Many of my screenplay ideas came to me while I was napping or driving. One thing I have learned is to always jot things down, because one second later those fantastic ideas have evaporated into the ether.
Below are several feature film screenplays and three TV episodes.
I am available for writing assignments.
The Far Corner / The Crowd - Psychological/Supernatural Sci-Fi – 95 pages Logline: Paranormal investigators and a psychiatrist think a woman committed to a psych ward isn’t crazy after all – she actually sees creatures. Synopsis: Jenna Wilder, 28, is caught in a web of terror as creatures from another dimension hound her for attention – she isn’t grounded and it could cost her — her very life. Fed’s Georgi and David (30’s) investigate. David brings Jacob Two Birds (60s) into the investigation. Jacob is the only one who can possibly save Jenna. He has lost, and saved other women that were enticed to the Lion Man’s world. Ethew, the interpreter creature, warns Jenna away from the Lion Man. David connects with Ethew to understand the peril. As Jenna slips away under the Lion Man’s control, Jacob, armed with tomahawk and long knife, travels to the Lion Man’s dimension. The battle commences. David witnesses the battle. Jacob kills the Lion Man, but it appears that Jacob has been mortally wounded. Jenna is released from the Lion Man’s control. Jacob materializes, barely alive. Ethew and the creatures vanish – their work is done. Awards: Nominee/Finalist ~ Planet Cinema 8/30/2023 Semifinalist ~ Climax Critics Awards 5/18/2023 Finalist ~ MAGMA Film Festival (Hawaii) script award 4/19/2023 Semifinalist ~ 27FadeIn Awards Horror 4/1/2023 Semifinalist ~ Filmmatic/Coverfly Pitch Now Screenplay Competition (Season 5) 1/2023 Semifinalist ~ Lonely Wolf script competition 12/2022 Quarterfinalist ~ Scriptapalooza script competition 7/2022 Selected ~ Lake Travis Film Festival Script Competition 7/2022 Finalist ~ MidWest WeirdFest Script Competition 2/2022 Quarter finalist ~ Santa Barbara Script Competition 11/2021 Semifinalist ~ Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices 5/2021 Finalist ~ British Horror Film Festival Blood List 12/2020 Finalist ~ Inroads Screenwriting Fellowship 5/2020 Finalist ~ Filmmatic Horror Script Competition 1/2020 Finalist ~ 13Horror.com Script Competition 11/2017 Finalist ~ Reel Writers Script Competition 8/2015 Semifinalist ~ Screencraft Script Competition 8/2015
The God Child – Action Adventure – 100 pages Logline: The God Child is like The Green Mile meets The Golden Child. Colonel Bastrop suspects 7-year-old Deidre Lyons is God. Synopsis: A government alert pings during an emergency C-section on Ruth Tovar Lyons. She knows she’s dying. Ruth begs the doctor to contact her sister Lily in New Mexico and not let the government take the baby. Steve Plant, a former GI (30s), practices Qi Gong at a Myanmar monastery with a blind Tibetan master, along with Da-wa Wangdu (30s), Steve’s sidekick. Steve finds no peace in the session and does the movements as payment for his sins. Josh Corlander, scar-faced former military from Colonel Bastrop’s unit, sits in a bunker in Colorado. He watches activity surrounding his former commander. One month later in the neonatal ICU, strange things begin to happen around baby Deidre. Homeland Security and the FBI take the baby, confiscate all cell phones, scrub the hospital files. Lily Tovar is hidden amid the crowd outside the NICU window. Colonel Bastrop didn’t think any special skills would show up for a couple of years. 7 years later in a house in the woods, Susanne and Gordon, scientists who are responsible for Deidre’s care, record sessions with her about the universe, life, and death. Since her fourth birthday, no one has been able to physically touch Deidre without getting shocked, or killed. Josh sends his commandos to capture Deidre. Susanne is killed. Deidre escapes to the forest, and Gordon is captured and brought to Colorado. Steve and Da-wa are detained at the airport. Bastrop tells Steve to find the girl and bring her in. Awards: Semifinalist ~ Geneva International Science in Fiction Script Competition 7/21/2023 Selected ~ Lake Travis Film Festival Script Competition 7/2022 Honorable Mention ~ Wiki: World’s Fastest/1st 10 Pages 6/1/2021
Where’s Ralphie? – Family – 110 pages Logline: A single dad discovers his daughter’s imaginary friend is real… and he’s an invisible, highly trained dog fleeing from the government. Synopsis: Gary Smalley, a widower and inventor with two young daughters who is worried about Ginger, his 6-year-old. She’s had a make-believe friend for a while and bugs Gary to get a dog because Buttercup, the cat, isn’t any fun. Clem, Ginger’s older sister, is too wrapped up in sports to pay much attention to Ginger. Diane, Gary’s best friend and secret admirer, has a government contract to train dogs for espionage. A special blue formula makes the dogs invisible. The Chief sends special agents Mr. Water and Mr. Blue, to the training facility for an update. The government guys are all agog over the Star-Warsey vault that contains the training course and the HAL 2000 Dog Monitor computer – Gary’s creations. While performing a live test downtown, Seventy-Six, a Jack Russell Terrier and Diane’s star pupil, becomes partially visible. Everyone panics: glitches are traceable. Even with the flaw, Seventy-Six completes the mission undetected. Mr. Blue tells Diane the mission is a success and for her to hand over Seventy-Six. Diane is gob smacked. HAL instructs Seventy-Six to run. Seventy-Six catches a ride from Gary as he leaves the patent office. Ginger discovers him and names him Ralphie. Gary and Clem thinks Ginger’s new dog is make believe, but finally realize that Ralphie is a real dog. Mr. Blue and Mr. Water search for Ralphie while Diane is distraught at losing her beloved dog and possibly her government contract. Awards: Selected ~ Lake Travis Film Festival Script Competition 7/2022 Optioned as formerly titled A Girl and Her Dog 2/2013 ~ Available again Awarded Kids First! Endorsement ~ Coalition for Quality Children’s Media 10/2012
Plan B – Dark Comedy – 103 pages Logline: A family’s rationality snaps after trying to deal with their out-of-control teenager; they decide it’s time for Plan B... kill the little bastard... and get away with it. Synopsis: They’re out there – families silently dealing with rotten teenagers. The Undertosh family decided that they were sick of walking on eggshells around Juice (Kevin), their juvenile delinquent teen, who has been to court more than an ambulance-chasing attorney. Bert and Fern, along with Juice’s grand parents, and his younger siblings, take a family vote and decide that they’ve been tormented enough. Juice has to go. But they don’t want to put him on the street where he can wreak havoc on someone else. They are going to take matters into their own hands regardless of what Dr. Robbell, the nutjob psychiatrist says. The plan is to capture Juice and make it look like he ran away from home, minus his friends Wormie, Blowpipe and Edsel. The family goes on a shopping spree. They buy thick rope, cattle prods, and rat poison. All part of the plan until someone mentions an autopsy. What if the cops think they murdered Juice? That won’t do. Bert and Grandpa convert the spare bedroom into a padded cell and wait for the right moment to take Juice into custody. They try a series of events that should have ended in Juice’s demise, but backfired on Fern. After returning to a normal life, Juice discovers a grunge kid who has been living on the street. He brings him home for dinner. His parents and grandparents get an excited twinkle in their eyes as they invite the boy to stay over in the “spare room.” Dr. Robbell gathers the adults for an emergency reality check. Juice and his younger siblings await the outcome… eager to have company. Awards: • Selected ~ Lake Travis Film Festival 7/2022 • Winner ~ Talentville Battle of the Loglines, 12/2014 • Finalist ~ Table Read My Screenplay competition 4/2010
Block Captain – Action Comedy – 96 pages Logline: A suburban husband and wife compete with each other at a self-defense training camp. Synopsis: Three times victimized by crime, Bob and Judy jump headfirst into a neighborhood watch program. They drive neighbors crazy by jumping in front of unrecognized cars demanding the drivers to identify themselves. Bob and Judy constantly test each other while preparing for the unknown. Bob is a tad over-zealous to Judy's chagrin. When Judy wins the chance to represent her town at a personal protection training camp, she and Bob head out to the camp for a week-long adventure where Colonel Travis has his hands full making sure Bob doesn’t accidentally kill himself and everyone around him. Judy, on the other hand, surprises everyone with her skills. A cry for help brings Bob, Judy and the camp trainees to the aid of the neighborhood where Bob and Judy save the day. Bob is declared Block Captain of the year. Awards: Comedyfestival, Logline of the year 10/17 Optioned 2009 ~ Available again
Deadly Traits – Crime Drama – 103 pages Logline: A crushed red rosebud is left at murder scenes as a vendetta heats up. Synopsis: The problem for Joe Nesossi (acting District Attorney), and his best friend Sherm (police investigator) starts when Carlos Chaves, a wealthy art dealer, gets convicted of gun smuggling. What follows is a trail of death beginning with the murder of the pompous DA. A crushed red rosebud left at the scene stumps law enforcement agencies. Carlos never left a calling card. A string of deaths from a hit list follows, with the media dubbing them the “Rosebud Hits”. The chaos associated with the hit list and the connection to Carlos spawns a vigilante attitude with Al and Roger, a couple of law enforcement officers. They can’t stand that Carlos is continuing to run his business from prison. They find an old law from an era before inmate’s rights and remove Carlos from prison to a remote location for rehabilitation. Arturo, Carlos’ right-hand man, and Carmela, the vixen who adores Carlos, take care of business in his absence. But when they are repeatedly denied visitation at the prison, they suspect something is not right. They reach out to Heather, Joe Nesossi's activist fiancé. Heather’s snooping into Carlos’ absence from prison gets her kidnapped. She convinces her kidnappers that her cause will help them, if they help her. The amateur detectives get the goods on the bad cops. Sylvie, Carlos’ Catholic-educated younger sister whose life revolves around the art business, and the most unlikely suspect, evolves into a vicious killer. She loves her brother and will stop at nothing to avenge him.
The Dishwasher – Comedy – 110 pages Logline: Reggie’s inheritance has given him a new lease on life: $14.52, a vintage Caddy and the decrepit Blue Lagoon apartment complex. Is it a shot at fame, fortune and fun... or is it trouble, trauma, taxes and a trip to the slammer? Synopsis: Reggie Jacobs, a dishwasher, inherits the Blue Lagoon apartment complex from a long-lost cousin. Dreams of wealth flood his mind but his innocent hopes for the good life are soon crushed by his cousin's instructions: He has only one month to fix up the place and turn a profit! Reggie is exposed to myriad characters in residence: a woman who thinks she’s a ghost, a resident burglar, a psycho, a very strange artist, and a lady who failed therapy and has Reggie at the head of her list. He’s forced to deal with officious city inspectors, a relentless judge, jailhouse weirdoes and electrifying situations that test him beyond his wildest dreams. Plus, the woman he adores looks upon him as a rejected hand-me-down. Will he fail? Or will he triumph against all odds -- he hasn’t a clue, but try he must. Awards: Comedyfestival, Logline of the year 10/17
Melody – Drama – 111 pages Logline: When Melody’s perfect high-society marriage disintegrates she hits bottom, finds herself, and comes back with her heart intact. Synopsis: Melody, a sexy, intelligent, pampered 32-year-old artist, discovers that her credit cards have been cancelled, bank accounts closed and, John, her wealthy husband has walked out on her. John’s influence has all of Melody’s clients canceling commissioned art pieces, leaving her destitute. With no business skills, the only job she can snag is aerobics instructor. The media jumps on her predicament with a spread of humiliating pictures on a local talk show, and in a society magazine. Melody spirals into deep despair. David, John’s potential business partner, comes to her aid. Melody confuses his attention as lust or charity, adding to her feelings of unworthiness. She wants nothing to do with David. Three faithful friends – Claudia, Adelle and Winston, along with a street bum named O.V. help pull her together. Melody recovers and turns the tables on John. David’s company backs out of the merger after discovering questionable business practices at John's company, which instigates an investigation and forces John’s company into bankruptcy. Melody channels her experiences into her art, which restores herself worth, and after almost losing him she explores her feelings for David, and acts upon them. Awards: Finalist ~ Worldfest Int’l Film Festival Script Competition – 2005 Semi-finalist ~ The Writers Network Screenplay & Fiction Competition
Rivals – Romantic Comedy – 99 pages Logline: A can of Vienna sausages helps restore the friendship of rivals and opens the door to love. Synopsys: Kelsey doesn't think she'll ever meet anyone after she dumps Irving, but then she meets Nick at the grocery store. They crash into each other in the parking lot. Cans and boxes scatter. Nick ends up with her wallet; he goes to her apartment and returns it. An interest sparks but Nick is inept at starting relationships. His Aunt Sophie shows up at Kelsey's door with a casserole, gives Kelsey the once-over and decides to take charge. Nick and Kelsey discover they work for rival ad agencies. Nick and Jim, Kelsey’s business partner, used to be best friends but had a fall-out over an advertising campaign. Kelsey's attraction to Nick is clouded by the fact that he wears a wedding ring. Nick is interested in Kelsey but can’t give up the weekly visits to his wife’s grave. Nick approaches Jim to get help on a project; they have a knockdown-drag-out at Jim's office, but make up. Kelsey, Nick and Jim work on the project and love blooms but Kelsey turns a cold heart -- she won't date a married man. Nick confronts his ghosts, removes the ring, sweeps Kelsey off her feet and wins her heart.
Standing Dead – Drama/Tragedy -- 106 pages Logline: Jealousy, lies, greed, and desire... Alex discovers too late that secrets can kill. Synopsis: Alex, Chelsea, Phillip and Donna… college friends whose lives are tightly woven, in an era where being a little too naïve has a high price. Alex and Phillip, friends since high school, share an apartment through college. Neither Alex nor Phillip knows the definition of being faithful — each are masters of deception. Graduation brings dental school for Chelsea, advertising for Phillip, law school for Donna, and a stock brokerage job for Alex where he eventually moves up to a corner office. Alex and Chelsea tie the knot, and while Phillip is best man, he’s incensed. Babies and affairs follow. Phillip gets sick and dies, and the web of deceit begins to unravel. Chelsea, no longer in the dark, leaves Alex. When their young son becomes ill, Chelsea is forced to leave her successful dental practice. She must try to make a new life for herself and her children, and watch over her son’s health, and wait… Awards: Winner ~ Women In Film & Television/Houston Reel Dialogues Screenwriting Competition 12/99
Hot Chocolate – Cozy Mystery – TV Episode 1 The Alcott Family Adventures consists of four novels: Hot Chocolate, Bitter Chocolate, Spicy Chocolate, and Nutty Chocolate. Hot Chocolate, Book 1, was an Amazon Best Seller, A Readers Favorite, and an Earphones Award by AudioFile. Logline: When chocolate billionaire Bernie Alcott’s daughters fire Bambi, his blond bombshell nurse, all hell breaks loose--who killed Jimmy Ray Chaline? Was it Bambi, his naïve wife? Tilly, Walter’s stoned niece, or Dorothea Divine? Synopsis: Meet the middle-aged, eccentric Alcott sisters: Madge, Lila Mae and Dorothea, heiresses to the Alcott Chocolate fortune and mavens of Houston’s elite River Oaks. Madge ambushes Lila Mae with Dorothea’s manipulative plea: she can’t care for Bernie, their 92-year-old father, any longer. Lila Mae explodes in a hissy fit—she had warned Dorothea years ago that they should put Bernie in an assisted living center. Robert, Lila Mae’s astrologer, warns of impending problems and he’s rarely wrong. Uncle Tito psychically investigates. Joseph uses his cures for protection. The sisters call a meeting with Walter Branson, their solicitor. They discuss Bernie’s nurse Bambi Chaline, a blonde bombshell who looks more like a hooker than a nurse. The sisters fear that Bambi has her sights on being the next Mrs. Alcott, and the need to separate her from their father is at critical mass. Arrangements are made for Bernie to be transferred over to Lake Sides Assisted Living Center in the Uptown Galleria area and a severance package is drawn up for Bambi. Out from under the ever-watchful eye of Dorothea, Bernie takes to the Lake Sides social scene like a butterfly to sugar-water. He’s the best dressed senior and chases the nurses relentlessly. He may be 92, but he’s a handful. Jimmy Ray Chaline, Bambi’s bowling alley husband, is enraged that Bambi was let go. He hires ambulance chaser Mark Slade to file a lawsuit for wrongful termination. Bambi had been more than satisfied with her bonus, letters of recommendation and praise from the Alcott clan. She does not want to sue her former employer and the Alcott chocolate empire. Jimmy Ray’s eyes dazzle as Mark Slade convinces him that the court will award Bambi millions. The judge dismisses the suit as frivolous and it is thrown out of court further fueling Jimmy Ray’s rage. He’s shocked when the callous attorney demands his bill be paid upon receipt. When Jimmy Ray fails to return home from the bowling alley that night, a series of events unfold that shocks the entire Alcott family and their extended members. Who killed Jimmy Ray Chaline? Was it Bambi, his innocent looking wife? Could it have been Tilly, Walter Branson’s half-looped niece who had a mysterious relationship with Jimmy Ray? Or was it Dorothea Divine – the weapon came from her house where Bambi worked for three years. The Alcott clan is in turmoil and no amount of chocolate will soothe their nerves until they solve the mystery and Dorothea is off the hook.
Prophecy of Thol (formerly titled Passage) TV Episode 1 Prophecy of Thol is the first book in the Thol series which consists of Gifts from Thol, Love of Thol, King of Thol, and Earth Calling Thol. Logline: Recurring nightmares haunt D’laine Jackson when she wakes from an eight-month coma following a tragic accident. Five years later, she finds herself living in her nightmare. Synopsis: Is there ever a day that you pick up a newspaper or turn on the news and don’t hear about someone who has disappeared? If you have ever wondered where these untold numbers of people have gone, this story may offer one explanation. Victor Bennett, a well-known physicist, tells his young son Darren the true story about a young woman who disappeared in a blanket of fog in a parking lot at Katy Mills Mall in Katy, TX, just west of Houston, in broad daylight in plain sight of dozens of witnesses. Victor and another scientist, Stanley Daigle, investigated D'laine Jackson’s disappearance, and what you will read here, is a blow-by-blow explanation. One minute, D’laine was walking ahead of her family to the minivan, and the next, she found herself on the ground staring up into the faces of creatures called Egroms, in an exotic land named Thol. The Egroms tell her they have awaited her arrival for eons, and that they must protect her from Jakla Bosakin, a blood thirsty Plotal. She is encouraged to believe in and trust her powers. She is clueless – she’s just a regular teenager. Awards: Semifinalist ~ Climax Critics Awards 5/18/2023 Finalist ~ MAGMA Film Festival (Hawaii) script award 4/19/2023 Quarterfinalist ~ PageTurner Screenplay Competition 3/28/2023 Readers Favorite
Bonded (shapeshifter billionaire) TV Episode 1 Bonded is an adult book series about shape-shifters that contains sex and violence. The series consists of four novels: Bonded, Tothars, Tilted and Unforeseen. Logline: Billionaire shapeshifters Roman and Gage have it all—except for love, then Ari Davis, a human, crosses their path and they bond to each other. Synopsis: Roman Davenport thought he was the only shape-shifter in existence—a freak. He first shifted to a panther when he was twenty years old. Now, in his forties, he and his panther are so lonely. Then he rescued Gage Stryker, an eagle that had been shot from the sky with an arrow through his wing. Like Roman, Gage thought he was the only shifter. Roman and Gage were so happy to have found each other. They spent the next fifty years searching for their kind—and searching for mates. Relationships with women were short—most only wanted the limelight of the city’s two most eligible bachelors. Then Ari Davis crossed their path. The woman was seventy but looked not quite fifty, with thick white hair to her waist. The attraction was a powerful pull for all three of them. Ari was so confused by the strong attraction to the men—that were barely older than her two sons—that she fled to Mexico for a week to try to get her head straight. When she returned home, they were there—waiting for her. Nothing would ever be the same for any of them again. They formed a bond that could never be broken. Awards: Quarterfinalist ~ PageTurner Screenplay Competition 3/28/2023 Quarterfinalist ~ Filmmatic/Coverfly Pitch Now Screenplay Competition (Season 5) 1/2023