When a depressed dream-engineer dreams of a future apocalypse, she must beat AI at their
own game before the world faces her worst nightmare.
“Sky Curse” is a multi-award-winning TV pilot script based on Janet Kravetz’s IP universe, the sci-fi novel series Sky Curse: The Chosen Five. It was winner of Best Screenplay category at the 2023 Canadian Cinematography Awards and is currently a semi-finalist at the LA Femme International Film Festival (Los Angeles). Fingers crossed.
Although dystopian in nature, “Sky Curse” is about fighting for human survival and finding hope despite climate chaos and the ever-looming technological threats.
The plot is as follows: As most fresh water around the world becomes contaminated with toxic algae, Cecilia Miller must make choices that will determine not only her fate, but the fate of the world. Alongside an unusual team of five humans and one android, she is thrust into an extraordinary mission to save the world from its impending doom using psychic powers and
technological advancements. Cecilia, a dream-engineer who forgot how to dream, attempts to
awaken, only to find herself mocked by a world that has become complacent and apathetic. In
the end, it's not about the technology or the psychic powers, but the choices she makes and the
humanity she holds on to. It is our pleasure to interview Janet Kravetz for MIFF magazine.
What draws you to writing scripts? “Sky Curse” is my first and only written script so far,
although I wrote two different versions of “Sky Curse” just to have fun and experiment with
different options. I submitted a later script about the protagonist’s childhood to the Montreal Film
Festival, but my first script has been the one to win the awards and nominations so far.
In terms of what draws me to writing scripts, I love watching TV shows and movies as much as I
love reading books. I have always wanted to try and write a script because it has the potential to
bring my written words to life.
How and when did you start studying screenwriting? I have never formally studied
screenwriting. I’m a lawyer and a professional policy analyst by training. In my creative pursuits,
I’m mostly a self-learner. I went from digitally enhanced photography to poetry to sci-fi novel
writing to script writing. I usually heavily rely on my creative intuition and sometimes get some
structure tips from reading books, watching tutorials, and talking to mentors. I can’t say I enjoy
one creative pursuit more than another, but I’m starting to really love script writing.
What makes screenwriting stand out to you in the language of the cinema? Whatever my
creative pursuit is at any given moment (photography, poetry, noveling, or script writing), I
always aspire to tell a good story either through actual visuals or by creating mental visuals that
feel very real in our minds. When I write, I feel like a movie producer might feel — I get my
characters to do what I want. It’s just easier to get them to do what I want, as my fictional
characters rarely object to my influence. So, I can create my vision faster. All I need is a
keyboard.
Do you ever plan to direct and produce one of your scripts? It’s not my immediate goal, but if
one day such an opportunity presents itself, I’ll will certainly give it some serious consideration.
Tell us more about your latest script and the inspiration behind its writing.
I published the Sky Curse novel on Amazon in 2022 (384 pages) and it has a lot of content to
potentially become a TV series. Recently, I also wrote a TV pilot script, which is based on the novel.
I started writing the Sky Curse novel series back in 2014 when my book of poetry won the
Beverly Hills Book Award (under the poetry category). Reaching Beyond Ourselves – Leading a
Spiritual, Peaceful and Diverse World contains my poetic prayers for world peace. Then, by
reading online news and policy papers, I realized that the next challenges for the world would be
the climate chaos that’s upon us and technology that’s stronger and smarter than humans.
At that point, I had a simple message to convey: Like fire, technology is a tool in the hands of
humans. For now. It is up to humanity to decide, at this point in history, how to use it — for
human survival or for human destruction.
What were some of the challenges of writing your script and the research that
went into it?
I’m a professional researcher and I took a long time to research the topics. Ironically, I used AI
algorithms to research the topic of AI and global warming on YouTube, Amazon books, and
Google search engine/Google Scholar articles. Without technology and AI, “Sky Curse” could
have been simpler and might not have had a chance to stand the test of time.
One of the challenges of writing the script was that the events happening in the book started
happening in real life in Nova Scotia, where I live, like deadly floods and unprecedented
wildfires. AI also progressed leaps and bounds around the world. So, the script has to be much
more dramatic than the novel. I keep rewriting it to reflect the future and not the present.
What would you like to achieve, cinematically, as a writer?
I’m an award-winning Canadian writer with a global perspective. In “Sky Curse,” I focus on
topics of climate chaos, technology, and sustainability. As a former policy analyst, I’m passionate
about promoting critical thinking as well as hope through my writing, while potentially turning my sci-fi novel series IP universe into a successful TV show with global appeal.
As a writer, cinematically, I would like to achieve the same things that I want to achieve as a
poet. I’m not just a writer, but also a Maritimer. As a Maritimer, I've written a prayer for humanity
to make the right decisions, collectively and individually. In the words of my poem “The Song of
a Sailor,”
This old sailor learnt this the hard way,
When the sky was mad, just turning gray,
I would smile and gracefully retreat,
Till the sky smiled back, for sure a treat!
But when faced mid-ocean with a mighty storm,
My fearing, human heart had to transform,
My graceful smile then turned into fierce eyes,
I lived through battles with the seas and skies.
And now, my friends, I wish to tell you no lies,
When I say that life is a teacher in disguise,
Each day that felt to me punishing and gray,
Taught me how to seize both the night and the day.
When the music moves my feet,
My body moving to the beat,
I whistle and I even dance,
My heart and mind in a trance.
Then at the deep, gray ocean I gaze,
Thankful for both my nights and my days,
I stand there grateful, simply amazed,
By that which often by poets is praised.
Consumed by music and by verse,
I used to sing and seldom curse,
I used to quietly admire,
How water can extinguish fire.
Despite the ocean’s fury and glee,
It’s actually so much like me,
It grows and changes colors each day,
At night it is black, by day it’s gray.
It is a mere reflection,
Just a colorful projection,
Of clouds of change, so very slow,
As is above, so is below.
It reflects gray clouds above,
Until the blue sky sends it its love,
We all humans are like the ocean, the same,
Shaped by unplanned friendships in this game.
We reflect those who leave a mark on our hearts,
Perhaps life itself is a work of the arts?
And when Mother Earth gives to us birth,
She reflects us, and we reflect Earth.
So do not ask me for the color of my skin or my eyes,
My colors change, like the colors of the skies,
My heart grows every day through random meetings,
Then I send worldwide my most heartfelt greetings.
Please, do not ask me for my name,
To tell me who I am in this game,
Please tell me not, who I should be,
Please leave it in safekeeping with me.
When you seek to find grace,
By simply looking at my face,
Then look at wrinkles that made me wise,
And search for wisdom in my eyes.
The color of my eyes or skin matter not,
Only the dangerous, inner battles I fought,
And as time colors my hair white,
There are no battles left to fight.
My safe, rugged shores are now firmly shaped,
By my own weaknesses that I escaped,
And though the strong waves still keep pounding hard,
They no longer leave me scared and scarred.
My life is no longer just black or white,
I live between the shadows and the light,
I live in the between, within the gray,
I color my life anew in each day.
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