A survivor of domestic violence and a shadow of her former self, a talented single mother (MAVIS) defies societal limitations and embarks on a transformative yet difficult journey towards empowerment. Her journey centres on her reclaiming her voice, agency, and identity while trying to balance her ambitions with being a mother.

SYNOPSIS:

The World of ‘Life Song’

The story is set in Keimera, a seaside town in 1996, a time when the motherhood wall and glass ceiling continue to be in place. The setting alternates between Keimera and various music scenes.

The Protagonist

MAVIS MILLS (28) is a talented single mother doing her best to raise her six-year-old son in Keimera. She is a complex, emotionally engaging, dually reserved/charismatic woman.

‘Life Song’ is about the woman Mavis becomes and the people who stand by her as she undergoes transformation— physical, psychological, and to an extent spiritual. Her journey as a musician, band politics, and the grind required to succeed form a subplot. That subplot functions as a vehicle to show her transformation.

Her character arc and the narrative are propelled forward through internal and interpersonal conflicts: external obstacles, complex relationships, health crises affecting loved ones, challenging social norms, and clashes of principles.

Although Mavis has recovered from the overt signs of an abusive relationship seven years earlier, she remains a shadow of her former self, her life like a single sung syllable. She has intimacy issues and avoids potential romantic relationships. Her story is not a romance.

Financially struggling and emotionally drained, the only real relief in Mavis’ life comes from her friends, Gary and Kate, and her parents, Marg and Trevor Mills. They help her with her son, with money, and with keeping her sanity intact, but something big is missing from her life—and it’s not a man.

The Story

Then one hot summer’s day, Mavis is offered a chance to be lead singer in a local band. With that offer comes the opportunity to be the woman she was meant to be, not what she’d become after surviving domestic abuse. She also wants to build a better life for herself and her son, DAN (6).

But there is a sticking point. Mavis must break a deal made with her parents when she turned to them for support during her pregnancy. She promised that her son would be ‘the picture’ and she ‘his frame’.

With the conditional support of her mother, Mavis joins the band, promising her parents it will only be part-time job, a source of extra income so she can better provide for Dan.

With that decision, Mavis and her parents’ lives change. It does not take long for Mavis to realise she cannot live the rest of her life as she’d been living. She gives up the financial security of her day job, despite her parents’ opposition, and commits to being a full-time musician in the hope of reaching her ‘Emerald City’.

Instead of being an overnight sensation, Mavis and her band grind to find success. It is a hard road and more than a name must change in order to succeed. She has to deal with significant questions about the line between work/life/music balance, being true to herself and being a good mother.

Facing a Faustian choice and dealing with the tugs-of-war in her life, Mavis must find the courage to achieve long-term change. She does not solve her problems in the arms of a man but makes the hard choices herself.

‘Life Song’ is about the woman Mavis becomes and the people who stand by her as she undergoes transformation— physical, psychological, and to an extent spiritual.

Her journey as a musician, band politics, and the grind required to succeed form a subplot. That subplot functions as a vehicle to show Mavis’ transformation.

Mavis’ struggle versus societal norms and the legitimacy of her choices are a discussion and debate catalyst.

Conclusion

'Life Song' is a female-centric screenplay that breaks from traditional female stereotypes and roles preferred by the industry influencers for past decades. My characters are not divided into heroes and villains.

‘Life Song’ offers audiences inspiration and hope in the modern wasteland of depressing 'reality is hard' and 'life is dark' feature films. That darkness is accentuated by the rise of the conservative far right and misogynistic attacks such as “Get back in the kitchen” or to “Repeal the 19th” or “Your purpose is to procreate.” Those societal expectations box women into suffocating roles that treat women as one-dimensional, their purpose: to procreate and raise children.

The screenplay engages the audience with the hot issue of ‘a woman’s right to choose’ through a unique and complex lens, using Mavis’ choices and her struggle against the norms that dictate her path because she is a mother. The curated soundtrack heightens her emotional context.

Overall, the screenplay's focus on female empowerment, work-life challenges, following one's passion and fighting for what you believe will resonate powerfully with today's audiences seeking inspiring, emotionally engaging entertainment.