Screenplays-a-Go-Go

For the last many months, I’ve been on a screenwriting binge, so I thought it was about time I produced a list of the scripts I’ve put in circulation. I’m including their loglines (one or two sentences that push the characters and conflict) and what, if any, honors they’ve garnered so far.

Feature ScriptsCalling Cards (drama, thriller)When a lonely ex-professor receives a visit from a charming former student, a magic trick with playing cards makes the evening develop in five different ways, putting their careers, their love lives, and even their survival at stake.Set in one location with three characters, one of whom appears only briefly, this script is perfect for a low-budget indie production.Come Alive (comedy, adventure, sci-fi, LGBTQ)A middle-aged gay couple’s attempt to rekindle their relationship turns into an absurd, hormone-fueled quest to defeat heterosexist aliens and save a new LGBTQ society.Winner, live reading, FEEDBACK LGBT Toronto Film Festival, 2020Crash Café (thriller)A deranged but calculating man takes the customers in a café hostage by poisoning them and withholding the antidote. He manipulates everyone as he focuses on the psychological torture of one woman in particular, and each of his victims must decide how much control to surrender in order to make it out alive.With only one location–a single-room café–this script offers all the tension of a more demanding production without the demanding budget.Crazy Time (horror, dark urban fantasy)A traumatized woman believes she suffers from a curse reminiscent of the Book of Job, but instead of responding with piety, she hunts down the horrors’ source, risking madness, the apocalypse, or both.The Masses (horror)As the people of a small town succumb to infectious tumors that change their behavior, a strong-minded woman tries to save her children from the fascist nightmare that her husband and other townsfolk are creating.Selection, Austin After Dark Film Festival, 2020; Honorable Mention, The International Horror Hotel, 2020Miasma (horror)When foul air that causes sickness, hallucinations, and violent behavior starts filling their house, a couple in a strained marriage must save their children and escape.Set in one location, a house, with only five characters, this script offers low-budget horror with high-octane thrills.The Phantom Cuckoo (drama)Diverse members of an extended family attempt to adjust to changes in where and how they live while personal and political differences threaten to tear them apart.Set in one location with an ensemble cast, this script does away with other budgetary concerns to focus on performances.Selection, Filmmatic Drama Screenplay Awards, 2020Sam the Rhino (mystery, thriller, noir, LGBTQ)A trans private eye’s search for his missing mother leads him into a web of intrigue with a wealthy family who may kill each other—and him—before they can help him find his mom.1st Place, Indie Gathering International Film Festival, 2020; semi-finalist, New York City International Screenplay Awards, 2020Undying (horror) A group of minorities fights back against a white supremacist stalker and kills him—several times. To save their neighborhood and themselves, they must find a way to get rid of him permanently.Finalist, WriteMovies Horror Award 2019; finalist, 13HORROR.COM Film & Screenplay Contest, 2019; finalist, Big Apple Film Festival, 2019Unreal Anthony (drama) A young man with a mental illness follows advice about trying to connect with new people, but his mind puts up barriers, ranging from the comic to the disastrous, that keep pushing connections out of reach.Selection, AOF Megafest, 2018; 2nd Place, Drama, Indie Gathering International Film Festival, 2018Wonder Drugs (drama, contemporary fantasy)A woman with an unnamed mental illness tries new drug therapies and goes on a hallucinatory journey—through a giant garden, a mall in the clouds, a live volcano, and more—in search of a whole, stable sense of self.Selection, Hollywood Screenings Film Festival, 2020; selection, Conquering Disabilities with Film International Film Festival, 2020; semi-finalist, Los Angeles CineFest, 2020; selection, Marina Del Rey Film Festival, 2019; selection, Chicago Screenplay Awards, 2019

Although I don’t have loglines for them, some of my short scripts have also gotten some love on the festival/competition circuit, so I’ll mention them:

Short ScriptsCharlie’s Mother (extreme horror)3rd Place, Outré, Hollywood Horrorfest, 2019Based on a story from my collection Leaping at Thorns, coming soon in a new edition from Three Bitches PressComplicity (supernatural / surreal horror)Semi-finalist, ScreenCraft Shorts Competition, 2019Based on a story from my collection Leaping at Thorns, coming soon in a new edition from Three Bitches PressSelfie Stick (psychological horror)Finalist, 13HORROR.COM Film & Screenplay Contest, 2019Silence (supernatural / surreal horror)Finalist, Hollywood Just4Shorts Film and Screenplay Competition, 2019Based on a story from my collection Leaping at Thorns, coming soon in a new edition from Three Bitches PressTapestry (supernatural / surreal horror)Finalist, Hollywood Just4Shorts Film and Screenplay Competition, 2019Based on a story from my collection Leaping at Thorns, coming soon in a new edition from Three Bitches Press