This thesis consists of practice-led research in the form of a full-length script for a feature film; plus a 7000-word essay (exegesis). A summary of the script is as follows:

Seventeen year-old Jansen Field lives with her single mother in the unsettled suburb of Redcliffs, Christchurch post earthquakes. After Jansen’s mother loses her job, she says if they can’t pay rent they’ll get kicked out and have to move in with her problematic father. Jansen alarms her that they can’t go back to him. So she decides to pick up a job to never see this happen. In her attempt to make enough money for rent, she bumps heads with employees, lies to cover her mother and steals money. An act of abuse from her father reminds her of his temper, which keeps her fighting. Everything comes crashing down when the landlord threatens to take Jansen to court and meets with her principal. Jansen plans her and her mother’s escape, but to Jansen’s surprise, her mother takes the father’s plea to stay with him. Outraged, she hits her father then flees herself. She grows to live without her parents, until they get into a car crash. Her mother’s in hospital, her father’s poorly looking after her, and Jansen’s faced with the decision to either save her mother from him, or build a new life for herself-which she does.

The script is framed by an Exegesis which is a 7000-word essay on the subject of: (a) the genre of the script (b) the development process from synopsis to second draft.