My wife, Molly, is one of the smartest (non-technical) people I know. Although she has learned a lot about what I do through osmosis as well as from reading in her spare time, she’s talented in many other ways besides understanding what SQL Server actually is and the difference between virtualization and cloud computing. We both have very entrepreneurial spirits; she ran her own music studio for a number of years, and that’s a small part of why we’re such a good fit as husband and wife as well as running Heraflux Technologies as business partners. Besides making sure that all the pieces of our business are running smoothly seven days a week, in her spare time she dabbles in storytelling, and she had a great accomplishment come from her talents a few weeks ago – a short film she co-wrote that was produced last summer was accepted in the Omaha Film Festival—Mens Rea. Over 600 submissions were processed, and she made the final list! We recently spoke about her inspiration for the film and what it’s about.
“I have a strong interest in subcultures. This interest coupled with North Omaha’s extremely high rate of poverty and crime led me to tell this story with Amber Sue Greser (Molly’s writing partner for the short). Mens Rea, which translated from Latin means Guilty Mind, explores two different but also similar people. Nia, who works nights to be able to attend school and take care of her alcoholic mother, has grown up in poverty. She’s striving for something better, which I believe most people attempt to do with their lives, but the reality can seem impossible for many people to pull up the proverbial bootstraps if they don’t start out with boots or even socks. The second main character, Marcus, has also grown up in poverty, but unlike Nia, doesn’t work and watches his single mother work two jobs to support the both of them. On the surface, Marcus could be labeled as a “bad person,” but he’s avoided the neighborhood gangs, dealing drugs, and going to prison. His lack of motivation is due to his observations about what it takes to get ahead. We tried to create a script that hopefully removes some of the black and white thought processes behind interpretation of a situation like Nia’s and Marcus’. The short is a very serious and dark drama with an ending that unfortunately echoes many real-life situations.”
Molly’s co-written short plays in Omaha at Village Point Theatre on Friday, March 7th at 8:30pm. For more information about the film festival, which runs Wednesday, March 5th through Sunday, March 9th, or to purchase tickets go to — http://omahafilmfestival.org/
