A look back before we head to AFM in November 2024

Writer and Producer Brigette ReDavid is gearing up for the American Film Market in November 2024.

As a former newspaper woman, I believed a good story needed three things: It had to be something people wanted to read, it had to sell newspapers, and a good story has to earn awards. As I researched Molly’s story, I knew I had found those key ingredients to success!

The Molly script was an immediate gem. The first positive review came in from the Blacklist. "This script could find its way towards a powerhouse Hollywood female that would bring the historical character to life".

It’s been a long road since our small team formed at Sundance when that review came in.

People with different skill sets, actors, filmmakers, and business people, have come together. The script has been a quarterfinalist in the Nichol, and received accolades in the Austin Film Festival, Writers Lab, and more. It’s earned a place in a Sundance Producer’s Workshop, and received a year mentorship at LA Women in Film. Our first fundraiser at Fort Mifflin was supported by New York Women in Film and Television NYWIFT

We are a diverse group with one thing in common. We believe in the empowerment of people. Molly’s story is celebrated annually at Fort Dix, at the Monmouth Battlefield, and other places. Her story lives!

I now head to the American Film Market in Las Vegas to get others to join in the MOLLY project because it has the essential elements of success. I go with a budget, LOIs, sizzle reels, look book and more. Our cannons are loaded and ready to fire. Huzzah!

Actor Greg Kriek reads the script & wants in!

As an international film and television actor/producer – Greg believes firmly in leveraging the powerful platform of entertainment and using it as a catalyst for positive change.

Positive change that impacts not only the audience but the film industry itself and society at large.

After reading the Molly script and seeing the message of hope and courage it provides, Greg is not only a fan, but you’ll likely see him in the film as one of Molly’s two husbands. And after seeing him recently in Rebel Moon on Netflix, we know which one!

Huzzah!

A Producers Workshop at Sundance, and more awesome reviews

Once the folks at Sundance looked at the Molly script and everything else we have developed, I was accepted into the Sundance Film Producing: Workshopping Your Feature. Throughout the 8-week sessions, we discussed the challenges of producing an independent film from development through post production. Now that the world is getting back to the new normal, we’ve saddled up and we’re moving forward once more. I’m happy to say that we have our first LOI for distribution and another from a notable award-winning actor for one of Molly’s husbands. The 2022 International Screenwriters Association lists the script among the top 100 in 2022, and a Blacklist review called the role of Molly “a potential Academy Award winning role for an actress.” Like Molly, we won’t stop until you see this movie on the screen. Huzzah! ~Brigette ReDavid

Post COVID, we continue working for a more perfect Union

We’ve checked in with our team and are thankful that everyone is well and weathering the current pandemic. Our best wishes go to the many people who have walked with us on the journey to get Molly produced, including Pa. Gov. Ed Rendell, Philly Film Office Director Sharon Pinkenson, and so many more.

During the Revolutionary War, people battled the spread of smallpox. Like our Corona Virus, smallpox claimed scores of lives. Though there was not too much known about viruses and their transitions, English colonists in North America recognized the effectiveness of isolating individuals infected with smallpox. It was widely recognized that there were only two options for protecting oneself against this disease, quarantine or inoculation. Many feared inoculation, and instead chose isolation via quarantine. If needed, the scale of the quarantine could be increased. This meant cutting off entire towns from the rest of the colonies.

And unlike us, they didn’t have Facebook or Zoom. It was tough on a lot of us not to be able to hold our loved ones but at least we could see them virtually.

Like our CDC, many of the leading figures associated with the American Revolution worked together to stop the disastrous spread of smallpox throughout the American Colonies and beyond, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin.

During the late 1700s, It was difficult for them to understand how the infection of an otherwise healthy person could have a positive outcome. However, inoculation saved many lives and may have protected the Continental Army from destruction. The smallpox inoculation program paved the way for the global public health system that is responsible for the control and eradication of many deadly diseases; including polio, measles and diphtheria.

Like Molly Pitcher and all the Colonists of her time, we are weathering a pandemic. It’s not the first tough time many of us have experienced. Nor will it be the last. History has shown us that and will continue doing so.

We are a culture that continues to strive for change and work toward a better world because we are the People of the United States, and in Order to form a more perfect Union, to establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, our ancestors established this Constitution for the United States of America.

The bold words of our Constitution are so much more than lines on a page. They should be etched in our hearts.