POV: How Opening a Vault for a Robber Unlocked the Dreams of This ScreenCraft Fellow

When you find yourself in the middle of a bank robbery, you don’t expect the ‘90s teen show Dawson’s Creek to cross your mind. But then again, I never expected to be opening a bank vault for an armed robber in the first place.

Let’s back up—after graduating from a small liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, MI with a degree in English and Media Studies, I felt lost and unsure of where the future may lead me. So I took a job that required neither knowledge of 19th-century British literature nor an understanding of Orson Welle’s use of chiaroscuro: bank teller.

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The Inciting Incident

One day, a man walked into the bank, wielded a gun, and robbed the bank. There are details I’m leaving out, but the important thing is that no one was hurt. But all throughout the robbery, I kept hearing Paula Cole’s voice singing the Dawson’s Creek theme song, “I don’t wanna wait for our lives to be over…”

A little on the nose, sure, but the sentiment rang true. I didn’t want to be a bank teller for the rest of my life (or even for another week to be honest). I wanted to be a screenwriter. If the robbery taught me anything, it’s that life is too short not to try for your dreams.

I applied to the University of Texas at Austin’s MFA in screenwriting program. They admitted me immediately, and I got signed by a manager during my first semester. I moved to Los Angeles and sold my first show, and now I’m writing this from the pool in the backyard of my Beverly Hills mansion.*** (***This is what I WISH had happened).

In reality, I was waitlisted at UT and it didn’t look like a spot would open up for me. So I pivoted to plan B—if I couldn’t write movies, I could at least write about them, so I accepted a spot in an Arts Journalism program.

Two weeks before I was set to leave for that program, I received a call from UT. They had a spot for me. Did I want it?

Read More: The Greatest Impediment to Your Screenwriting Career Might Be... You

The Fun and Games

I spent the next two years in Austin, learning about screenwriting, meeting some of my very best friends, and falling in love. This would be considered the “fun and games” part of the script. The time went by all too quickly and soon enough, it was time to leave the nest and put my wings to the test in LA.

Moving to LA was extremely difficult. I was lucky enough to room with two of my friends from UT. Thank goodness I had that support system because the transition was difficult and success did not come knocking at my door, asking to borrow some sugar or any of my TV pilot ideas.

Instead, I worked at Barnes & Noble, as a nanny, as a receptionist, and as an assistant to a personal organizer. I thought less about the Dawson’s Creek theme song and more about the Crying Dawson meme during this time. But I kept writing. It was the one thing I could control.

Every script taught me something—the pages were a playground where I attempted new things, took big swings, and honed my voice. Not all of them were great or even very good. But each one was like a weight training rep, strengthening my creative muscles and improving my stamina and endurance to get through 30, 60, or 120 pages of a story.

Read More: How Writers Can Avoid Procrastination, Find Discipline, and Jumpstart Motivation

Finding Success With ScreenCraft Fellowship

By the time I applied to the ScreenCraft Fellowship, I’d written 13 scripts. It was lucky number 13—Northport Nannies—that earned me a spot as one of the 2023 ScreenCraft Fellows. The protagonist, Brynne, is a student at Northport Academy, a college that trains elite nannies for the uber-wealthy. Northport Nannies are not only proficient at changing diapers and doing arts and crafts, but they’re well-versed in martial arts and tactical driving. Imagine if Mary Poppins knew how to do a roundhouse kick.

You know the adage, “Write what you know?”

Well, I’ve never fought off kidnappers or uncovered a dark conspiracy among the Upper East Side elite (all of which occur in my pilot)—but I did attend a school where my friends felt like my family. And I did nanny and learned a lot about how kids behave and react to different circumstances. And I did often imagine all the ways I wish I could have saved the day when that bank robber walked in all those years ago.

You don’t have to write exactly what happened to you, but you can combine moments, experiences, and feelings to create a story that is completely made up and fantastically out there but still feels authentic and tied to who you are.

I spoke about all the influences and inspirations on my work during the 2023 ScreenCraft Fellowship. Being in those meetings was an incredible opportunity to connect with and learn from industry professionals who shared their unique stories and pieces of advice.

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The entire week felt like a whirlwind in the best possible way. The best part was meeting the other ScreenCraft Fellows.

Learning about their journeys reinforced the idea that there is no one, right way to come to screenwriting. Some people go to film school. Others have whole other careers. And some of us survive bank robberies. While I would never change the circumstances that brought me to where I am today, I’d recommend avoiding the third option if at all possible.

Read More: How the ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship Opened Unexpected Doors for Etan Muskat

Check out our Preparation Notes so you start your story off on the right track!

After surviving a bank robbery & a single mother who claimed her dad was Tom Cruise, Brittany Worthington now channels that chaos into scripts that explore underestimated women coming into their power. This midwestern-bred writer’s journey can be traced through her footwear: snowboots (Michigan), cowboy boots (Texas), and currently Birkenstock sandals (Los Angeles). Her feet (and scripts) have carried her to Showrunner’s Assistant work for Freeform (Cruel Summer) and Script Coordinator work for Starz (Power Book IV: Force & Power Book III: Raising Kanan) and HBO (the upcoming Green Lantern TV series). She’s participated in the Black List x Women In Film Episodic TV Lab and the Women In Film Mentorship program. Her pilot script, Northport Nannies placed in the top ten of the Tracking Board’s Launch Pad Pilot Competition and won the ScreenCraft Fellowship and the WeScreenplay TV Lab. Her pilot, The Quickening, is a featured project on the Black List’s website, ranking among the top 1% of scripts on the site.