Unveiling Grace Sherman: The Untold Stories That Shaped Her Journey

Grace Sherman wrote the original screenplay “Numbers and Words” which won a 2018 Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting. I had the opportunity to chat with Grace about her background, her award-winning script, the craft of screenwriting, and what winning the Nicholl has meant to her.

Scott Myers: You’re from Texas…

Grace Sherman: Yes. I’m living in Denton, Texas,

Scott: Could you talk about your life growing up there and maybe what role movies and TV played in growing up in Texas?

Grace: Actually, I grew up in San Antonio, Texas, so that’s south Texas. It was a single-parent home and I was an only child so movies and books, were a way of adventure.

I liked reading about new things. Seeing new things in movies — different places, people, characters. Always had an active imagination. Creative, always creating stories in my mind. That’s what it was.

I connected with movies, with dialogue, with experiences, situations. That was an outlet for me. When it’s just you and no siblings around, those pieces, like books, movies, and different things like that, they become a way of how you interact.

Scott: Do you remember some of your favorite movies, books, or TV series from when you were a youth?

Grace: Let me think. What did I like? My mom liked a lot of movies. She liked a lot of different movies. That also help expand my taste and influenced me as a writer. I remember seeing, probably too young, [laughs] but I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark as a child.

Frankly, I just remember the pace of that film, the energy, the excitement, and everything else surrounding it. There’s something about wanting to capture that sense of adventure, that sense of journey and heroism. That’s one that stands out.

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, that’s another one. Again, an adventure, imagination. That’s the beauty of films. There is no limit in terms of where you can go. Those are just a few. There’s lot more.

Scott: At some point, you must have made the connection that, “Hey, somebody writes these things,” because, as you mentioned in the Nicholl ceremony where they were honoring you, you mentioned that your mother bought you your first…