We recently connected with Jordan-Paige Sudduth and have shared our conversation below.

Jordan-Paige, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Picture this: I’m 14 years old and feeling like I’m not getting the opportunity to showcase my acting abilities for film and tv. I’m taking classes, doing theatre in school, but I want to show what I can really do. So I decide to make my own opportunity and write a feature script that I plan to sell and pitch myself as the lead actor (keep in mind, I was 14, I didn’t really know how that aspect of the industry worked yet).
Before this point, the extend of my writing experience had been through school stories and assignments, but I’d always known I loved writing. I reached out to my former acting coach, Ken Feinberg, and asked for some tips on writing a screenplay. He advised me to write the story first, then use a free screenwriting software (I used Celtx — highly recommend for starting out) to turn it into a script.
So I do. I spend a few days writing out this story before immediately hopping into writing it as a script.
I finished it while I was on Thanksgiving break with my family, who were all very supportive of the idea, when I got stuck.
How in the world was I, a 14-year-old high school freshman with no professional experience, going to SELL this screenplay? Who do I pitch it to? Would they do the story justice? What if I couldn’t act in it?
So, I took a risk. I turned to my parents after 3 days of pondering and said, “Forget selling it, I’m going to do it myself.”

9 months later I had a completed feature film running an hour and 17 minutes that we had a special private screening for at the Plaza Theater in Atlanta. I had written, directed, filmed, and starred in the film, and was proud of myself for showing the world what I could do.

The rest is history :)

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Jordan-Paige Sudduth and I’m an autistic & aroace (aromantic & asexual) 21-year-old professional screenwriter who enjoys acting, casting, and content creating on the side. I started out in the film industry as an actor when my middle school wouldn’t allow 6th graders in the school musical, so I started film acting classes. By high school, I realized I enjoyed writing and creating my own films as well, so by the time I graduated in 2019, I was an award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker with 15 projects under my belt.

I went to Vancouver Film School for their one-year Writing for Film, Television, and Games program, and graduated in August of 2020. I sold my first screenplay in early 2021, gained acting representation in the summer, and literary representation in Spring of 2022. Now, I focus more on screenwriting and building my professional credits, but do still create content from time to time and am actively pursuing acting as well.

I’m most proud of my ambition, and the positive reputation I’ve made for myself in my business and in the areas of the industry my name is known in. People I’ve worked with know me to be reliable, on-time, and professional, and bring passion to everything I do. If I put my mind to something, it WILL get done, you can count on that.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I want to bring more authentic representation to the autistic and aro/ace communities. We get so little true, believable, and relatable representation right now, I want to bring positive change to the industry. Many of my scripts feature autistic or queer characters, and I’m passionate about genuine representation in everything I write — if I’m concerned about how something is reading, I’ll reach out to the community and ask for a second (or third…or fourth) pair of eyes. We already have so much inaccurate representation, and I refuse to be a part of the problem.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

From the beginning, my number one goal in life as a whole, really, has been to inspire. I want myself, or the work that I do, to be a source of positive inspiration for anyone and everyone who feels connected to it. There is no greater honor to me than hearing that something I wrote/produced/said/did was inspirational or impactful to someone else, and has encouraged them to go after their dream, to be their authentic self, to be a positive force in the world — the list goes on and on. I actually save any messages I’ve gotten about something I’ve done impacting someone in a positive way, because if I’m ever doubting myself or having a rough day, reading them often gives me a particular extra boost nothing else can give.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jordanpaigesudduth.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordan.paige.s/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordanpaigesudduth/?ref=page_internal
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanpaigesudduth-939541116/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jpsudduth
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcIuq68W7PFt7hpb2fzL4mQ
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jordan.paige.s?lang=en IMDBPro: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm6607183/overview

Image Credits
Matthew McKenzie, Cody Ottinger, Scene Awards