FIN MAKERS: AN INTERVIEW WITH Amy Trefry and Brent Braaten

Every great feature film begins with a well-written and dynamic screenplay. The RBC Script Development Program is part of our FIN Makers initiative to help our local aspiring screenwriters sculpt their ideas into a completed first draft.

Our Volunteer & External Relations Manager Nadine d’Entremont sat down to chat with Amy Trefry and Brent Braaten, participants from our 2019 Script Development Program. These accomplished ‘FIN Makers’ talked about their journey, current projects and had some advice to share for anyone starting out in screenwriting.

Nadine: Tell us a bit about yourself.

Amy Trefry: She/They pronouns. Writer/producer/actor and the co-founder and owner of Interwoven Films.

Brent Braaten: He/Him pronouns. Filmmaker. Writer. Illustrator. Creative Director at Good Robot Brewing Company. 

N: How did you get started writing and making films?

AT: I moved back to Canada after living, working, and traveling abroad for a number of years and was no longer competitive in my academic field of environmental sciences. I’d always wanted to work in film and it seemed like a natural break in my previous career to try something new.

BB: I went to film school at the University of Regina. After school I would work on any film set I could get onto. My first attempt at a script was based on a true story about Boris Karloff surviving a tornado in Saskatchewan. As the Creative Director at Good Robot Brewing Company, I've been challenging the concept of tasteful beer advertising and have been given the freedom to explore my creativity through video beer ads. This is where I met my amazing videographer Devin Murrins. I met Amy Trefry through the Film Co-Op in Halifax and, through our mutual love for birds of prey, we became friends and wrote the screenplay for JERKY which we shot and won some awards for. I am still getting started writing and making films.

N: What kinds of films do you write/make?

AT: I am interested in any project that has a strong story that resonates with me, regardless of genre or media format.

BB: I like to make films that are equal parts grim, whimsical and funny. I like fairies tales and folklore.

N: Which films and filmmakers have had the biggest impact on your work, and how?

AT: A film is a collectively created work, and there are many people in the film industry who inspire me through their ability to elevate storytelling, whether it is through music, costume, performance, camera, lighting, writing, or set design. I also find inspiration through storytelling outside of film in artists like Frida Kahlo or environmental advocates like Jane Goodall. It is the work of those who choose to bring forward marginalized voices or socially challenging topics that are the most impacting to me.

BB: I worked for Terry Gilliam while he shot TIDELAND and his presence provided me with a lot of courage and inspiration as I pursued my own creative voice. He also taught me the value of knowing when to say "Fuck it". 

N: What project(s) are you currently working on?

AT: I currently have 13 projects that are in some stage of development or pre-production. I am collaborating with Taylor Olson and Tieren Hawkins on a digital series, KING AND PAWN, that shoots in October of this year, and my long time co-creator Katerina Bakolias and I start pre-production next month on an experimental cross art-collaboration with featuring a diversity of performance artists that we will be filming early this winter.

BB: I am currently writing a script that explores an old logging camp tale called THE HIDEBEHIND.

N: How did you find the Script Development Program experience useful?

AT: The excellent thing about the program is that you not only go through the process of developing your own project with the guidance of a fantastic mentor, but you also get to see the process that the other teams are going through. Writing can be such a solitary activity and the chance to connect with other artists and share that experience offered just as many learning opportunities as what we gained from our own project.

BB: It was nice to write with other writers. The feedback was invaluable.

N: What advice would you give an aspiring screenwriter?

AT: I’d pass on advice that has been given to me: write often, even when you don’t feel inspired to do so, and share your work with people whose opinions matter to you, and then really listen to what they say and why they are saying it.

BB: Learn the basic rules of storytelling. Forget the rules of storytelling. Outline everything. Diverge from your outline often. Writing is like vomiting. Editing is like sculpting your vomit into a pretty castle with a flag on top.

N: What’s your best piece of advice related to pitching a project?

AT: If you’re nervous, fine be nervous. Then remind yourself that what you are feeling is your body preparing you to do something really exciting and important—so use that!

BB: Always Be Interesting.

The RBC Script Development Program is presented by RBC with support from Nova Scotia Communities Culture and Heritage & Telefilm Canada. Stay tuned for more updates on our 2021 participants as they continue developing their scripts throughout the summer, culminating in the Script Pitch event during FIN Atlantic International Film Festival, September 16-23, 2021.