Sandi Jerome
The former Sandy Cook of Escondido
Read my Blog or Watch my YouTube Videos - Read about me in Bold Journey Canvas Rebel or Clermont Neighbors
View Books on Amazon or on my Publisher’s Website
Sandi Jerome (Sandra Cook Jerome), is a writer and graduate of UCLA's Advanced Screenwriting program. Her screenplay, Runaway Cricket, is being produced as an animated musical by BlackOrb.com. She has been a finalist in most of the major contests, Nicholls, Page International and Austin Film Festival. See Awards page.
Sandi grew up on an avocado farm in Escondido and was the "go to" kid to climb up high and pick the top fruit. She would then jump down into the thick pile of leaves and thought she could fly! She created the young adult fantasy series, Kira and Henry, where the teen princess must hide the secret that she can fly or be banished from the kingdom. The first book, Quest into the Forbidden Lands, was a 2nd Rounder in 2023 Austin Film Festival and a 2024 Kindle Book Review finalist.
Sandi is an enrolled and blood member of the Cherokee Nation and a two-time winner of the Native American Media Alliance fellowship. In her first NAMA TV writing fellowship, she wrote Technically Soccer, a half-hour comedy about a Women's Professional Soccer team getting an AI-Robot coach. Sandi is an avid women's soccer fan; she coached and played soccer for over twenty years. Blood Moon Wolf (TV Pilot and Feature) was completed as part of her 2nd Native American fellowship, about a wolf who turns into a girl to become a spirit guide. Her middle-grade book, Sleep Warrior, about her Cherokee ancestor, was #3 on Coverfly's Red List of Animated Manuscripts. To get her message into schools, she is seeking a more traditional publisher for her Native American books.
As a Floridian and a long-time Disney fan, annual passholder, and certified Disney expert, Sandi wrote Pixie Dust Death set at Disney World, then created a non-Disney version, Wilma Wallaby Genius Girl Detective, set at a theme park she invented, and the series bible to be developed into a kids' series by a UK Production company. She is also the author of the Amazing Animals of Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Sandi wrote a book adaptation of Hijacked for producer Melissa Shevela of Helicopter Productions. Her next book adaptation to film was Jake and Clara based on the book, Jake & Clara: Scandal, Politics, Hollywood and Murder by Wall Street Journal bestselling author, ghostwriter, broadcaster, David R. Stokes. Blair Underwood optioned David's previous book. She and David wrote a book very personal to Sandi, Churchill’s Mum: The Story of Jennie Jerome, after years of research connecting Sandi’s husband, Keith, to the American heiress who was Winston Churchill’s mother and Keith’s fifth cousin. It presents the premise that Winston's half-American status helped defeat Hitler. She had done almost a dozen "writer for hire" gigs that involved book adaptations or co-writing books with producers who had a great idea.
Sandi is a scientist and loves designing edible gardens and doing botany experiments. Her early fascination with science and the nearby San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station inspired her to write an action script, Use of Deadly Force. Her husband was a technical writer in the nuclear industry and ensured the authenticity of her work. She belonged to a Science and Technology group and helped develop a volunteer Web on Wheels program that brought email to residents of assisted living centers. This inspired her body-switching comedy, Time for Lily, which was a First-Round Finalist in Script Magazine Open Door Contest. She is working on a technical book on salt-tolerant plants with her biologist granddaughter.
She wrote a Sci-Fi thriller script, Last Woman, that explores the multiverse and technology gone awry. It was a semifinalist in Final Draft's Big Break contest. Sandi was the first editor of Digital Dealer Magazine and wrote computer software reviews for major publications and numerous published computer guides. She sold her technology company in 2022, and now writes full-time, at least 10 pages a day.
For Sandi, "Writing is life!"
Leave comments on her publisher's Contact page, www.SmilingEagle.com.
Coverfly is gone, but below are Sandi’s rankings. For example, her Young Sheldon spec script won 2nd place in the 2024 Scriptapalooza contest - putting her in the top 5% of TV comedy writers.
14 Scripts in Coverfly’s Top 25% in 2025
Awards & reviews
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Technically Soccer (former AI-Me) Golden Pen Award (2023, 3rd Edition) First Place TV Pilot
Young Sheldon - Meteorites and Sons Scriptapalooza Television Writing Competition (Fall 2023) 2nd Place Winner
Last Hand Launch Pad Pilot Competition (2024) Top 100 scripts
Kira and Henry Austin Film Festival (2023) Second Rounder
Use of Deadly Force First Place Winner of Writemovies.com A/Exposure Contest (2003)
Backup - Top 10 finalists in FilmMakers.com’s New Millennium Celebrations, Screenplay Contest. Honorable Mention –Willamette Screenwriting Contest
Aloha Princess - Second-round 2003 Austin Film Festival
Delta Pi - First Round Finalist Open Door/Benderspink, Second-round Austin Film Festival, Top 100 in Scriptshark.
First Man - Second-round Austin Film Festival
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Last Hand Outstanding Screenplays Feature Competition (2022) Semifinalist
Last Woman Big Break (2023) Semifinalist
Churchill's Mum - The Story of Jennie Jerome, an American HeiressNexTV Writing & Pitch Competition (2025)Semifinalist
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Kira and Henry 2024 Emerging Screenwriters Animation Screenplay Competition Quarterfinalist
Last Hand 2024 Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition Quarterfinalist
Aloha Princess 2024 Final Draft Big Break Quarterfinalist
Technically Soccer Page International 2024 Quarterfinalist
First Man Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards (Winter 2022-23) Quarterfinalist
First Man Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards (Spring 2023) Quarterfinalist
First Man ScreenCraft Comedy Competition (2023) Quarterfinalist
First Man Nicholls Fellowship 2003 Quarterfinalist
First Man Up Outstanding Screenplays Feature Competition (2022) Quarterfinalist
Last Hand Inroads Fellowship (Season 6) Quarterfinalist
Last Hand Nicholls Fellowship 2003 Quarterfinalist
Last Hand INROADS SCREENWRITING FELLOWSHIP 2003 Quarterfinalist
Nature's Way Big Break (2023) Quarterfinalist
Princess Quest Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards (Spring 2023) Quarterfinalist
Release the Droids! (AimMe) ScreenCraft Comedy Competition (2023) Quarterfinalist
Sleep Warrior ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition (2023) Quarterfinalist
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Blood Moon Wolf 2023 Native American Media Alliance Feature Film Fellowship
Technically Soccer (former AI-Me) 2023 Native American Media Alliance Writer's Lab Fellowship
Delta Pi LA Independent Women Film Awards 2023 Selected
Last Woman Scriptmatix 2023 Selected
Reintroduction of Humans Vegas Shorts 2023
Last Hand and First Man - Academy Nicholl Fellowship 2003 - Quarter finalists
First Man - Semi-Finalist in the Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project.
Member Since 2022
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. It's a nonprofit organization that supports children's book creators.