Benjamin Donnelly

Film & Video Studies, 2024

Spend Some Time in the Sunshine. On a beautiful sunny day, an overachieving high-schooler discovers there’s more to life than meeting deadlines.

Why do you feel this publication is important?

I feel it is important because it can show other screenwriters at GMU that there are many opportunities to have their hard work acknowledged and commended. It is also nice to see screenplays in magazines because you don’t see that too often.

What are the inspirations behind your screenplay?

A lot of the stories I write come from snippets of song lyrics that I like. This one came from the Oasis song “Cigarettes and Alcohol”, where the line “spend your days in the sunshine” is said. I think that is just a wonderful thing to say. I sometimes struggle to balance being really determined with enjoying life and I think the screenplay has a good message that you can do both and it doesn’t always have to be just one of those extremes.