Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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168 drama Cupid. Her screenwriting credits also include episodes of the animated series Tron: Uprising, and she is the director of several award- ZinninJ sKort fiOms incOXGinJ The Night Caller. Also to her credit is a trilogy of books set during the American Revo- lution: The Turncoat, The Rebel Pirate, and Mistress Firebrand. "I want to reach as many people as possible to change people's minds about the American Revolution, which is often thought of as dry and dusty," says Thorland. Bergen County—where she grew up—is famous as Washington's retreat route, which is marked by gold and blue signs. "They are every- where, every major county road; they dot the landscape," notes Thorland. As an adult, she realized just how "dire things really were," and felt the truth of the revolution was lost dur- ing the course of its telling. She recalls a mural in the lobby of her home- Above, PEM's Eerie Events festival; Right, author Donna Thorland; Opposite, scenes from the trailer for The Turncoat, the first book in Thorland's trilogy at PEM interpreting the witchcraft trials during the day and writing tKis narratiYe fiction storyteOOinJ event at night…storytelling is one of the most effective ways to connect with history." Having hit the ceiling in terms of numbers of people she could reach with her museum–based stories, Thorland was encouraged to pursue fiOm scKooO, ZKicK is ZKat set Ker on the path to Los Angeles, where sKe stXGieG fiOm proGXction at tKe University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. "When I came oXt to /.$. Ior fiOm scKooO, it was a big stretch," says Thorland. "I didn't know anyone who was a screenZriter or fiOmmaNer.ȋ 8pon graduating, she won the Disney fellowship, which enables writers to polish their craft. "If things go well, you get to write on a show." Such was her case—she landed a job writing for the ABC prime-time town movie theater depicting George Washington crossing the Delaware River. "We were surrounded by Revolutionary War imagery, with- out a single petticoat in sight," says Thorland, who found herself asking, "Where are all the women?" That question prompted research trailer stills courtesy of Charles DeRosa (right)