The next in Deadline’s It Stars On the Page series is Hulu’s Pen15, an ode to and examination of middle school awkwardness from co-creators Maya Erksine, Anna Konkle and Sam Zvibleman.
It Starts On the Page is a series that highlights the scripts serve as the creative backbone of the now-underway TV awards season. These scripts are all being submitted for Emmy Awards consideration this year and have been selected for our series using criteria that includes critical acclaim, selecting from a wide range of networks and platforms, and a mix of established and lesser-known shows.
“Vendy Wiccany,” the third episode in the Hulu comedy’s second season, follows Maya (Erskine) and Anna (Konkle) as they explore the limits of their supposed magical powers. Inspired by an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark, the two tween besties are convinced that they have supernatural powers, which they use to make the world work for them.
In an attempt to get reluctant crush Brandt (Jonah Beres) to reciprocate her feelings, Maya plants locks of her hair in his locker. Anna, caught in the heat of her parent’s divorce, looks to use her “powers” to bring her parents together. The two take their pretending too far and get in trouble with the school’s principal and their parents.
Feeling unwanted, Maya and Anna find comfort in each other and stop each other from “disappearing.” Despite all the whimsy of magical make-believe, “Vendy Wiccanny” marks the nuanced emotional shift that defines Pen15′s sophomore season.
Erskine, Konkle and Zvibleman executive produce alongside Debbie Liebling, Marc Provissiero, Brooke Pobjoy, Becky Sloviter and the Lonely Island trio of Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer.
Read the script, in all its touching nuance, below.
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