Pair’s ‘unconventional story’ gets filmmakers’ attention

A pair of Hawaii expats — filmmaker and commercial director Brett Wagner and aspiring producer Dagny Looper — have landed a screenplay on New York University’s Purple List. And while it may sound like a knockoff of Hollywood’s more famous Black List of the top unproduced screenplays, more than half of the script selections on the East Coast version have become films, including two that premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

The Purple List, only in its third year, draws from the university’s graduate film program, both current students and alumni. The goal is to find the best unproduced scripts and help develop them into films.

Wagner, an NYU alumnus, and Looper, a current graduate student there, wrote "Daisy, Arkansas," one of three screenplays selected by industry professionals in April.

It’s the story of a young New York waitress who has a one-night stand with a Texas businessman. The tryst goes so horribly wrong that she decides to find the man’s middle-age wife and make amends. The bulk of the movie is the relationship that develops between the two women.

"I think it’s an unconventional story," Wagner said. "I think it intentionally defies expectations a bit."

Wagner wanted to tell a story with strong female characters.

"I feel there is a real shortage of great parts written for women, particularly women who are hitting 40," Wagner said. "I think there are a lot of actresses 10 to 15 years into their careers who are seeing nothing but parts for the wives of the main characters. Nothing but underwritten roles."

The two filmmakers met in Hawaii a few years ago but do not live here full time anymore.

Wagner was here full time for nearly a decade, producing TV commercials and the acclaimed short film "Chief," which screened at Sundance in 2008. He and his family moved to Los Angeles in 2011, but he films so many commercials in Hawaii that he spends about a third of his time here.

Looper’s back story may be the most unique in filmmaking: She earned a graduate degree in astronomy from the University of Hawaii at Manoa but left the islands for film school in 2011, barely one week after receiving her doctorate.

"I love astronomy," Looper said. "I just want to be a filmmaker more."

Wagner pitched the idea behind "Daisy, Arkansas" to Looper while he was in New York making a short film in 2012. Looper was intrigued by the two female characters.

"I don’t see films that are really about the relationship between two women, two women trying to work through issues with each other," Looper said. "It’s usually women talking about men. But in this story it’s about the women, and that is what drew me to it."

It won’t be difficult to persuade an older actress to embrace the reality of her age if the part is right, Looper said.

"I think you sell it by making a character who is interesting to portray," she said. "They don’t want to be portrayed as a secondary character. They want something meaty."

Wagner believes that being on the Purple List will create opportunities. And while it’s too soon to gauge a connection, a staged reading of "Daisy, Arkansas" organized by NYU for industry professionals was followed by phone calls.

Wagner and Looper have already heard from agents, managers and producers.

AND that’s a wrap …

Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.