Interview (Part 1): Jennifer Archer

My interview with the 2022 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner.

Jennifer Archer wrote the original screenplay “Into the Deep Blue” which won a 2022 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Jennifer about her creative background, her award-winning script, the craft of screenwriting, and what winning the Nicholl Award has meant to her.

Today in Part 1 of a 6-part series to run each day through Saturday, Jennifer discusses growing up in northern Ontario, Canada, her interest in YA literature, and the difference between writing novels and screenplays.

Scott Myers: Congratulations on winning The Nicholl.

Jennifer Archer: Thank you.

Scott: Let’s learn a little bit more about your background. I believe you currently live in Toronto. Is that right?

Jennifer: Outside of Toronto, just north of the city.

Scott: Is that where you grew up, in Canada?

Jennifer: Yeah. In the remote north. In northern Ontario.

Scott: What was that like, growing up in the remote north of Ontario?

Jennifer: It was great. Our town was so small. It was a railroad community. There were no movie theaters, no chain restaurants. It was quiet. [laughs]

Scott: What did you do to entertain yourself there?

Jennifer: My parents put me in figure skating. That took up most of my free time. It was a two hour drive to where I would train. We would wake up at 5:00 in the morning and do that before school, then go straight to school. On the weekends, it was just playing in the woods and using our imagination.

Scott: When did you become interested in writing?

Jennifer: I’ve always loved writing. I’ve been writing since I was little, just stories for fun. Didn’t really think that it could turn into anything. Never thought of writing as a viable career. Still not sure about that.

Scott: Was there any formal education, college, creative writing?

Jennifer: I went to the University of Toronto. I took English and art history, but spent most of my time in class writing in my notebook and not paying attention to lectures. I still, at that point, hadn’t really thought of writing seriously.

Scott: You have an interest in YA novels?

Jennifer: Yeah, that’s right.

Scott: When did you move into that direction and actually start writing them?

Jennifer: It wasn’t until after the birth of my son. He was around one or two. I was staying at home with him. I started reading a lot more in the downtime. I really wanted to write. I found some online communities and met other writers and thought, “I can do this. I’m going to take this seriously and try my hand at it.”

Scott: Were you reading a lot of YA novels, too?

Jennifer: I was, yes.

Scott: Yet the thing we’re talking about is a screenplay Into the Deep Blue. How did that happen? You decided to write this as a screenplay as opposed to like a novel.

Jennifer: I did write it as a novel as well. They went hand in hand. I wrote it as novel first, except it was a messy, fragmented novel. It wasn’t like airlocked. Halfway through, I thought, I need to put this in screenplay format and see how it reads. That process activates different areas of your brain, so I sat down and adapted it over a weekend.

Scott: You saw it as a movie. Is that what inspired you to write it as a screenplay then?

Jennifer: Everything comes to me as a movie first. It’s always visual. I can see certain scenes play out.

Scott: You didn’t get an MFA or any formal education about screenwriting. How did you learn the craft?

Jennifer: Screenwriting actually came before the novel writing. I used to work in film as an assistant director. I would read a lot of screenplays and I’ve always loved the industry, so I started writing screenplays first. I read a ton of books on craft, blogs, and scripts of course.

Scott: Do you find any difference between the experience as a writer writing novels versus screenplay or anything distinguishable for you in that regard?

Jennifer: Huge differences. With novels, you get to indulge in so much more language and the inner thoughts of your characters. It’s like writing a journal. Whereas with screenplays, you really have to pare it back and look at the framework of the story and think more visually.

Here is an introduction to the Nicholl Award ceremony by the chair of the organization’s executive committee Eric Heisserer, screenwriter of such movies as Arrival and Bird Box. The event took place on November 9, 2022.

Tomorrow in Part 2, Jennifer talks about a tragic event which inspired “Into the Deep Blue,” the two lead characters, and some interesting narrative choices she made in writing the script.

For my interviews with every Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting winner since 2012, go here.

For my interviews with Black List writers, go here.