Screenwriting quote #104 was from legendary writer Robert Benton (Places of the Heart) who grew up in Texas and has had a tremendous Oscar-winning Hollywood career. Today we’ll look at another writer from Texas who is just starting her career as her first film (Whip It) was released yesterday. Whip It does a super job of what this blog is all about—showing that there is a great big world outside L.A.
Whip It! is a story set in Austin & (the fictitious town of) Bodeen, Texas. And there is more than one reason why you’ll start hearing the name Shauna Cross mentioned with Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody’s. I’ll write more about Whip It tomorrow, but it is a story of a teenage girl caught between the worlds of beauty pageants and roller derbys.
“My mom did not push me into beauty pageants, but I grew up with those girls and it always fascinated/creeped me out. The juxtaposition of the beauty pageant world and the roller derby world was really fascinating to me because they both represent two extreme ideas of femininity. One is about perfectly coifed physical perfection, but when you look closer, it’s actually kind of brutal, I think. While the other is anarchy and bruises, and yet, it’s the most female-empowering thing I’ve ever experienced. It’s like plastic sexy versus real sexy.”
Whit It screenwriter Shauna Cross
Interview with J.L. Sosa at FilmSchoolRejects
Related post: Screenwriters from Texas
Making Movies in Marfa (Texas)
Screenwriting from Iowa 