Paris, Ont.-based screenwriter pens Netflix Christmas movie

After spending many years working in the corporate world as a creative marketing director, Hailey DeDominicis has been adjusting to her new career as a screenwriter.

The Brantford-born writer, who is now living in Paris, Ontario, had her first movie Our Little Secret released on Netflix, and described her experience over the last several years.

“I had always wanted to write, but I just felt like I never had the time to do it, and I was a commuter [so] when COVID hit, I got three hours of my day back. And I thought I would use this time to write…I made it my New Year’s resolution to get up every day at 6 a.m. before work and write,” she said.

By Jan. 2021, DeDominicis had finished writing Our Little Secret. She then looked into getting some feedback on her script, which led her to meet a person who would change her life.

“I finished it, and then there are [these] websites where you can pay people to read your scripts, get feedback [and to] see if they like it or not…[and] one night Lisa Gooding, who would go on to produce the film, was on there. She downloaded a bunch of Christmas scripts to see if anything stuck out to her, and she read mine. I [then] got this email from her asking to connect…[and] wanting to hear what my goals were for the project,” described DeDominicis.

“That was just a total pinch-me moment. I actually thought it was too good to be true at first, but she turned out to be the real deal. We worked together on the script a little bit, and then she took it to Netflix, and they said yes…and now, for it to become number one on Netflix…I still think I’m going to wake up any second!”

The full story can be found on our content partner, The Brant Beacon.