Gautier teen writes her first feature-film script

GAUTIER, Miss. (WLOX) - One young, up-and-coming film writer out of Gautier just finished her first feature-film script.

Delo’s Heavenly House of Coffee is where much of the magic happened for 18-year-old Aviya Nettles. It’s also where she sat down with WLOX Tuesday to talk about her latest milestone.

“I’ve just been writing, creating drafts, rewriting,” she said.

Now, the words of “My Name is Tening” are complete.

The historical-fiction piece is packed with action and adventure.

The story is about a pirate and her crew traveling the Atlantic Ocean to stop an English ship bound for Barbados: all to save the captive African people onboard.

“When I was reading about pirates, I learned that during the golden age of piracy, that was also during the same time as the trans-Atlantic slave trade,” she said. “So, yeah, I just came up with a plot idea and a storyline and decided to write it.”

Just like that, she devoted the next eight months to seeing it through to the end.

“The main character, she’s tall, dark-skinned, big, you know, a woman, and you normally don’t see that as like a main character in a story and also as a pirate,” she said. “So, I just feel like creating something new is just what’s fun about it.”

By the age of 16, Nettles had already become a producer for two Hollywood companies.

She recently graduated from both Gautier High School and college at the same time.

“Moving on to the next step and progressing, that’s all I want,” she said.

A decade from now, Nettles said she aims to have at least three movies under her belt, explore different genres and provide big-screen opportunities for low-profile actors.

With her script now ready to go, Nettles is in talks with major production companies and screenwriting managers.

After choosing the best fit, her next step is pre-production.

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