Michelle Leigh  

 

I Graduated from Walla Walla University school of nursing in 2000. I have worked as an RN for 16 years- the last 9 as an IV therapy/PICC nurse in the Portland Metro area. I have performed, directed and stage managed over 150 theatre productions along the west coast since first entering the theatre world in 1984. In 2005 I founded and continue to be the director of the

non-profit Oregon City Children’s theatre. Writing a screen play was never my intention – it just kind of happened. Prior to writing, “More Than Only” I had challenged myself to write, in less than three sentences, a statement that would summarize the relationship between a popular gay TV character and his father. I was frustrated with how the story line was not flushing out – so I sought to resolve it. Almost a year later, while sitting in a shop, the name “Justin Johnson” was on a large name plate on a door. I recalled thinking, " that name should be a character in a movie”. On the drive home from the shop that line occurred to me. By the time I was home – the opening voice over was written and the story now belonged to a new character.
 

The journey that has brought this film production to fruition has been an amazing one. I cannot thank enough friends and family that sat through read-thru after read-thru and at times took far too seriously the task of marking up the script with suggestions and comments. And, to the members and family of the LGBTQA+ community, your insight, stories and honesty guided me to a story that I hope represents an underserved genre in the respectable manner it deserves. This story, for me, was about showing the normality of an LGBTQA+ relationship. To share in the joys, laughter, trials, fights and triumphs of two people who were able to find one another. My wish is to produce a film that celebrates the beauty of a true and loving relationship in a fun and honest story. There is nothing more beautiful than two souls that reach out to each other and speak a language so clearly to one another that the connection is undeniable. Someone who I looked up to greatly and helped me to really search out my own biases once said, “You fall in love with a person – not a gender” Understanding and embracing that simple statement was a turning point for me. I learned how very wrong labels are to human beings.