FREELAND — There she was, corralled like a pony in its pen, at the “Great American Pitchfest.”

“It’s like speed dating for scriptwriters in L.A.,” Suzanne Kelman said as she laughed her way through a recent lunch at the Lighthouse in Freeland.

She was talking about the absurdity of the annual event where screenwriters meet with producers, agents and development executives to pitch their TV shows or movie scripts.

She had just finished a film script titled “Maggie the Brave” and had sent it out to a number of scriptwriting contests with good results, including becoming a finalist in one and receiving a certificate of excellence in another.

When she overheard another writer talking about “Pitchfest” and was told some executives from the BBC would be there, along with those from Lionsgate Films, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal, Disney and a few other big-name players of the industry, she said: “What the hell?” and got on a plane to Los Angeles.

“It actually works a lot better than it looks,” Kelman said of the event, which had all the scriptwriters lined up in a kind of “ring around the rosy execs.”

A bell is rung and the hungry screenwriters run to certain numbered tables where they have about five minutes to pitch a script.

Kelman said there was a practice session the night before on how to make a fast pitch, like a condensed spring training for baseball players.

“Maggie the Brave” takes place in 1978 England, where a quirky British spinster named Maggie Cooper must become a disco partner to a middle-aged John Travolta wannabe, who must masquerade as her husband in order for her to keep her home and avoid being put out to pasture in a retirement community.

“Five minutes is a long time if the person isn’t very nice,” Kelman said with a sly look and her charming British tone. Then she laughed, as she is want to do, unable as she is to put aside her natural tendency to see the joke in everything.

“But some were lovely,” she said. Such as the bloke at the table for which she had the wrong number.

“I get through the whole pitch and he says, ‘This sounds like a great movie and I really can’t wait to see it when it comes out. But I’m Disney.’”

Kelman threw her head back again for another throaty laugh.

It may not be right for Disney, but the movie certainly looks like it has a future.

“Maggie the Brave” has garnered a lot of attention since Kelman finished it.

She wrote it in a few months in order to meet a July deadline for Final Draft, Inc.’s “Big Break Contest.” In that contest, the script made it’s way out of the slush pile of 4,700 entries to the semi-final and, finally, to a position among the best 35.

But competition for the script continues.

Using the American Idol model, MovieHatch.com is a website devoted to using public opinion to get movies made through an online voting system. After Pitchfest, a development executive from MovieHatch.com took a special interest in “Maggie the Brave” and bypassed the normal channels to place the film in the online competition, for which Kelman quickly put together a trailer.

“She loved the script and loved the trailer,” Kelman said.

The trailer is presently showing at www.moviehatch.com, where voting is still open until Dec. 5. The top

10 movies will go to producers, and “Maggie the Brave” is currently at number six.

Kelman also received a call from a producer who asked her if she would like to see the famous British actors Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson play the leads in her movie.

Kelman posted her excitement on Facebook.

“I just got off the phone with a New York producer, who likes the script and said he is thinking about Emma Thompson as Maggie, and Alan Rickman he thinks will be great playing Fred,” Kelman wrote.

“He knows them both! Isn’t that surreal? … What a crazy life; one minute cleaning the toilet, the next talking to producers about A-list stars,” she wrote.

With her natural comedic talent, it’s not surprising that her script is good. Kelman is no stranger to the performance industry, and has a history of writing comedy for the stage.

Whidbey folks may have seen her on several stages about town dancing, singing, acting and having a laugh as the fun-loving mistress of ceremonies for a number of local events. She played the lead role of Mrs. Lovett in the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts production of “Sweeney Todd,” and has lent her choreographer, acting and directing talents to several local productions at Whidbey Children’s Theater.

A native of England, the Langley resident practically grew up performing onstage, which culminated in the success of her “Big Purple Undies Comedy Show,” based on the book she co-wrote, which sold 40,000 copies.

She performed in the hit show which traveled to 38 states in the U.S. and Canada. That success was followed by her next creation in 2008, “Girls Gone Wide,” and her most recent script for the stage, “Gyni the Musical,” which is set to premiere in Seattle in the fall of 2011.

Kelman said she wasn’t planning on becoming a screenwriter. It just happened.

“I wasn’t doing a play and I said, I think I’ll write this story down,” she said of getting the idea for the script. She saw the story as being more easily filmed than staged, and decided to try her hand at writing a movie.

After scrambling to put together a trailer for “Maggie the Brave” using local talent, Kelman realized that she would like to adapt the film for the stage at some point.

Using Facebook and e-mail, Kelman sent out a call to the theater community that she needed to make a movie trailer quickly. The response was swift and complete, and within three weeks from that first call, “Maggie the Brave” had a professional-looking marketing tool for her film.

“It’s because of this community we live in, that I was able to do that,” Kelman said.

“People just gave up their time and talent to me. It was amazing. It was just like the little engine that could with people going, ‘You do this, and I’ll do this, and you do this.’ Just amazing,” she added.

Indeed, she had costumers, set decorators, actors and a crew within a week or so. William Riley and Jeff Opdyke filmed it and Kelman directed, while costumers Julie Cunha and Val Johnson pulled costumes and set pieces donated by WICA and WCT. The motley cast of characters in the trailer was led by Dana Linn as Maggie and Jim Scullin taking the part of Fred, as her disco dancing potential hubby.

“It just made me so glad of where I live,” she said.

The tagline for “Maggie the Brave” somewhat sums up the spirit of how Kelman has disregarded set notions about who is equipped to write a screenplay, and how one finds the support for such a thing in one’s own backyard.

“Maggie the Brave,” says the line, “Encourages us to believe: It’s never too late.”

Kelman is currently working on two other screenplays, a period drama called “Against the Wind,” and a coming-of-age comedy, “The Sad Gits Club.”

The cast and crew of the “Maggie the Brave” trailer also included Scott Linn, Shelley Hartle, Melinda Mack, Keith Mack, Rob Scott, Peter Lawlor, Robert Marsanyi, Kent Junge, Kim Dunkley, Olivia Dunkley, Eric Mulholland, Marta Mulholland, Erick Westphal, Erik Anderson, Thomas Gill, Jackie Brown, Harry Robinson, Betty Lightner and Bristol Bloom.

The production team included hair and makeup by Bristol Bloom and Nikki Farrell; film editing by Chris Douthitt and Jeff Opdyke; and music and sound design by Gwen Jones.

For Kelman’s website, click here.