The AFF Script Competitions team is thrilled to be working with the hilarious and outrageous comedic minds at YMH Studios for the 2nd year of the YMH Studios Fellowship Award.
YMH Studios is currently developing a slate of low-budget comedy feature films built around accessible, rewatchable concepts with a comedy-first approach to storytelling. They are looking for comedy feature scripts with easily understandable and rewatchable themes, prioritizing a comedic storytelling approach.
We recently caught up with Tony Ferrendelli and Kim Turner, co-writers of Chasing Shadows, the winning script of the Inaugural YMH Studios Fellowship Award. Keep reading for more on their winning script, Festival highlights, and work with YMH Studios.
On placing in the AFF script competition and winning:
Tony: There’s the prestige and the legitimacy of Austin, and it’s always one where Kim and I, since we’ve been writing together the last couple years, is we really pull our best scripts for Austin. And you’re excited. I mean, you’re excited when you get the second-round call. You’re excited when you get semi-finalist.
Tony: You have the finals luncheon on Saturday, and so you’re excited about that, and then you meet other people that are there and sometimes at certain points you’ve had time to read some of the other people’s scripts and it’s like, it makes you feel good because those other scripts, the ones that I read are really, really good. And so you go, yeah, it’s nice to be included in that category. And then when you win, it’s a nice feeling. It’s just a nice way to really put a great cap on the weekend.
Kim: And then we very kindly got invited to Meg LeFauve and Lauren McKenna’s Screenwriting Life podcast thing that they do out there. And then we all sat around and we did not have to buy drinks, and that was awesome. We did not have to buy drinks all night.
On attending Austin Film Festival:
Tony: I would say just put yourself out there and meet people because you’re there with peers of all levels. There are people who have written their first script and submitted, and there are people who have awards like a mantle full of awards … the first couple of times you go, you go, I want to meet this manager, I want to meet this producer. But the value you get is these are the people that you’re going to grow with. These are the people that you’re going to see and that are going to have movies made, and you’re going to know ’em and exchange scripts and exchange ideas.
Kim: There’s no moment in the year that I love as much as Austin Film Festival. I love to come there and meet everybody from every different spectrum, from the spectrum of writing, there’s people who are new to it, and there are people who have Emmys and Oscars, and they are as willing to speak to you as anybody else. That is extraordinary to me, to have access to that and to have people just be authentic.
On meeting with YMH Studios:
Kim: They came to the meeting with really cogent notes, and we’ve been writing this and we’ve been rewriting this. And then they came with a note that I was like, you just feel thunderstruck when you hear it. You’re like, wow, that is a hundred percent correct. But they were very, very kind and they really did enjoy the script. They said how much they liked it, but they said, we chose you because we like your voice, we like your sense of humor.
Tony: And that’s, honestly, that’s what you want. Going back to an earlier question is what makes the AFF experience is you want to make a connection like that. You want to make a connection where you have the ability to reach out to an industry expert to hear your ideas.
What’s next for Chasing Shadows?
Tony: June and Alicia were [at the Script Library], which is great because Bricktown Films is a production company in Oklahoma, and they came down to AFF to read scripts. They know that, again, that kind of goes back to the prestige of AFF, they know that there are good scripts down there. So, we started a conversation with them, and right now we’re kind of in the legal stage of doing an option agreement. So that literally came from me being there at the script library, and them being there.
On writing:
Tony: No one is going to know you and no one is going to read your stuff if you keep it all close to you … Your writing is the only thing you can control. The industry was hard … So have fun and you control your own writing. And just have fun because it is tough when you’re doing it alone, which is why it’s nice to have a co-writer.
About
YMH Studios is currently developing a slate of low-budget comedy feature films built around accessible, rewatchable concepts with a comedy-first approach to storytelling. With this aim, Your Mom’s House is excited to be partnering with the Austin Film Festival to offer a fellowship opportunity for a uniquely talented comedy writer. Check out latest project from the mind of YMH’s Tom Segura below!
Learn more about the YMH Studios fellowship and submit before the deadline to join Kim and Tony in the alumni network of talented comedy writers!