IN OFFICIAL SELECTION "SECOND THOUGHTS" WRITTEN BY CHRIS WARNER

BIO:

Chris has been writing screenplays for several years. Before its nomination in the Angel Film Festival, Second Thoughts received an honorable mention from the Skyfest Film Festival in North Carolina, USA. Another screenplay, a romantic comedy entitled The Sidekick Rules, received an honorable mention at the Downbeach Film Festival in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. After graduating with an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University, Chris taught English and creative writing to college and high school students. When not working on screenplays, he writes a semi-weekly Internet sports column.

TAGLINE:

"Your teacher has a lot on her mind...""

LOGLINE:

When faced with a difficult teaching job and a family health crisis, a young woman finds escape through her music and imagination, with mixed results.
Genre: Comedy/Independent Spirit

SYNOPSIS:

It begins with MARTA, a woman in her mid-20s, visiting her mother JANE. Marta leaves her mother's house with a sense of hesitation, as her mother has been sick recently. With Marta the next day at her teaching job, we understand that she has trouble focusing on her work. This status becomes more difficult as she deals with her special needs students. Though her co-workers remain helpful and considerate, Marta can't help but think that the teachers around her - like her friends OONA and TOM - have a better grasp on their jobs than she does. Their work remains tough but the teachers find ways to relieve stress; still, with additional pressures, Marta wonders whether she has chosen the proper profession for her.

Every day during her commute and free time, Marta listens to music. She gains brief escapes from the mundane aspects of her day by creating song-related scenarios three or four minutes at a time, with destinations including the Caribbean and Bollywood. Eventually, Marta receives bad news about her mother's health. This, coupled with an unrequited relationship with a co-worker, sends Marta deeper into her imagination to escape the helpless feeling she endures every day when faced with issues out of her control.
After a major slip-up at school stemming from a brief lapse of judgment brought on by her inability to differentiate between her actual experience and her thoughts, Marta seeks help from her friends. It is up to her co-workers and herself to make sure that she makes the best of a difficult situation.