Dana Pierre
I am a San Francisco Bay area based British screenwriter / creative, as well as mother of two, with a BA in Media and Cultural Studies. As an undergraduate I realised my passion for writing, basing my dramas on real-life events, particularly those involving my Czech and Kenyan heritage. Having grown up in Kenya, with a myriad of experiences such as living through a political coup aged nine, or at seventeen being involuntarily caught up in a politically motivated riot amidst tear gas and riot police, this could only but inspire me to write short excerpts about such events. Motivated by my writing mentor, Seamus Finnegan – playwright and author of Cemetery of Europe, I went on to write screenplays and short story prose pieces.
I have since placed internationally in the Hollywood based BlueCat Screenplay competition as a quarterfinalist with my Cold War thriller feature titled, ‘Where the Greener Pastures Are’. In the UK I have placed in the London Screenwriters’ Festival Create50 initiatives, where I was shortlisted both as a short story author for a sci-fi prose piece in ‘Singularity 50’, and a short drama script in ‘50 Kisses’. I also placed as a finalist with a short drama script in the Create50 film project, ‘The Impact’.
Although my work is primarily drama, historical and or thriller based, I also enjoy writing in other genres such as sci-fi and horror. In addition, and inspired by my children, I have developed a Children’s Television animation series that is set in London.
Stories that appeal to me range from novels about the ordinary person’s real life extraordinary experience, to historical and time-sweep works such as ‘Pillars of the Earth’ by Ken Follett, ‘The Source’ by James A. Michener, as well as classics by writers such as John Steinbeck. I am also particularly drawn to historical based films which include Steven Spielberg’s ‘Schindler’s List’ and ‘The Lives of Others’ by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, as their narratives leave great impact creating awareness about past events, which in real life, bypass some but greatly affect others.
I completed my first short film ‘do don’t destiny?’ as co-producer and co-director. I collaborated on the film’s story with my writing partners G Rockk and Kate Nowakowski and also took on the role of the film’s cameraperson. This was our first short filmed entirely on an iPhone 5s. My second short film, Circus Girl, is a personal project I worked on with my two daughters and has received various international awards from film festivals.
Producing my first film was an enriching experience that has led me deeper into filmmaking.
Email: danapierre at gmail dot com
Writing & Filmmaking Accolades:
- International Film Festivals – short film multiple awards ‘Circus Girl’
- The Impact 50 – finalist short script ‘Where Shall I wander’
- Singularity 50 – shortlisted short story ‘ The Image Room’
- 50 Kisses – shortlisted short drama script ‘Pavlina’
- Blue Cat – Quarterfinalist – Feature script ‘Where the Greener Pastures Are’
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Last updated: August 2022
Dana Pierre 