About Your

                Muse...

Professional Writing Overview

Optioned Screenplays:

1.  The Right One (romantic comedy) Optioned twice, first by Swingin' Productions (pact with Millennium Films), and then by Urban Culture Films. Also placed as a quarter-finalist in both the Nicholl's Fellowships and the Writer's Network Screenwriting Competition as well as a semi-finalist in the Illinois/Chicago Screenwriting Competition. 

2.  Valentine's Day (romantic comedy ensemble)  Optioned by an independent producer with a director attached from The William Morris Agency.

3.  Countdown (who-done-it political thriller)  Optioned by Toolshed Films. 

Optioned TV Series:

1. Giving (news/doc. TV show)  Optioned by 8 of Hearts Entertainment (company created by a former producer for Merv Griffin Entertainment).

Writer-for-Hire Experience in Film & TV:

• Wrote a TV series book bible for Martin Sheen's ESP Productions (pact with Warner Bros. Television) at Warner Brother’s Studio in CA.
  

• Has written full scripts, treatments, and series book bibles (often as a ghostwriter) for various independent film companies and producers from L.A. to N.Y.C.
  

• Judge for CineStory's Screenwriting Competition in Chicago (for 2 years), and for The Kingman Films International Screenwriting Competition in L.A. (for 1 year).
  

• Articles published in Script magazine, InkTip.com's newsletter, and       Scriptapalooza's newsletter. (To read one on the home page, Click Here.)
  

• Certified to do script coverage by The American Film Institute after completing Donna Cooper's Coverage Workshop. 
  

• Note:  Melissa co-sponsored the workshop at the Chicago theatre she ran along with CineStory from Columbia College. This led to her moving to L.A. where she worked for various companies doing coverage, story notes, and script doctoring.
  

Playwrighting Experience:

Has had 16 plays for children and teens produced all over the country in various theatres from Chicago, IL to The Fort Lauderdale Children's Theatre in Florida. 

Top 10 Most Produced Plays Are:

• A Grimm Fairy Tale (musical comedy)
  

• The Case of Bloody Murder at Sherwood Manor (comical dinner-theatre mystery)
  

• Starmaker! (live variety show format)
  

• When The Bell Rings (musical dramedy)
  

• Trouble Brewing at Sumerville Academy (all female dramedy)
  

• A Piece of Soap (comedy spoof)
  

• Everybody (modern morality play)
  

• Our Holiday Show (variety show)
  

• Judi Jackson, Live! (live talk show format)
  

• Improv-it! (improv-styled variety show)
  

Note: 8 of these are published in The Chicago Alliance for Playwrights Directory.

Other Professional Creative Experience

Theatre Director/Producer:

• Directed and produced 22 original staged plays for children, teens, and adults at The Sheil Park Community Theatre in the Wrigleyville area of Chicago, IL over a 4 year run as Artist Director.
  

• Taught adult classes on playwrighting, which then turned into a successful Budding Authors Workshop that produced 8 new adult staged plays.  Several of these shows went on to be produced at larger theatres in the Chicago area as well as cities like New York and London.
  

• Note:  Melissa's unique talent of being able to revise a script as it was being directed scene-by-scene made her writing workshops a popular class for both beginning playwrights as well as directors.  It also lead to her becoming a sought-after script consultant to many aspiring playwrights, screenwriters, and novelists around the Chicago area and beyond, many of whom went on to have their work produced as well.
  

Book Editor:

• Has edited 6 manuscripts for both traditional "print book" publications and Internet     e-books in various fictional and non-fictional categories.
  

• Has helped with the book launch, press kits, and P.R. campaigns of several of these publications for exposure in TV, radio, and print. 
  

• One traditionally published print book was awarded both the Publisher's Choice and the Editor's Choice Awards by its publishing company, iUniverse.
  

Website Consultant:

• Writes and edits web page content for on-line businesses of all types.
  

• Currently responsible for the writing and editing of several monthly website newsletters for various clients.
  

• Does the P.R. (involving writing press releases, doing article research, and editing    business-related reports) for the promotion of several websites.
  

  Education

• B.A. in English, Minor in Theatre, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
  

• Graduate of The Institute of Children's Literature, West Redding, CT
  

• Studied screenwriting at San Diego State University, San Diego, CA and at various film-related workshops in Los Angeles, CA
  

 

And, for those still curious...

After finally gaining enough contacts and experience in all forms of media from living all over the country, Melissa was recently able (and ready) to move back to the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire where she grew up to create her writing, editing, and script consultant business over the internet as well as start doing her Budding Authors Writing Workshops again to help other aspiring authors. 

And due to Ms. Pilgrim's extensive marketing background learned from promoting her theatre in Chicago and by pitching her own movie and TV projects around L.A., besides helping with writing and editing she is now offering her "Public Relations" experience as a P.R. consultant to help others create and build their own P.R. platforms for promoting their finished writing projects, websites, and businesses. She is skilled at developing clear, concise pitch pages, press releases, and press kits. 

Melissa’s combined background of education in theatre, film, and prose writing along with her over 15 years of experience working in all these distinctive mediums gives her a specialized, unique way to approach each story and project. She looks forward to being your writing muse!

                Melissa's passions in life are writing and helping others write!

                                       To Contact Her Click Here