The Girl with the Red Hair
(short)

War/Drama

Read the Script/Watch the Table Read

Finalist, 2021 SUNY-Wide Film Festival.

Based on the true story of Hannie Schaft, a teenage girl living in Nazi-occupied Holland, who joins forces with the Dutch Resistance to seduce and assassinate top-ranking officers.

The table read was directed by Dean A. Bell and stars Mira Haley Steuer, Jonathan Failla, and George Feaster

The Crossing Guard
(feature)

Comedy/Drama/Coming-of-Age

When twenty-something loner Craig Murphy begrudgingly accepts a job as a crossing guard at his old middle school, he becomes an impromptu guidance counselor to some of the students and discovers that he can use his influence over them to reform the school as he sees fit.

I go into more detail on the script and my writing process in an interview with my school newspaper.

The White Album (feature)

Drama/Music/Coming-Of-Age

The basis for what would eventually become Jacob’s student film Lennon-McCartney, this screenplay dives deep into the story behind the recording of the White Album and all of the hardships the Beatles overcame while making it. Drug abuse, Hare krishna, heartbreaks, and more ensue as the band slowly grows more and more apart.

The Good Old Days (short)

Comedy/Drama

Marty Bauer is a cranky old Brooklynite who reluctantly agrees to accompany his thirteen-year-old granddaughter Sarah on her first date. Tensions rise as Marty and Sarah’s boyfriend (who calls himself Keef) go through a generation clash, making for what could at least be called an “interesting” first date.

Roads Less Travelled (feature)

Comedy/Drama

Two teenage girls run into one another on the road and decide to drive together from Illinois to the East Coast. One of the travelers, Marie, is quiet, reserved, and running away from a joyless life with loveless parents. The other, Amber, is a raging extrovert who has just enough information to track down her birth mother living on Long Island. Avoiding detection by a police team hot on their trail, the girls learn about each other and about life as they speed towards a potential loving family.

Amerika (or: The Man Who Disappeared)
(feature, in-progress)

Black Comedy/Drama

Based on the (public domain) novel by Franz Kafka, Amerika tells the story of Karl Rossmann, a German teenager forced by his family to immigrate to New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. Along the way, he runs into an array of unusual characters, many of whom try to exploit him, and even more unusual circumstances. Throughout his journey, Karl must try to stay afloat in the strange, overwhelming, unpredictable, fantastical world that is the United States.

The Ring Cycle
(feature, in-progress)

Fantasy/Epic/Musical

When a magic ring with the ability to grant its owner world domination is forged, the races of gods, men, giants, and dwarves ignite a generations-long conquest to attain ultimate power. Based on the opera by Richard Wagner, it is an epic of Norse mythology set to a timeless, breathtaking orchestral score.

‘92 (story/idea, in-progress)

Comedy/Drama/Politics

D.C. consultants James Carville and Mary Matalin are on opposite ends of the political spectrum, but against all odds, a romance blossoms. Things get more complicated when James is chosen to run Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign while Mary becomes a senior staff member in George H.W. Bush’s re-election campaign. The relationship is put to the test as James and Mary fall under public scrutiny, slog through the torturous lifestyle of the campaign trail, and work against one another to get (or keep) their guy in the White House.

Based on a true story, inspired by the book All’s Fair by Carville and Matalin and the documentary The War Room by Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker.

Amerika (or: The Man Who Disappeared) (feature)

Drama/Black Comedy

Fifteen-year-old Karl Rossmann finds himself alone in America at the turn of the twentieth century. On his travels, he comes across an array of characters, many of whom abuse and exploit him. As he travels the country, he learns what it really means to be an American.

Based on the novel by Franz Kafka.

New York (TV pilot)

Historical Fiction/Drama

This sprawling historical epic follows the many descendants of the Master family across several generations as they witness and influence the history of New York City.

During the Great Lockdown of 2020 I decided to take a few months for myself and, as a pie-in-the-sky writing exercise, adapt the first chapter of one of my favorite novels into the pilot episode for a potential TV miniseries. The book in question is New York: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd (published by DoubleDay) and I wrote it mainly for pleasure, but with the idea that there is a chance that this someday may become something bigger than an enjoyable excursion.

I must stress that I do not have permission of any kind from Mr. Rutherfurd or DoubleDay, and I do not intend to sell or really do anything with this script. This is an unauthorized adaptation, meant only to showcase my skill as a screenwriter.

BONE (feature)

Fantasy/Adventure/Comedy

Jeff Smith’s graphic novel series BONE was one of my all-time favorite books as a kid, and is still one of, if not the best graphic novels I’ve ever read. Similar to my other adaptation, during the 2020 lockdown I decided to adapt the first three installments in Mr. Smith’s fantasy epic into a feature length, theoretically animated feature film.

Again - I must stress that I do not have permission of any kind from Jeff Smith, Scholastic Inc., or Netflix, whom as of this writing own the film rights to the graphic novel. This is an unauthorized adaptation, meant only to showcase my skill as a screenwriter.