Interview (Part 1): Sarah Jane Inwards (2017 Black List, Nicholl Winner)

My 6-part talk with the writer of the script “Jellyfish Summer”.

Sarah Jane Inwards wrote the original screenplay “Jellyfish Summer” which not only won a 2017 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, it made the 2017 Black List. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Sarah Jane about her background, her award-winning script, the craft of screenwriting, and what winning the Nicholl and being on the Black List has meant to her.

Today in Part 1 of a 6 part series to run each day through Saturday, Sarah Jane and talk about how her experiences as a youth and in college led her into an interest in writing.

Scott Myers: Sarah Jane, you grow up in Minnesota, is that right?

Sarah Jane Inwards: I did grow up in Minnesota. Rochester, Minnesota.

Scott: Isn’t the Mayo Clinic there?

Sarah Jane: Yes. I grew up in the town of the Mayo Clinic. Both my parents worked there. Pretty much half the town works there. I grew up in a very medical environment.

Scott: Did you happen to see Pixar’s Inside Out?

Sarah Jane: I did. I love that film.

Scott: Riley is from Minnesota, right?

Sarah Jane: [laughs] Yes. It’s funny you mention that because that film really struck a chord with me in so many ways. The fact that she was from Minnesota really pushed me over the edge when it comes to crying during the climax of that movie.

Scott: Oh yeah. Pixar, such great storytellers. How and when did you develop an interest in writing?

Sarah Jane: I really have been writing as long as I can remember. My mom found the oldest piece of my writing that we believe exists. I think I wrote it when I was maybe four or five. It’s a little story that goes like this: “There once was a princess, but she did not have no ham.” [laughter] Clearly, I’ve gotten a little bit better since then. Yeah, I’ve always loved writing stories and telling stories. It originated writing short stories. As I grew up, I dabbled in making little movies and, eventually, making features and writing features. As long as I can remember, I guess, is the best answer.

Scott: Movies and TV, were they much a part of your life?

Sarah Jane: Definitely, a big part of my life. My family always had a movie night. Essentially, every weekend we’d pick a Friday or Saturday to go out to movie. It’s what made me a cinephile.

Scott: Any particular movies from your childhood that are your special favorites?

Sarah Jane: The one that comes to mind first is Disney’s Mulan. For many reasons, but it was one of the first times I saw a girl kicking butt, really, and loved it. I would watch it on repeat on VHS over, and over, and over again. I’m very thrilled that they’re doing a live action, so I can relive my childhood.

Scott: I was watching the video of your Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting award acceptance speech, and you mentioned how you’d had some pretty significant medical issues as a youth. Did that influence you as a writer at all?

Sarah Jane: It definitely did. I was born with a birth defect called gastroschisis, which is a fairly rare birth defect in which there’s a hernia by the umbilical cord. The easiest way to think about what it is, is that I was born with my guts outside of my body. Initially, when I was born, it created a lot of issues, but luckily, once I was healed in the first couple of months of my life, I had a fairly normal childhood health-wise until my late teen years.

I started developing a lot of complications from it and, throughout college and a little bit beyond, had multiple open abdominal surgeries and even some life-threatening complications that landed me in the ICU. It really did change my worldview in many ways.

The biggest two ways are, one, my gratitude and motivation. I had many times when I really couldn’t do anything. Since I, luckily, got my life back, I have been extremely motivated to do as much as I can. The second way is thinking about what sorts of stories I want to tell.

You probably saw in my Nicholl speech how I wondered how I could give back after I felt like I got my life back. I took my dad’s advice, his fabled advice at this point. That’s, “Some people save lives, and some people make them worth living.”

I keep that in mind when I’m thinking about what stories I want to tell. “How can I help make life worth living?” whether it’s by providing entertainment or some fun, or maybe it’s advocating for a cause, or what have you.

Scott: That comment by your father was just brilliant, but you do have a strong commitment to helping others. Could you talk about this initiative you launched as a student at Northwestern University — Applause for a Cause?

Sarah Jane: Applause for a Cause is an organization that I co-founded with Alec Ziff, another Northwestern student. Essentially, Applause for a Cause is an organization where the students write, direct, and create a feature-length film every year. Then all of the proceeds from the showings at the end of the year go to a charity of that year.

Through that, Alec and I ran the organization for three years while we were there and made three feature films with the help and dedication of so many other students there. We’ve been absolutely thrilled to see that the students at Northwestern have continued to keep Applause alive and thriving.

They’re working on their eighth film at this point. I believe their charity this year is Portlight, a charity that focuses on helping the disabled in the aftermath of natural disasters such as hurricanes.

Scott: The students who were involved in this, were they film study students, drama students, or is it a cross-section?

Sarah Jane: It was a great collaboration of students from across all disciplines. We had everything from film students, theater students, music students, which you’d expect, but then we also had economic students, engineering students, and social working students.

It was really great to incorporate anyone who loved film and wanted to get involved. We just opened our arms and said, “Let’s do it. Let’s make a movie together.”

Scott: That’s terrific. Did you do film studies at Northwestern?

Sarah Jane: I did.

Scott: Studied screenwriting?

Sarah Jane: Northwestern doesn’t necessarily make you take a particular focus. I did end up picking majority of screenwriting classes.

Scott: That’s primarily how you picked up the craft, through screenwriting with the university, or did you supplement it with other things?

Sarah Jane: Yeah, I would say that was my primary education, was through Northwestern.

Scott: Now you live in LA. How did that transition happen?

Sarah Jane: The day after I graduated from Northwestern, my mom came to Chicago. We packed up my car, and we drove for three days out to Los Angeles to go dream chasing. I think a lot of people do that, “Let’s just go chase our dreams.” I’ve been out here ever since.

Scott: What do you do to sustain yourself while you write?

Sarah Jane: I worked in a few different parts of the industry. I started out working as an associate producer on documentary and reality TV, of all things, which was a really great, interesting job. You get to meet a lot of fascinating people and gain insight into so many real life stories. That was fun.

Then, after that, I ended up working on different productions as a PA, really. I had a, I guess, scattered career because I was trying to keep as much time open to practice writing.

Here is video of Sarah Jane accepting her 2017 Nicholl Award in December of last year:

Tomorrow in Part 2, Sarah Jane and I dig into her award winning script “Jellyfish Summer”.

Sarah Jane is repped by Verve and Kaplan/Perrone.

For my interviews with 52 other Black List writers, go here.

For my interviews with 26 other Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting writers, go here.