29/07/2023
“This is Lesley Patterson , she won a BAFTA on Sunday for best adapted screenplay but the BBC cut her acceptance speech from the programme . They found time for inane interviews backstage, but not the story of how a 3 times World Champion Triathlete became a BAFTA winning scriptwriter.
On retiring as an elite sportswoman, she was asked “ What’s next “ she replied “ I am going to move half way across the world from my home here in Scotland
become a scriptwriter and win an Oscar .
That was more than 16 years ago when she landed in LA and set out to make a new version of the silent movie ‘ All Quiet On Thé Western Front’ .She bought the rights from the estate of the writer who wrote the best selling book that was made into an Oscar winning film. Over the course of 16 years she pitched the idea to anyone who would listen , listen they did but no one was interested in a German language film about World War 1 , without a star .
She used all he savings and remortgaged her house to keep her dream alive , but the dream was about to become a nightmare when she was told raise $10,000
or lose the rights to the film .
She was turned down by everyone she tried to borrow from , but fate played it’s hand . There was a triathlon taking place with $10,000 prize money .
Exactly the amount she needed , she entered and began training. The day before the race she fell from her bike and broke her shoulder. She was down but she was not out , she strapped up , cycled , ran and swum a mile using her legs and one arm .
She won the race , the film as we know was made with money from Netflix , and now she has won a BAFTA , what price she wins an Oscar.
So if you didn’t know this story, you do now .”
Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History https://amzn.to/3NS4LK1
