Featured Screenplays:
The White Orchid - noir murder mystery
A social services investigator helps a local sheriff solve the brutal murder of a beautiful blonde known only as The White Orchid.
94 pages. link
This Last Lonely Place - noir thriller
On his last night on the job, an unsuspecting Los Angeles cab driver gets roped into helping a wealthy investment banker cover up a brutal crime.
97 pages. link
The River Sorrow - thriller
A homicide detective investigating a series or murders becomes the prime suspect when the FBI uncovers his close ties to all of the victims. (released by Sony as “The River Murders”)
97 pages. link
The Big Empty - dark comedy
A struggling actor receives a bizarre request from his neighbor to deliver a suitcase that he cannot open.
97 pages. link
In Current Development:
Clementine - quiet thriller
A road-trip film across West Texas, with noir, thriller and western influences. A young woman on the run through West Texas. Feature script. LINK
How You Play the Game - sports comedy/treatment
After being fired in a scandal, winning-obsessed NBA Head Coach Kenny “The Kid” Carson takes the helm of the Washington Generals, forever losers to the world-famous exhibition Harlem Globetrotters. On a family-friendly midwest tour, the Kid can’t take losing, challenging his players. With the help of old friend Shaquille O’Neill, Carson turns the lovable losers into a winner. But the corporate owners of the Globetrotters/Generals can’t risk their multi-million dollar investment, ordering Carson to start losing again immediately. Feature Treatment LINK
Bobzilla - creature feature
After being bitten by an insect on an Amazon cruise, Bob finds himself falling in love and turning into Godzilla. Pilot for limited series. LINK
Gangland Style: The High Falls - true crime/mob series
In the early 1970’s, the Rochester mob was on easy street. Led by the dapper gangster king Frank Valenti, they were the only gang in Kodaktown. Arson, extortion, bombings, robbery, gambling, this mob wasn’t flashy, but they were effective - a bunch of knockaround guys. A thriving city, a healthy cash flow and beautiful girls on both arms. But in ’72 the mob boss got greedy, running a personal crew, breaking the wiseguy code. A new regime, led by the charismatic hometown underboss “Sammy G.” Gingello, dethrone Valenti by shotgunning his crew’s captain. They takes over the city. On another side of the law, “Backroom Bill” Mahoney, the new Sheriff Chief of Detectives, is obsessed with taking down this upstart mob faction. But the Rochester cops might be just as dirty and underhanded as the mob.
When arsonist and Valenti loyalist “Jimmy the Hammer” Massaro is brutally murdered in a mob hit in ’73, and mob soldiers turn informants, it sets off a gangster chain reaction. The bloody killing will lead to a trial of century in ’77, featuring F. Lee Bailey, the first organized crime murder convictions in the country and the dramatic reversal of those charges due to doctored evidence by Chief Mahoney’s officers. What follows in ’78 is one the biggest and most brutal and explosive gang battles between rival gang factions in U.S history, known as the “Alphabet Wars.” Many on both sides of the law would not survive the indictments, machine gun bullets and fiery car bombs.
Pilot and show bible for ongoing limited series. LINK
Getting Things Done - dark comedy
Feature based on the novel “The Ax” by celebrated author Donald Westlake LINK
In the Script Drawer:
PILGRIM - horror - reminiscent of “The Exorcist” and “Rosemary's Baby.”
Contracted by the Church hundreds of years ago, Auster's family is one of eleven known only as “Pilgrims.” These strange, shadowed figures have been trained for centuries to deal with the malignant newborn offspring of the sexually satanic Incubus and Succubus that roam our earth, impregnating unsuspecting females. When the powerfully demoniac couple, Baal and Lilyx, conjure forth in Paris, the brutal murder of a young nun brings the attention of Homicide Detective Veronica Ryder. As she attempts to solve this terrible crime, she crosses paths with the enigmatic and reluctant Pilgrim Auster and together they must fight temptation, desire and terror, in a violent battle with an ancient and deadly evil.
JUGGERNAUT - action war - An exciting, explosive war epic of men and tanks in combat.
The German command orders a massive column of the fierce and unbeatable Tiger tanks on a potential suicide mission -- charge deep into enemy territory in a last-ditch effort to capture precious fuel. The depot is defended only by an armored platoon of Americans sent to rest after a devastating battle. When Lt. Bud Parsons, an Allied tank specialist, learns that his estranged brother has been ordered to defend the outpost at all costs, he steals a captured Tiger and sets off on a suicide mission of his own.
BOB THE IMPALER - comic horror - A fractured noir tale that’s both hilarious and horrifying.
Down-on-his-luck Bob Vladinski has a problem -– he’s just been seduced in a desert motel room by a very beautiful young woman. What’s the problem? Turns out, she’s a vampire and now she’s pleading with Bob to kill her husband (the reigning Prince of Darkness!) so that the two of them can be together...forever. What’s the poor traveling salesman to do? Soon he’ll fend off a fearless vampire killer, an FBI agent intent on nailing him for murder and a jealous girlfriend on this bloody, absurd journey towards his ultimate showdown.
BARRACUDA - A classic character-based thriller.
Charter boat captain Max Lane lives a quiet life in Key Largo. Content to cater to tourists and let the endless summer days ease by on the ocean, he romances local bartender Marley. But when his stunning ex- fiancee Ava Cadell arrives with a sinister proposal, Max realizes he must finally confront his dark past. Seven years ago, as a hitman for the brutal Brooklyn gangster Ben Cleveland, Max watched his charismatic boss steal away the love of his life and marry her. In jealous retaliation, Max made off with two million dollars and disappeared deep into Florida, buying the 48-foor luxury cruiser “Barracuda.” Now, among swaying palm trees and beautiful azure blue waters, Max must once again enter a brutal world of crime and treachery to try to survive this deadly triangle of love, temptation and violence.
PINK BUTTERFLY - a funny, nasty little noir featuring bloody chainsaws, sexy schoolgirls and prayer.
In Spokane, crime scene cleaner Ted Martin still lives with his church-going Mother. After long days of bloody stomach-churning scrubbing, Ted often unwinds at The Schoolhouse, innocently lusting after the knockdown beautiful butterfly-tattooed Bambi, the Thai mail-order wife of the bar's violent owner Sven. And it seems everyone in town, including local police detective Bob Seneca is mixed up tight with local crime- lord Manny Marquez and his sports gambling ring.
When the scheming and sexually adventuresome Bambi offers Ted up a deadly proposal, he can't resist and suddenly finds himself way over his head, cleaning up gore-gutted crime scenes faster than he's ever needed to before.
A funny, nasty little noir featuring bloody chainsaws, sexy schoolgirls and prayer.
MACBETH - Using Shakespeare’s grand poetic language, this dark adaptation presents the classic tale with a modern twist.
In a contemporary retelling of the tragic tale, Lady Macbeth is the ultimate femme fatale. The dark city is corrupt, bloody battles litter the borderlands and supernatural curses infect the characters with dark portent. As Macbeth plots to kill King Duncan, Lady Macbeth now plots with Macduff to kill Macbeth, creating a classic triangle of film noir.
ANGEL FALLS - noir - A funny, hard-bitten and hard-boiled tale
Malibu is burning, but in the shadows beneath the tall palms on Sunset Boulevard, Ray Wilcox is about to plunge deep into the black soul of the American dream. Tempted by a dark beauty, Ray becomes mixed up with a dangerous man who calls himself a producer. And by the time his new screenplay makes the rounds of agents, studios and movie stars, five people will be murdered, but no one has even taken the time to read the script. In America, dreams do come true. It’s just some of them can be nightmares.
SKYFIRE - aerial action
This is the story of one family set against the dramatic and dangerous backdrop of the Reno Air Races. Single dad and airline pilot Troy Parsons must return home after a five year absence to face a family tragedy. After confronting his father, eight-time Reno Champion Bud Parsons, Troy reluctantly accepts the challenge to fly the Reno Gold one more time in the legendary Mustang Firebird. Walking a fine line, Troy must balance the responsibility of being a father and a son, with the ultimate challenge of flying against daredevil pilot Skip Webb and his famous Bearcat, Rare Bear.
THE GREAT WIDE OPEN - dark comedy
Set in the wild rodeo town of Cody, Wyoming. When the local, elderly media baron-rancher sets his sights on the town sweetheart, her family and friends plot a dark, sweet revenge.
LIVE FREE OR DIE - action
A schoolteacher from New Hampshire, leading his class on a field trip to New York City, is forced into action when he must defend his own life and the lives of the children when American terrorists take over the Statue of Liberty on the 4th of July.
FOREVER AFTER - dark comedy
A strange and twisted love story. A trucker on his way home to visit his very ill young daughter accepts an offer to transport cryogenically frozen bodies from Pomona to their new home in Phoenix. Lost in a desert dust storm along the highway, the frozen dead come alive and the poor trucker must find a way to save their lives before they die again. And one of the frozen dead is a very attractive young woman...
THE GIRL NEXT DOOR - comedy
Bobby and Glenn, two blue-collar boys from Buffalo, win contest that is every man’s dream come true. The prize? A trip to the Playboy Mansion to attend the Midsummer Nights Dream Party and the chance to visit a Playmate of the Month photo shoot. The problem is, Bobby must leave behind his worried girlfriend and Playboy expert Glenn is soon an overweight kid in a grown-up candy store. Beautiful Playmates frolicking in the Grotto can prove quite a temptation, but if there’s one man who has all the answers, it’s the original Playboy himself, Hugh Hefner.
A paean to Playboy, this very funny film is a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for adults. It’s an engaging, smart comedy.