Set in Atlantic City in 1961, as the former “Jewel of the Atlantic” is beginning to show its cracks, **Emmett Grey** follows the life of a young boy who must pave a new path with the help of his underground drag queen uncle in a city that threatens to consume them.

Q&A with screenwriter John Pisano-Thomsen

What inspired you to set the story in Atlantic City in 1961, and how did you approach researching the historical context of the time and place?

The inspiration of Emmett Grey and its setting was already established by east-coast producers David Schoner and AJ Swirz who hired me to write a short film showcasing the concept. After a year of marketing it, they asked me to then write the pilot since they wanted to present something more substantial to Hollywood.

As to my enthusiasm for the story's historical context, I was born in 1964 so I had a lot of personal context and experience to work with — remembering family environments, the schools, and even my travels across the country in a Dodge station wagon with my parents.

The New Jersey/Atlantic City context for 1961 involved more research on the internet and with the aid of David and AJ providing further material. I’m also an old-fashioned musical theatre nut and so what also made me a fit for this story is that mainstream pop music and culture (outside of rock ‘n’ roll and soul) was influenced by the golden age of Broadway before heading to recording studios or Hollywood.

The club scene of Atlantic City relied heavily on Broadway talent just as much as the music or film industry, with stars like Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt and Lena Horne doing successful stints there before Vegas.

Can you tell us about the character of Emmett Grey and what drives him to pave a new path in the city?

Being human on this planet we all have two things in common: loss and change. There’s no avoiding them and we have to go with the punches in finding those cracks of light to keep our sanity. Losing your parents at twelve is a devastating situation, especially when there are no other relatives available or they just don’t want to deal with you.

One of the saving graces of Emmett’s character is that he is incredibly smart and resourceful — almost analytic like his scientist father and his school teacher mother. What also keeps him afloat and focused is his maturity and eagerness to learn new things. From an emotional intelligence standpoint he finds his Uncle Charlie a puzzle because a drag queen is not anywhere near a typical person in his world. But, because Charlie is his only living blood relative and because Emmett's mother wanted Charlie to be his guardian, Emmett realizes has to be adaptable and open-minded. Most kids are not advanced enough emotionally to recognize that.

Throughout the series Emmett will be engaged and learning "street lessons" from his uncle that he would have never learned in surburban northern New Jersey.

Drag culture is a prominent aspect of the story, can you talk about what drew you to explore this subculture in the screenplay?

I've been out of the closet for 39 years and although things have advanced, the queer community still seems to be prey to the political pendulum of pious religious organizations and governments. Sadly, like with the recent laws being passed against drag and trans people, we, as a so-called modern world, continue to push a homophobia boulder up a steep incline.

I came out of the closet in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1984, right at the height of the AIDS crisis when everyone was terrified of the gay community. The queer clubs and bars purposefully placed in the stockyards far away from the city center. The drag scene even back then was still very underground, even though it was legal as long as each drag queen got a dance license and a dance belt. Back then, the times weren’t anywhere near the mainstream acceptance of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I clearly remember when “La Cage aux Folles” opened on Broadway and what a stir that created as well.

What I find intriguing about drag culture is its ability to break conventional entertainment boundaries while providing invaluable political reflections on our current society. But what really intrigues me about the drag culture before Stonewall happened is the tenacity and “the balls” of these brave artists to defy the raids of the moral militia. Truly gutsy to risk going to prison, or even being beaten or killed, because your artistic expression is considered an offense to society.

The story deals with themes of family, identity, and self-discovery. Can you talk about how you developed these themes in the screenplay, and how they relate to the characters and their journeys?

Once David and AJ shared the concept and their high-level storyboard with me, I began to examine the similarities between Emmett and Charlie.

As a writer, differences are easier to invent and inject into the narrative. But similarities take a bit more puzzle fitting for the plot to create a "meeting of the minds" situation between the two main characters that makes the story plausible. So the first thing I latched onto was that both Emmett and Charlie don’t have any other blood relatives in their life. It’s just them now. Charlie has been estranged from his blood family since fifteen and Emmett is now a newbie at this at the age of twelve.

This lack of blood family thread feeds into creating a “chosen family,” especially at the Entertainers Club where Charlie makes his meager living. With Emmett arriving in Charlie's life, he will immediately be drawn into that new family and will evolve with them over time.

The time period of the story is a crucial aspect. How did you use the setting to explore social and cultural issues of the time, such as racial and gender discrimination, and how do these issues affect the characters?

The social and cultural issues of that time (1961) were a real draw to me. I love taking very broad types of characters from different lives and backgrounds and throwing them together into a common space where they can bounce their limitations off one another.

Emmett is a child of white privilege, but he is twelve and is limited in what he can do independently. He has the smarts of an adult but he isn’t one yet. That frustrates him.

Cassandra, Charlie’s platonic black girlfriend, not only struggles with racial discrimination and civil rights but she also has to deal with domestic abuse and misogyny from her boyfriend, Jameson. He can't stand that a woman is getting better opportunities than him. This was a big theme in 60s culture where the woman was expected to be a doormat to men.

Charlie also benefits from white privilege but he has a double whammy of being both gay and a drag queen with the risk of being caught in routine raids and being put in jail. Every character has a limitation imposed upon them and is fighting to be seen, heard, and accepted for who they are in an era where it’s virtually impossible without getting into trouble or paying a price.

Can you tell us about any challenges you faced during the screenwriting process?

The first challenge was making sure I could match and expand the vision of David and AJ. Much of the premise presented to me was high-level and I was tasked with expanding the characters and "connecting the dots" in the plot.

The second challenge was researching 1961 Atlantic City and especially the Entertainers Club which was a real establishment back then ran by former Ziegfeld Girl, Louisa Mack. Info on her and the bar was available but very limited.

The third challenge was the setup. This pilot helms the next seven episodes. So the plot needed to establish who Charlie and Emmett were before they physically meet. And it creates intrigue for audiences to watch Episode 2 to see where it goes and what their chemistry is like.

Finally, what are the next steps for the script?

David and AJ have pitched this everywhere and continue to do so. I know that it is has been sitting on development executive desks under positive consideration at major studios and production companies for some time.

The problem is funding. The art design and look of Emmett is very much like "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and that costs a lot of money to create. Hopefully, though, with the current political climate against the drag and trans communities, there will be a "hero studio" that will fund this, take this to the next level, and remind the world that we aren't that different and that we all connect at the common levels of loss, change, survival and self-love.

Everyone has their truth to live and everyone should be allowed to live and express that truth.

About John:

John Pisano-Thomsen is a theatre-file, songwriter and an award-winning queer and feminist screenwriter.

Since winning the 2016 Atlanta Film Festival fellowship with his feature The Politics of Love & Dance, he has written three more award-winning features: Connect, Pride & President and the multi-award-winning musical Last of the Burly Girls. In 2019, he placed in the top 2% of the prestigious Academy Nicholl Fellowship.

Away from writing, John is also a tantra teacher, intimacy healer and co-owner of Casa Kama, a "straight-friendly" bed and breakfast and spiritual retreat located in Quepos, Costa Rica with his husband, Robert, and their miniature Schnauzer, Letty Kaye.

Manchester Film Festival Screenplay Competition Winner Q&A | Emmett Grey by John Pisano-Thomsen

Q&A with screenwriter John Pisano-Thomsen