Writers Always Write
Hollywood is an ‘inside‘ job. Brilliant scripts are written every day, and many of them, if not ‘greenlit,‘ are ever actually read outside of industry professionals. Author and television writer Lorna Clarke Osunsanmi aka Lorna O., has decided to do something about this perceived writer’s dilemma. She has ‘self’ published her original television pilot, MERCY ROAD and is making it available for everyone to not only read, but to also offer input. In a town that operates largely on ‘who you know,’ she is making an effort to expand her already very influential circle with the launch of her new writer’s portal, www.WritersAlwaysWrite.com.
MERCY ROAD is the first of many of her scripts to be made available for free download in their original screen format at the web portal. WritersAlwaysWrite.com offers readers not only the opportunity to meet potential characters before they actualize on the small and big screen, but also a peek at how scripts are actually formatted and submitted.
Lorna has worked for executives and writers in television and film for 10 years, on such shows as “Dexter,” “The Shield,” and the film “Get Him to the Greek,” written and directed by Nicholas Stoller which starred Russell Brand. Her first writing credit came on the Netflix original television series, “Hemlock Grove.”She co-wrote the season finale with her mentor, executive producer Charles “Chic” Eglee and executive producer Peter Blake. Lorna also wrote and produced the popular Bollywood web series titled “ChaDo.” Additionally, she collaborated with Eglee and producers at Overbrook Entertainment and BET on the animated television series titled “Cypha.“
With MERCY ROAD we find Eli Mercer as the Senior Pastor at Mercy Road Church and Ministries. His wife, First Lady Luna Mercer is dying of breast cancer. She is undergoing chemotherapy but doesn’t believe it is working. She makes a decision that could destroy the church and everybody affiliated with it. Meanwhile, Eli still has to handle the day-to-day affairs of a newly built megachurch that grew exponentially in a short time. He’s on the cusp of becoming the next T.D. Jakes or Joel Osteen if he can stay focused and keep the faith, even under pressure to bend to the last wish of his ailing wife. MERCY ROAD is the re-imaging of the story of Abraham set inside a megachurch.
With Oprah Winfrey’s own megachurch series, “Greenleaf,” starring Emmy Award winners Keith David and actress Lynn Whitfield, starting production and Fox TV’s recent announcement to develop an untitled megachurch mystery drama project from writer Julian Breece, Lorna O. is anticipating a surge in Black church themed productions.
“I am excited that producers and studios are reading MERCY ROAD, but I also wanted to know what the public thought,” explains Lorna. “I grew up in the church and a megachurch so I know how intimate and misunderstood that community is because the people talking the loudest about God and faith don’t necessarily represent the whole. MERCY ROAD is edgy in that it goes behind the veil and shows the humanity, frailty and the good hearts behind pastors and the wives who operate on an abnormally bright platform. As a writer, I want to hear from people inside that community and out. Is this something they want to see? And would they watch it? WriterAlwaysWrite.com is my way of taking my work to the streets.”
Lorna O. is also a well-established life and love coach and the author of “Becoming BOLD,” a definitive guide to self-actualization and transformation. A woman who practices what she preaches, Lorna acknowledges that the launch of WritersAlwaysWrite.com is a bold and unprecedented move in the entertainment capital of Hollywood.
“This isn’t done in television and film-ever! There’s a fear it won’t get made if it’s made public, which is absurd otherwise books would never be adapted. Additionally, script format is designed for production professionals as a blueprint to make the movie or show. Everything in a script is whittled down to its bare essentials, and that style is not meant for public consumption. So I had some trepidation about how people would respond to the writing format. Ultimately, however, I felt WritersAlwaysWrite.com was a must do,” cites Lorna. “It offers readers not only a different perspective but also valuable insight into the world of television and movie making.”
Lorna O. graduated magna cum laude from Texas Woman’s University and is a native of Christiansted, St. Croix U.S. Virgin Islands. A new mother of two young children and married to popular sci-fi director, Olatunde Osunsanmi (“The Fourth Kind,” “Falling Skies”), she is half of one of Hollywood’s most promising upcoming power couples.
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