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In the latest episode of Portrait of a Fangirl podcast, host Jenna Wrenn spoke with Hollywood writer, Victoria Male.
Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast
The Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast is a series from the team at the Temple of Geek. Portrait of a Fangirl initially began as a web series and has now expanded into a podcast series as well. You can watch and listen to the series both here and on our YouTube channel. The podcast is currently in its second season.
Hosted by Jenna Wrenn, at the core of the project is the importance of telling the stories of women who have found inspiration, growth, and power through fandom.
You can listen to the Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast directly on this page or stream it on Apple Podcasts / Google Podcast / iHeart Radio / Spotify and wherever you stream your podcast. You can even watch it on our YouTube channel. You can also find us on social media on Instagram and TikTok.
Breaking into Hollywood Writing
As an aspiring writer, Victoria Male moved from the East Coast to Hollywood a decade ago to pursue her dreams. She began her career as an intern for Tobey Maguire’s production company, Material Pictures.
I’ve written screenplays. I’ve written short stories. I’m currently writing on an audio drama. But before I got there, I started working in the film industry about ten years ago, literally from the bottom up. I was very lucky that I got to intern for my childhood hero, Toby Maguire, because a huge fandom of mine is Spider-Man. I’m obsessed with Spider-Man and the Spiderverse. Then I just kind of bounced around for the past ten years in the entertainment industry.
I was a researcher. I worked in casting. I was a personal assistant and then in 2017, I got a job with Ivan Reitman who is kind of the Godfather the the Ghostbusters franchise. He directed the first movies in the 80s and he produced all subsequent Ghostbusters movies. So, I worked with the Ghostbusters franchise and that team for about 5 years in creative development. I was part of the team that took an idea from script to screen, and was like the midwife of any project that we were working on, which was incredibly illuminating and very much like a Hollywood bootcamp.
As an avid fangirl of Disney’s animated film, Hercules and Greek mythology, Victoria penned a screenplay called Sculpted. Sculpted is based on the Greek myth of Pygmalion, and was included on The Love List as one of the best-unproduced Romance screenplays. Another of Victoria’s screenplays, Showstopper, was a finalist for The Acadmey’s prestigious Nicholls Fellowship.
[Showstopper] is about the making of Singin’ in the Rain. I think a lot of people don’t realize that not only did Gene Kelly star in that movie, he co-directed. It. So it’s him trying to make this magnum opus, what’s considered his greatest piece of work, while his marriage is falling apart. There’s tworeasons his marriage is falling apart. One is that his wife is blacklisted as Communist because this is during the early 1950s in hollywood when the Red Scare was raging. And then also she’s not exactly faithful to him. So it’s him trying to make what will become this amazing piece of cinema history while his personal life is in shambles.
For those who don’t know what the Nicholls Fellowship is, it is the basically the Oscars screenwriting competition. It’s put on every year by The Academy and I honestly could not believe that I made it to the finals. I actually had submitted Showstopper the year before and didn’t make the quarterfinals. So to be in the top 13 scripts out of the nearly 5,600 that were submitted, just saying that out loud still blows my mind and I’m really grateful.
After ten years of dedicated work, Victoria Male has a resume filled with awards, honors, and screenplays that have made their way through the many hands that move Hollywood. Currently, she is working as a writer on Murder Overboard, an audio drama podcast for PocketFM. Murder Overboard is poised to set sail this summer.
About our Host
Host and executive producer of the Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast, Jenna Wrenn, is also an entertainment correspondent for Temple of Geek. Jenna has interviewed talents such as Felicia Day, Max Brooks, Christopher Paolini, Rachel Smythe, and Ashley Eckstein. She has written several articles for Temple of Geek covering conventions, anime, pop culture, and much more.
A historian by trade, a writer by passion, and a cat mom by birthright. Jenna loves to travel, forge new connections, and cosplay. Jenna is excited to bring more fascinating interviews to viewers/listeners of the Portrait of a Fangirl podcast.
More episodes from season two of the Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast
- Episode 6: FeliciaDay3D: Bringing 3D Printing, Tabletop, & Geek Culture Together (5/24/2024)
- Episode 5: Beyond the Stereotypes: How TikTok Star Shiv Reddy is Changing the Narrative (5/18/2024)
- Episode 4: From Retail to Red Carpet with Amanda Castrillo (4/25/2024)
- Episode 3: The Evolutions of Fangirling with Tara Sands (4/16/2024)
- Episode 2: Fandom as a Window to the World with Alice Fanchiang (3/29/2024)
- Episode 1: Fandom in Academia With Dr. Sabrina Mittermeier (3/15/2024)
Check out season one of the Portrait of a Fangirl Podcast
- Conversation With Author EK Johnston (11/10/2023)
- Rachel Smythe Roundtable Interview at New York Comic Con 2023 (10/19/2023)
- Inclusivity and the Authentic Self in Content Creating (10/3/2023)
- Emily Zemler on “The Nightmare Before Christmas: Beyond Halloween Town” (9/8/2023)
- Kayleigh McKee on Creativity, Industry, and Personal Growth (9/1/2023)
- Fandom From Behind the Scenes – POAFG Podcast (8/15/2023)
- Discussion With Graphic Novelist Ghezal Omar (7/20/2023)
- The Art of Fangirling With “Let’s Play” Creator Leeanne Krecic (7/19/2023)
- Interview with Ashley Eckstein – Her Universe Fashion Show (6/28/2023)
