Every writer’s dream must be to wake up one day in a place where the pressures and distractions of one’s daily routine have miraculously disappeared. A place where one’s sole obligation is to the writing gods, where one has time and space to think about a story, go deep, build, revise, throw away perhaps and then rebuild it again with stronger foundations. For our group of twelve screenwriters from the Columbia Film MFA program, Maine Media Workshops was indeed such a place. During our 7 days there, everything was generously taken care of, and as opposed to working in the chaotic city of New York, we were offered time and space to create.

The beautiful setting of Rockport plays a vital role. At night we ate at the nearby restaurants, my personal favourite being the terrific Shepherd’s Pie. In between writing sessions we took walks, most of them involving the seashore. I myself am from Iceland and standing by the Rockport Harbour looking out at the vast and majestic winter sea, I felt very close to home.

In Antonioni’s 1964 film, Red Desert, a character says, “The more I look at the sea, the more I lose interest in what happens on land”. The sea is indeed a perfect place to rest your gaze while solving story problems, and I wasn’t the only one doing so. Here and there I could see my fellow screenwriters looking out onto the vastness, no doubt immersed in the world of their screenplays. We all left Maine with new and stronger drafts, eager to come back to this wonderful place!

Our deepest thanks,

Ása Helga Hjörleifsdóttir, Columbia Film M.F.A. Candidate