The Making of ‘A Simple Ad’ (Which is…Festival Bound!)

🎬 The Making of A Simple Ad
By a first-time screenwriter

It started with six words.

Not mine — and not Hemingway’s either, despite the legend. The famous micro‑story “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” has been floating around for more than a century, long before anyone attached it to Papa. But the emotional punch of those words — the way they suggest a whole life in a single line — stuck with me.

One day, I found myself wondering: what if I reimagined that idea for a different time, a different object, a different kind of loss? That’s when I landed on:

“For Sale: Boy’s Skateboard. Never Used.”

A skateboard is freedom, youth, motion. To say it was “never used” hints at a story cut short — and I knew right away it could carry the same emotional weight as the baby shoes, but in a way that felt contemporary and personal.

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From idea to page

A Simple Ad was my first‑ever produced screenplay. I had no formal screenwriting training, just a lifetime of watching movies and absorbing how they work. The challenge? This was meant to be a two‑minute short — which, in screenplay terms, means two pages. I couldn’t quite compress it that far, so the finished film runs 3 minutes and 41 seconds.

I wrote it with a single location in mind: a modest New York apartment. The story unfolds in real time, with Sara trying to write an online ad while her husband John tinkers with the skateboard. The dialogue is sparse, but every line is loaded — grief, frustration, love, and resignation all woven into a few exchanges.

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On set and on screen

Director Juan Carlos Hernández brought the script to life with a quiet, observational style. The opening credits roll over family photos while the Welsh lullaby Suo Gan plays — a choice that sets the tone before a single word is spoken.

The final shot was exactly how I imagined it: the camera never shows the actors’ faces, focusing instead on the ad taped to a light pole. The skateboard leans there, a silent stand‑in for the son who never got to ride it.

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Reception and recognition

When D.M. Longrie reviewed the film, she called it “lovely and poignant” and described the skateboard as “a symbol of hope” for the couple — a line that perfectly captures what I hoped the audience would feel.

Now, A Simple Ad is headed to the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. I won’t be there in person, but knowing this little story — born from six words and a what‑if — will be seen by festival audiences is its own kind of reward.