Mobirise



Christa Chiriaco, Screenwriter

Dramatic. Authentic. Inspired.

ORIGIN STORY

I started writing in my 20’s while pursuing an acting career in Hollywood. Deeply moved and inspired by Jane Campion’s The Piano, Barbra Streisand’s Yentl, the movies Cry Freedom and The English Patient, writing gave me passage to my inner realm in a way acting couldn’t, and conferred me a voice I never knew I had.

Today, the visual language of film allows me to express my deepest appreciation for the human condition, through the boldest of avenues, to the largest of audiences one can envision—the world. It allows me a connection with the audience so that we might be in dialogue about the most intimate of emotional experiences we both share—this event called life.


Mobirise

SPEC SCRIPTS

Mobirise

Soup

Logline: A complaining, single woman scores a date, but is challenged to keep her mouth shut when the date takes an amusing turn. (Short)


Mobirise

Which Way West

Logline: At the request of his dying father, an ex-con returns home to take a job as a bus driver to save the family ranch, unaware the position will
re-surface feelings for his high school sweetheart and anger toward her husband,
his former rival.  (Feature)

Mobirise

The Good Samaritan

Logline: While a cranky old man fights his sister to bring his elderly father, a WWII vet, back to their family home, he is befriended by a pregnant teen in the foster care system, giving them both a new opportunity for family.  (Feature)

BIO

After years of living in Los Angeles, CA learning the art of being a creative, I now live in Helena, MT. When I'm not coveting coffee and wrangling words, I can be found feeding my neighbors in the backyard, snuggling with fur children, making plant-based dinners for my husband and dreaming about all the gorgeous mountain scenes I want to paint. Pretty much all other times, I can be found counseling and teaching female inmates in the Montana Department of Corrections system on the value of staying clean & sober, and how to build stronger life skills. In January 2023, I launched The Elkhorn Creative Writing Project to encourage the women to write stories on a monthly basis and enter contests for those incarcerated across the nation. It is the courageous men and women I have worked with in treatment over the years, that inspire my writing the most. 

For the academics, I received my Bachelor’s in Psychology with a Minor in English from the University of California, Los Angeles. I obtained a Master’s in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA after completing my practicum with Freedom Egypt - Drug and HIV Programme in Cairo, Egypt. I am a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor in the state of California and a Licensed Addiction Counselor in the state of Montana (in progress). 

For the creatives, I am a current student of the UCLA Professional Screenwriting Certificate program, a graduate of the Act One Screenwriting Program, and I have been a consistent member of multiple writing groups over the years. In 2017, I founded The Greenlight Group for intermediate-advanced feature film writers in Los Angeles. In 2022, I joined the Montana Playwrights Network, and later launched the Project Inkubator for local writers in 2023. I co-directed the first two conferences of the Montana Writers Rodeo.

I am originally from Philadelphia, PA; I am a Quaker at heart. My mission is to craft dramatic & authentic screenplays that encourage deepened consideration and compassion for each other, while inspiring space for reflection and self-change.

CREATIVE ENDEAVORS

Executive Producer
In 2022, I co-executive produced the short film, Miracle Baby, directed by Megan Welch, about a couple who uses dubious means
to get pregnant.
Watch Miracle Baby here!  

Fiction Writer
In 2025, I am poised to publish my first novella about a pastor in 1950's Central Valley, CA faced with a challenging decision regarding a visiting congregant.

Blogger
In 2024, I launched my newest blog, but let's get real - this one's been a challenge because it's the most personal. Still, I'm working on new blog posts and a re-launch of the blog very soon!


© Copyright 2024 Christa Chiriaco - All Rights Reserved

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