Gillian Croft

Gillian had a dream to write and won a university Fine Arts Scholarship to study screenwriting. After she developed blood clots from a rare inflammatory disorder, she convinced herself she didn't have enough "life experience" to be a good writer and switched to Psychology. Ironically, her written work was noticed, and she was accepted into a Master's Degree before she had finished her first degree, and also worked as a writer/researcher for government. Sadly, Gillian's life changed dramatically as her baby daughter suffered blood clots during heart surgery, resulting in severe disabilities, deafblindness, 42 medical conditions, and immune deficiency syndrome. To keep her away from infection, Gillian stayed in almost constant isolation with her for the past 27 years. Becoming a writer had to take second place to home-schooling her deafblind daughter, and she refused to put her into care even when her university professor and subsequent professionals in the film industry told her she was "wasting your talent". Gillian's daughter needed her best chance, was only given 9 years, and she is now 27, so Gillian feels she been a success in life. Nevertheless, Gillian started to write again when her youngest daughter Amelia Croft became an actress and encouraged her to join in her endeavors. She wrote Emma's Song, and with her writing partner won the Golden Palm Award at Beverly Hills Film Festival for Best Screenplay. Following the death of her sister to clots and a blood clot in her lung, Gillian wrote The Life of Cockroaches on her own. She was inspired by the thought that no matter what happens in life, there is always hope. Her screenplay, The Life of Cockroaches has subsequently won a Silver Award at WorldFest Houston; Finalist (2nd place) in Byron Bay International Film Festival; Finalist at the European Cinematography Awards; Semi-Finalist at Flicker's Rhode Island Film Festival, Semi-Finalist at the 29th Annual Fade-in Awards Drama Competition, Semi-Finalist at the Screenplay Festival, Nominee at the Montreal Independent Film Festival, Honorable Mention at the Big Apple Film Festival and Screenplay Competition, and Official Selections at the American Screenwriting Conference, Beverly Hills Film Festival, Chautauqua International Film Festival, SoCal Film Awards, WIFF Film Festival, Believe Psychology Film Festival, BridgeFest, Female Eye Film Festival, Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, Sydney International Film Festival, Finish Line Script Competition, and was also a Quarter Finalist at Tel-Aviv International Film Festival, Slamdance Screenplay Competition, and Finish Line Script Competition.