Rosemary Chesney, Campus Carrier arts and living editor

This semester, senior Alyssa Freyman began a scriptwriting club as a place for any student interested in scriptwriting to collaborate and discuss their latest works. This club is meant not only to be an outlet for filmmakers on campus but also for any student interested in creative writing. 

Freyman originally started this club at the beginning of the semester to satisfy a requirement for her leads fellow scholarship. As a filmmaking major and worker at Viking Fusion, Freyman said that she originally became interested in scriptwriting after taking a scriptwriting course taught by Professor Curt Hersey. Now, she is applying to graduate school to study screenwriting.

“I took a scriptwriting class and just fell in love with it,” Freyman said. “There is something about being able to write stories and create worlds that is so fascinating to me.”

The club has held two official meetings this semester, both lasting between 45 minutes to an hour. According to Freyman, there were around eight to 10 people at each meeting. Most club members are filmmakers and Viking Fusion workers like Freyman, but she said that she does have a few people show up from other majors, namely creative writing. Freyman said that the biggest challenge with the club right now is showing the student body that the club is for other people besides just filmmakers. 

“Sometimes people think the club is just for filmmakers, but it’s really for anyone who is interested in film or story writing in general,” Freyman said. “I want to express to people that the scriptwriting club is for everyone.”

According the Freyman, the atmosphere of the scriptwriting club is very laid-back. Students bring any script that they have been working on, pick one of the scripts to discuss, assign roles to everyone in the group, read the script out loud and discuss the script at the end of the reading. Besides Freyman, the students who consistently have been involved in the club are Nolan Scoretz, Phillip Walker and Mathewson Parks. Walker is currently a senior filmmaking major.

“The club is just an excuse to get together with friends and talk about what we’ve written,” Walker said. “I’m always excited to show people what I’ve done and get to see what they’ve been working on.”

With many of the club members working in Viking Fusion, Walker said that they are thinking about producing a film next semester but are unsure which one yet. Freyman said that the club is helpful for her to hear her script out loud and be able to recognize mistakes. She also said she loves being able to lead others.

“Being able to take on a leadership role and mentor others has been really fun for me,” Freyman said. “I love teaching, and the ability to mentor others has been my favorite part about this club.”

With Freyman graduating at the end of this semester, the club is left open for a new leader next semester. Freyman said that the leader is undecided as of now, but she definitely wants it to continue next semester. Senior filmmaker Mathewson Parks said he is considering leading the group next semester.

“We’re definitely planning on keeping it going next semester,” Parks said. “It’s just a nice place to hear what everyone is putting together and see what they’re working on.”