The Emotions Created From Writing this Screenplay

Every once in a while I remind myself that even the greatest films didn't begin in the form audiences eventually saw on the screen.

When Steven Spielberg decided to make Lincoln, he hired Tony Kushner to adapt Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals. Kushner's first screenplay reportedly exceeded 500 pages—enough material for an eight-hour film. As Spielberg reviewed the script, he realized the heart of the story was the political battle to pass the 13th Amendment. The final screenplay was ultimately distilled to about 142 pages.

That story has been on my mind lately.

Our screenplay for "Brother Jonathan and the Dragon's Teeth" currently stands at 186 pages, with another 20 to 30 pages still to write before the first draft is complete. Like Kushner's original script, it's far too long to become the finished film—and that's perfectly okay. Before we can decide what belongs in the final movie, every important story deserves to be written. Every life deserves the opportunity to exist on the page.

We're now entering the final quarter of the screenplay, covering the hours after the Brother Jonathan departed Crescent City at 9:30 on the morning of July 30, 1865, through the collision with the Dragon's Teeth and the ship's sinking just a few hours later.

This has become the hardest part of the entire project.

For years these people were simply names in passenger lists, newspaper accounts, and government records. Somewhere along the way they stopped being names. They became fathers, mothers, children, soldiers, merchants, miners, crew members, dreamers, and friends. They became people I feel like I've come to know.

Writing scenes where families are trapped in their staterooms as seawater slowly rises... watching passengers struggle against towering waves and hurricane-force winds... imagining the courage, fear, sacrifice, and love that filled those final moments—it has been emotionally exhausting in ways I never expected.

There are mornings I begin the day exactly as I always do: sitting beside the pool with our dogs and a cup of coffee before heading into the writing lab. Once I'm at my desk, I usually turn on YouTube—not for music anymore, but for great films that have inspired me over the years. They play quietly in the background while I write. Watching the work of extraordinary filmmakers reminds me why this story deserves every ounce of effort we can give it.

Then the writing begins.

There have been days when I've had to stop because the emotion simply became overwhelming. More than once I've found myself sobbing as I wrote, only to have our dogs wander over and quietly sit beside me, as if they somehow understood.

Our goal has never been to make a disaster movie.

Our goal has always been to introduce you to the people aboard the Brother Jonathan before history takes them away.

When those difficult days come, I remind myself why we started this journey. It feels as though these remarkable souls have waited 161 years for someone to tell their story—not as a footnote in history, but as human beings whose lives mattered.

So after taking a deep breath, I wipe away the tears, put another foot forward, and return to the keyboard.

Some stories deserve nothing less.

Captain Samuel DeWolf and Quartermaster Jacob Yates reviewing charts on July 30th 1865