Writer's Note:

While I never competed in any beauty pageants as a child, I did compete in dance competitions, and the costs for costumes, coaching, entry fees, shoes, classes was exorbitant and hilarious, considering the end result was a $10 plastic trophy. I thought it would be funny to explore this world of excess in a recession, and so I created Astrid, a beauty pageant coach who can't figure out how to pay her bills, and then threw in Nate, a pageant dad with a crush. And the actors did the rest.