Inverview: Writer - Samantha Kolesnik

 I met Samantha Kolesnik last year at Shriekfest. 
I was impressed with her work and finally got a chance to interview her.


TED

Samantha, give us some background information about you, where are you from? Why did you choose to be a writer?

SAMANTHA
"Well I'm not from any one place in particular because my father was in the U.S. Navy, so I moved to a different state every three years as a child. I lived in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, New York, and Maryland. Currently I live in Pennsylvania, and I love it here. It's interesting, but I never consciously chose to be a writer. I began writing at a very young age and it's always been a natural part of my life. I think there's something about my personality that fueled it, too."

TED 

How would you describe the Samantha Kolesnik brand for someone who didn't know your work?

SAMANTHA
 
"Dark. Gritty. Psychological."

TED

Can you tell us about one of your screenplays?

SAMANTHA 

"Sure! I'm currently working on producing a feature from my screenplay, "Turning the Girl". It's a story entirely about women, and it really digs into the issue of female-female sexual abuse, which is a topic that is often buried by mainstream media and society."

TED

I don't know of any film based on that subject. What inspired you to write it?


SAMANTHA

"An amalgam of real life stories, a fascination with the side that doesn't get told, and research. It happens and unfortunately, because of the way women are pigeon-holed in our culture, victims often aren't taken seriously or given the resources they need to heal. There's a prevailing sentiment that women can't rape. And that's just not true. "


TED

Any writer that tackles difficult subject matter like this is courageous, so kudos to you.


SAMANTHA

Thank you, Ted!

TED
Some of the writers I've talked to have trouble translating a great idea into a finished screenplay. Tell us
about your writing process. Once you have that great idea, how do you get those pages written? Do you set a page goal? Do you wait for inspiration to strike?

SAMANTHA

"I don't have page or word count goals, but I do aim to write every day, and most days, I get that done. Lately, I've been inspired more often than not, and I'm in a position right now where I have more ideas than I have time to get them onto paper, which is a great place to be as a writer. It's my passion. It's not work, though it does require a strong work ethic. If I have an idea, I sit down and I write, and I keep going until it's finished. "

TED

That's a good place to be. Where do you see yourself in five years?

SAMANTHA

"I have no idea!"

TED

Well, I look forward to seeing "Turning the Girl" when it's done! Thank you, Samantha!

SAMANTHA

"Thank you, Ted."