| SCREENPLAYS |
| |
"8-RIVERS" |
Synopsis: |
Celebrity
chef, Lee Kelly and his girlfriend, Gloria, set sail for a
exotic vacation in Ocho Rios, Jamaica - but thrills and chills
ensue as they fall foul of a manipulative, dangerous islander
called Chino. |
Comments: |
A
classic thriller in the vein of DEAD
CALM. It was my aim to crank-up the thrills like
REBECCA - or other vintage Hitchcock. |
|
"VISITING
WICHITA" |
Synopsis: |
Visiting
Wichita is a romantic comedy set in the low-rent world of
infomercials. It concerns Ben Carnahan and his nephew, Charlie,
as they find love on a disastrous video shoot with a suicidal
movie star. |
Comments: |
Somewhere
between LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE and EXTRAS
- this was inspired by my various brushes with out-of-control
celebrities. |
|
"LONG
SHADOW " |
Synopsis: |
Loyola
County Sheriff, Mal Richter, is afraid of the dark. Then on
one cold night, he picks up a young woman and her son on the
side of the highway... From there on in, Sheriff Richter is
plunged into his worst nightmare, as all three are pursued
by an evil force, recognized only by its long shadow... |
| Comments: |
|
| |
"CHESSE
& PICKER" |
Synopsis: |
A
disgraced British TV journalist travels to Malibu, CA, in
his quest to complete a documentary about the U.K.'s best
loved comedy duo - Chesse and Picker - who are somehwere between
Martin & Lewis or Sonny & Cher. But dark comedy strikes
as the journalist is sucked into a plot that concerning murder,
mayhem and a French poodle. |
Comments: |
Chesse
& Picker began life as a radio play that I wrote with
David Townsend. It was originally taped starring
Stephen
Lewis (aka Blakey from ON THE BUSES) and Harry
Towb (from Z-Cars). Townsend and myself have
expanded and updated the concept for the screen. |
| |
"TRIP
CITY" |
Synopsis: |
A
nightclub promoter returns to town and is thrown into an insidious
world of designer drugs, psychosis and murder. Filled with
mind-bending hallucinogenic moments, Trip City veers into
the realm of ‘Alphaville’ and neo-noir of the
French new wave.. |
Comments: |
The
current screen adaptation of my debut novel (version 5 if
we're counting) is set in a semi-futuristic locale. I call
it the neo-Alphaville
version. Could be Paris, London or New York. This blurring
of national boundaries really gives the screenplay a sparse,
modern and sexy feel. |
--
2007 UPDATE -- |
There is talk of shooting this project in Manchester, England
- with involvement from Northwest Vision and Threshold Studios. |
| |
"CAGED"
|
Synopsis: |
Part
buddy movie, and part mixed-martial-arts fighting adventure,
Caged is a new breed of action movie. It's rooted in the culture
of now. A real world story of hope and redemption, set against
the backdrop of pay-per-view fighting tournaments. This is
'Fast and the Furious' with the gloves off. This is the story
of Nelson ‘Solo’ Reed who claws his way up the
cage-fighting ranks, and faces-off against a drug kingpin. |
| Comments: |
I
know. I know. Karate Kid meets UFC. Still, Bernie Morris was
pretty convincing when he talked me into writing this one.
Phrases like ‘slam dunk,’ and ‘commercial
hit’ were bandied around. UFC is bigger than ever. And
the truth is, the research about this subculture itself really
interested me. In some ways it reminded me of British soccer
– in terms of the MMA fans, at least. |
The
script itself has action and humor. I wrote the supporting
lead for Mickey Rourke - a personal conceit - I realize. |
--
2007 UPDATE -- |
|
|
"STARK" |
Synopsis: |
Stark
is a shadow, a voyeur, a divorce court Investigator. By night
he prowls the faceless streets of Los Angeles, photographing
a myriad of cheating couples – their panorama of illicit
sexual acts... |
| But
Stark has reached a crisis point, crippled by loneliness and
alienation, he falls for one of his clients – a jilted
wife called Karen Cole. After a long pursuit, Stark tracks
Karen’s husband ,Frank, to the dimly lit edges of high
desert, in Palmdale. But instead of some illicit meeting,
Stark finds himself photographing Frank Cole burying a body
in the cold sand… |
| From
that moment Stark is plunged into a world replete with murder,
deceit, and corruption. Maybe Stark can find redemption in
saving Karen Cole, or perhaps by unraveling the identity of
the unknown corpse. But to do any of that Stark needs to stay
alive till daybreak... |
Comments: |
Stark
has existed in numerous incarnations. Basically this was my
homage Chinatown - blended with the solitary angst of Taxi
Driver. I named the character Stark, after Richard Stark,
the sometimes pen-name of Donald E. Westlake - who wrote the
Parker novels. I most remember Parker as embodied by Lee Marvin
in POINT BLANK... That's where I was trying to go with this... |
|
"TWIST" |
Synopsis: |
COMING
SOON... |
Comments: |
| COMING
SOON... |
|
|
"INTO
THE SUN" |
Synopsis: |
When
a government official is killed, an American agent with experience
in Yakuza culture is brought into investigate.
Directed by: Mink • Starring: Steven Seagal, William
Atherton, Chiaki Kuriyama, Matt Davis and Juliette Marquis. |
| Comments: |
As
laughable as this might sound, it was fun to research Japanese
culture and Yakuza tradition. Even Seagal was extremely pleasant
to work with. But most of what was on the page never made
it to the screen. |
|
| |
| "OUT
OF REACH" |
| Synopsis: |
Billy
Ray Lancing, a former covert agent, discovers that the foster
program he is using to help a young girl is actually a human
trafficking network.
Directed by: Po-Chih Leong • Starring: Steven Seagal,
Matt Schulze, Robbie Gee, Agnieszka Wagner and Nick Brimble. |
| Comments: |
The
film itself looks very stylish - but a bunch of the script
was cut, and a sound-a-like ADRs Seagal's voice. The result
is somewhere between "The Ipcress File" and "Plan
9 From Outer Space." |
|
