Two LDS women, Anne Bradshaw of Mapleton, Utah, and Jeanne McKinney of San Diego, Calif., joined forces via e-mail to write a screenplay that took first place at the recent International Family Film Festival.The festival took place at Raleigh Studios in the Charlie Chaplin Theater in Hollywood.The women drew from the history of politico-religious strife to create a tale of time travel that brings about change in today's world. The screenplay, "The Ardanea Pendant," was entered in the science fiction category and competed against hundreds of others from 17 countries, McKinney said."The screenplay is in the hands of three producers, at least," Bradshaw said. "(Jeanne) invented the word (Ardenea) from Gaelic. We had to get together on the pronunciation."The two women, friends for the past eight years even though they've met just four times, thrashed out the story idea on a beach north of San Diego about three years ago, Bradshaw said.Then they began e-mailing drafts to each other, each adding to the story line and editing the other. Occasionally, they would work out details over the phone.Midway through the process, life got in the way and the two women took a break. Last year, they resumed the project, with McKinney completing the final draft last Christmas.One character, Patrick, came from Bradshaw's previous book "Terracotta Summer," and McKinney created his companion, Kiernan Lafferty.In the story line, a powerful pendant is the central object that transports two college students in the troubled 1960s in Ireland back in time to resolve events that led to ending religious wars peacefully, affecting their lives in the '60s. Devoid of witchcraft or sorcery, the pendant is instead imbued with spiritual power used to correct errors of the past and change the future."They are able to talk with key people and change thought," Bradshaw said.Folks interested in the story can vote on posters advertising the movie, if produced. They are online at avtekproductions.com and annebradshaw.blogspot.com.
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