A screenplay written by Jennifer Smith ’95 will air at 9 p.m., Sunday, May 11 on the Hallmark Channel.
“Audrey’s Rain,” starring Jean Smart, Carol Kane and Richard Gilliland, is about a woman (Smart) who puts her life on hold to raise her deceased sister’s children and care for a retarded sibling. In the midst of these demands, a long-lost love (Gilliland) comes into her life again and helps her break free from her family’s tragedies.
Smith, who co-wrote the script with her sister, Kate, moved to Los Angeles in 1997 to pursue a screenwriting career. She also worked as a production assistant on various sit-coms for two years in addition to her screenwriting work. Through an agent, Smith and her sister have written three screenplays which are slated for broadcast or future production. They are currently working on a fourth movie, an action-adventure-comedy.
Smith graduated from Elon with a degree in broadcast communications. “I always knew I wanted to do movies, but I wasn’t quite sure how to pursue it,” Smith said. “I took most of the film classes that Ray Johnson offered, but oddly, I didn’t take any screenwriting courses. I read a few books about screenwriting, but mostly, I wanted to develop my own style without being boxed in by a book. It seems to have worked out well.”