Benson Sister Scripts

THIS HAPPY PLACE

Growing up, our parents would spoil us every so often on Memorial Day weekends for the long trek from central Illinois to Orlando to visit Walt Disney World. Like many kids, we fell under the spell of that magical place and became lifelong fans (and future Magic Key holders). Shawna loved the Mouse so much, she worked for the Walt Disney Company for 13 years, starting in their college program giving the Backstage Studio Tour then moving toward an IT career at Walt Disney World resort. She finally landed in Burbank, CA when we both decided to pursue our writing dreams…

During the pandemic, we wanted to know more about how the proverbial sausage was made and went down the rabbit hole of researching every book, video, and archive we could find. Not surprisingly, we discovered women worked in (what would later become) Imagineering alongside the men but were often less celebrated (read: even known about). That’s when we learned all we could about Ruth Shellhorn, Harriet Burns, Renie Conley, Fred Joerger, Wathel Rogers, C.V. Wood, and more…

We looked to right that wrong by writing what would become our passion project pilot - THIS HAPPY PLACE. We transcribed Ruth’s personal diaries to get every tidbit from her POV and compiled over 5 years worth of story for a series. You wouldn’t believe some of the stuff we found, seriously, it almost writes itself, but alas, we’ve had no takers… yet.

Here’s the pilot for all you Disney fans, process junkies, or those just plain curious about the people who made Walt’s dream park a reality. To quote Walt, “To all who come to this happy place, welcome.”