The Origin of Mermaid – A Love Story
THE DREAM
We met on Hinge. The dating app truly meant to be deleted. We both were intimidated, thinking the opposite was a lot cooler than we actually were, only to realize we were 2 goofy peas plucked from the same pod.
It was so easy in the beginning. Falling is easy and quick. And as lesbian stereotypes allude, we u-hauled hard. We had exciting prospects; Kayla applying to grad school and me getting my first paid intern position at a reputable film company, we had little to no debt and decent savings, but most importantly we had big dreams.
Kayla wanted to help people through writing, and I wanted to help people through screens. We quickly realized it was a match made in heaven, both creatively and romantically. We had similar passions and goals. We wanted to see more diversity on screen and not just in the ethnicities of actors, but true diversity.
As we set boundaries in our relationship we set boundaries in our art forms. We embraced our identities and expanded our experiences, something previously ignored in my life and ignited by the addition of Kayla’s.
We found that we had spent our lives with our identities remaining marginalized, stereotyped, and even fetishized. This frustration mounted into a deep desire for us to make stories that do more. Then COVID hit.
THE PANDEMIC
COVID hit us hard. Nothing had hit so aggressively and so international — in our lifetimes. And it wasn’t just the virus; civil unrest, political strife, and financial crisis.
What a time of fear, anxiety, heightened loneliness, and marginalization. Were you a Democrat or Republican? Were you with Moderna or Pfizer? Pro BLM? In a world of so much beauty, synchrony, and variation, in times of fear humans love hard definite lines and margins. And there’s history and psychology for all those thoughts but it forced Kayla and me to reevaluate our Dream, our hopes for Mermaid. It wasn’t about the milestones or the expansion, it wasn’t about the money. We were reminded of the stories, of the resilience of humanity.
And like the unique and resilient characters bouncing around our heads, humanity picked itself back up and kept going.
THE BOLD
Despite Mermaid Motion Pictures officially launching in 2020, Mermaid is just now swimming on as it should, and we are so proud of all we’ve accomplished in these past couple of years.
Since Mermaid’s inception, we have copy written 32 literary projects including scripts, pitches, and treatments. We have submitted to over 10 creative contests and placed in the top 20% of all discoverable content on Coverfly. Kayla’s writing has been published online and her short script, Saddest Vanilla, has been optioned and made.
In this new phase we are scrappier and wiser and boldly walking into new opportunities. This year we trudge on and we are excited with what we have on the slate. We are excited you are still journeying with us. As always thank you, thank you, thank you. Catch you on the flip side.
