Queen's Daughter coming to a screen near you
By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor
November 4, 2009
 As the most publicized sexual assault case in Detroit, The Queen’s Daughter is the true story of Windsor resident Melissa McCormick.
In 1976, when McCormick was 19 years-old, she was kidnapped after her car broke down on the Lodge Freeway in Detroit. She was held captive for 12 hours, repeatedly raped and beaten.
During this, McCormick did not believe she would make it out alive and even begged her captors to kill her.
She managed to escape and has used this experience to help others as well as become a strong and successful businesswoman.
Now The Queen’s Daughter is set to hit the big screen.
Two films have been adapted from McCormick’s book, both written by filmmaker Scott Scheirich. The first, a short 20-minute film called Determined, just finished shooting in Toronto and is currently in the editing process.
When Scheirich and McCormick teamed up, Scheirich decided to produce a short film and a feature film. In order to establish credibility, Scheirich chose to make a short film first to show at film festivals.
Filming for the feature film is slated to begin in 2011, following the release of the short film.
The idea of casting Natalie Portman as the young McCormick in the feature film has been thrown around. “I think she’d be great, too. Whether she’s available, or whether she would do it—she hasn’t seen the script. A lot of it has to do with timing,” McCormick explained.
While the screenplay for the feature film, which has already been written, follows McCormick’s book closely, Determined does not. McCormick is very impressed with the short film. “That’s why I like it, because it’s different,” she said.
One big requirement McCormick had for both films was that they must have happy endings.
“I find that people feel sorry for me when they hear the story, and I don’t want them to feel sorry for me. This is a story, a project to inspire and show strength and courage. It’s not to pity anyone. You always have somebody feeling sorry for you, and that’s not what I want,” McCormick explained.
McCormick prefers to use her experience to help others. As a result of her case, then-Gov. William Milliken ordered State Police to patrol Michigan’s freeways—something they still do to this day.
She is now hard at work with The Queen’s Daughter Cause, a charity she is in the process of registering.
The Cause helps sexual assault victims through many ways, one of which is counseling.
“Even though we do have the crisis centre, some people feel they can connect with me better because I’ve been through it,” McCormick said.
The Cause also helps support sexual assault victims who are unable to work after being sexually assaulted.
“They don’t qualify for unemployment half the time and they can’t get funds to last them until they’re well enough to go back to work. I help them with their expenses,” she said.
Additionally, McCormick is a successful businesswoman and will appear at BookFest on the self-publishing panel, “Do It Yourself,” on Nov. 4 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the Wilkinson Room at the Art Gallery of Windsor.
McCormick self-published The Queen’s Daughter with Elaine Weeks of Walkerville Publishing. Since then, she has learned a lot about self-publishing.
“I’m going to be talking about what it’s like for writers to self-publish their own works and why I chose to go to into self-publishing,” McCormick explained.
Her next book, which she is publishing herself and should come out late this year or early next, is called Windsor and Essex County Who’s Who: Local Leaders and People of Influence.
McCormick will be hosting a free book signing on Nov. 9 at the Anglo Club, located at 1211 Lauzon Rd. The event features free refreshments and a cash bar.
For more information about McCormick, visit www.queensdaughter.com.
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