Cheryl McKay
Hollywood Screenwriter
M.A. in Film Aesthetics & Production, 1995
Like many teenage film fanatics, Cheryl McKay had a job at the local movie theater. She sold tickets and overpriced popcorn while dreaming of becoming a successful screenwriter. Fast forward a few years, and Cheryl is newly graduated with a B.A. in Theatre, but she knew that she wasn’t fully prepared to be a screenwriter just yet.
“I not only wanted a strong education in screenwriting, but I also wanted hands-on experience on film and television sets.” She chose Regent University. Here, Cheryl wrote one feature film, two television pilots and two half-hour dramas. “It was like going through writer’s boot camp,” Cheryl says, “but writing at this pace prepared me for the deadlines I’ve faced as a professional writer.”
In 2007, her first national release of a feature film opened in theaters. Cheryl had the amazing opportunity to be the screenwriter for The Ultimate Gift starring Abigail Breslin, James Garner and Brian Dennehy. The film chronicles a spoiled, trust-fund kid’s journey to earn his inheritance from his wealthy grandfather, played by Garner.
Cheryl experienced the perfect Hollywood ending the weekend that her movie opened. After their walk down the red carpet the day before, Cheryl took her family to the movie theater where she worked as a teenager. She reflects, “When I was working there, never in a million years would I have been able to foresee that one day a movie of mine would be playing at that theater.” Cheryl has officially arrived in Hollywood. Cheryl is an extraordinary woman.
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