of playing at the 2023 Austin Film Festival. I attended (of course) and also had the joy of watching films by Tyler Savage and Laura Adkin, two other Group D members.
The third year was most meaningful, attending as a family of three. Encouraged by Barbara and the rest of the AFF gang, my husband and I brought our eight-month-old daughter last year. While I wrote and workshopped, my husband and the rest of the spouses of my cohort took care of our baby. Greg Garrett has since dubbed her the “Ghost Ranch Mascot,” and not just because she’s pale as a ghost.
Writing is hard. It’s lonely and isolating. That’s why it’s important to be able to reset at Ghost Ranch where I have found creativity, community, camaraderie – and babysitters.
Take the chance to be inspired yourself. Join AFF at this year’s Ghost Ranch Retreat, happening August 11-15. Find out all the details below: