WINNER OF THE TRUE INDEPENDENT SCREENPLAY COMPETITION FOR 2003 - SECOND PLACE

I have lived in Saint Louis, Missouri the majority of my life. I am a recent graduate of Webster University, where I majored in Media Communications with an emphasis in scriptwriting. Of course, this is just the latest chapter in my life.

I had the audacity to put pen to paper for the first time in the seventh grade. I began writing what I was sure would become a work of literary genius. What I wrote was a sweeping epic, covering such thought provoking topics as young love, angst, and brutal parenting. All of which I was an authority on. At least that’s what I thought at the time. Much later, when I pulled the yellowing pages from a box that had somehow survived the years, I found the only thing I really knew, was that I knew nothing. I had much learning to do.

I remember showing my work to my seventh grade English teacher, Mrs. Squires. I can only imagine what her true feeling were, but what ever they were, out of the kindness of her heart, and because, in my opinion she was the most talented teacher I’ve ever known, she said to me, “It’s good, but it can use a little work.” I realize now that was when the seed was planted.

In the years between that first writing and this submission I have traveled the country, lived in Los Angeles, and for over a year in the most beautiful place on earth; Hawaii. I’ve worked a myriad of jobs including a stint in the medical field (I considered becoming a nurse), and a fitness instructor for the YMCA, retail work, restaurant work, child care work; all of them a learning experience. Currently I am working as a set production assistant on the film “The Game of Their Lives,” filming here in St. Louis and in my spare time working on my scripts.

I have found in life that the thing we enjoy most should be the hardest to achieve. I do have a passion for story telling and the visual medium, and of all the things I have done in my life I find that writing gives me the most personal satisfaction.

Dale D. Moore

Films have the potential to touch more people than almost any other medium. It is my belief that those involved should use their God given talents responsibly. I think the writer should remember the audience and never forget the power of what he or she is doing.

Plato once said that, “A life not examined, is not worth living.” My hope is that by examining my own life I will come to understand the lives of those around me. That I will be able to capture on paper those sad, unavoidable moments and recreate those all too few happy, unforgettable moments.

I want to write stories make people think. That gives them something to think about long after leaving the theater. But most of all…..I just want to make my Mama proud!