AFF has been instrumental in launching the careers of writers for over three decades. In this week’s Alumni Blog, our 2023 Drama Teleplay Pilot Award winner, Austin Elliott, shares the process of creating his winning script for State of the Art. He also delves into how AFF played an instrumental role in his writing career! Scroll to read more about Austin’s journey to screenwriting and AFF.
Austin Elliott had a creative upbringing, through trial and error he overcame many of his challenges. “Growing up in a smaller town in North Carolina, it always felt like being a filmmaker was such a long shot for me. Kind of like wanting to be a Rockstar or an Astronaut. It was fun to think about…but that’s as far as it got. But everything changed when I discovered YouTube. In 2007, I watched as filmmakers who were just like me made videos and uploaded them for the world to see. For the first time, being a filmmaker felt accessible. It was something I could attempt right here in my backyard! So that’s exactly what I did. Over the weekends, I’d corral my friends and together we’d make some of the cringiest videos the world ever saw. Over the next four years, with the help of my incredible friends, I made a total of 45 films and learned through trial and error how important it was to write out a plan before we started filming. Honestly, what sparked my interest in screenwriting was an absolute necessity for it. Otherwise, we were going into filming without a plan, and more times than not, we’d regret not writing it all out once it was time to edit the shots together.”
Inspired by an NPR piece on art forgery, Austin Elliott’s State of the Art explores whether artists need public credit to feel validated.
“I initially got the idea for State of the Art in 2015 by listening to an NPR piece titled “Could The Masterpiece Be A Fake? Profit, Revenge And ‘The Art Of Forgery’”. In it, author Noah Charney tells a story about a German painter named Lothar Malskat who in 1937 forged a piece of art that went on to become widely celebrated by the people of Germany, who thought it was painted by a long-dead artist. So what did Lothar do? He TURNED HIMSELF IN to the police in order to get the credit he felt he deserved. I was immediately sucked in by this story and eventually landed on the thematic question: “Do artists need credit for their work in order to feel validated, or can just knowing you’re worthy of it be enough?” Once I had that, I used it as my guiding light for the pilot, which follows Leila, an undervalued and insecure painter who’s pulled into the world of art forgery. There, she finally finds the confidence to fully embrace her talent, but now she has to find peace with keeping this secret to herself while the world credits her genius to someone else.”
Elliott submitted multiple drafts of State of the Art to the Austin Film Festival Script Competition before his win in 2023.
“The version of State of the Art that ended up winning AFF was draft number 19, believe it or not. It was also the very first original pilot script I wrote. Draft one was created back in 2015 …and draft 19 was completed eight years later (after I submitted it to AFF twice before). Once I finished the first few drafts of State of the Art I moved on to my next pilot idea. I made a lot of mistakes, learned from them, and then when I was done with the newer script, I revised State of the Art based on the new things I learned. Also, more important than anything else, I asked dozens of trusted friends to read and give me notes through all of my revisions. (Special shoutout to my INSANELY talented wife Christene who read and gave notes on all 19 drafts!) Hearing what they thought worked and what didn’t, and WHY was so essential and it elevated my script to a level I never could have reached by myself.
Honestly, I submitted to the Austin Film Festival for the same reason I submit to any script competition/fellowship/workshop… I was FREAKING OUT! I was having a difficult time getting traction as a writer and there were talks of a writers strike looming (which ultimately ended up happening). Submitting my scripts felt like one of the few ways I could take control of the situation and find just a little bit of hope within an otherwise bleak moment. Turns out it would become one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my writing career.”
Since receiving the Drama Teleplay Pilot Award in 2023, Austin has quickly gained popularity in the screenwriting realm, with many new opportunities opening up for him.
“My AFF win has opened so many doors for me that were previously shut. Immediately after winning, I signed with my incredible reps Kristina Cuello at Curate Management, and Lyra Tan at Gersh. Thanks to them, I’ve had more meetings these last seven months than all of my past years combined, and it’s showing no sign of slowing down. They also helped secure my current job as a Script Coordinator on Amazon’s live-action Spider-Man Noir show starring Nick Cage and Showran by Oren Uziel, a 2008 AFF script competition winner. Lastly, I just started writing a feature script that might be one of my favorite concepts I’ve come up with so far. I’m very happy (and relieved) to say that this feels like just the beginning.”
Interested in submitting a script or attending the Austin Film Festival? Click below for more information.