PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT
THE CONSPIRACY (historical drama/true story)
Set in the late 1960’s, in the aftermath of one of the most traumatic events of the 20th century, The Conspiracy begins when Hugh Aynesworth, a young “Newsweek” reporter and Kennedy assassination expert, is invited by New Orleans District Attorney, Jim Garrison, to assist in his investigation into who killed JFK. Hoping to break the story of his career, Aynesworth goes to Louisiana, but soon realizes that Garrison’s conspiracy theories are not only deeply flawed, but also extremely dangerous when a completely innocent man, Clay Shaw, is prosecuted for conspiracy to murder the President.
The Conspiracy is the story of what happens when a reporter makes the decision to cross the line of journalistic impartiality in order to prevent a terrible miscarriage of justice. And how, in the course of doing the right but unpopular thing, he not only succeeds in defeating powers far greater than himself, but also helps change the course of history.
It’s also the story of an extraordinary friendship between a young, street-savvy family man, in his thirties, and the more sophisticated but vulnerable gay man, in his fifties, whose life he helps save. And it serves as a timeless cautionary tale of how astonishing abuses of power can be allowed to happen if we let them and how, as Kennedy himself said, “the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened”.
Hollywood speak: “All the President’s Men” meets “The Crucible”
(script)
EVERGREEN STREET (romantic drama/comedy)
The true story of a young RAF officer and an American girl who fall in love in Michigan during World War Two, but are separated by Fate and end up marrying other people. Fifty years later, after the death of his wife in England, the Englishman decides to find the true love of his life in the U.S. and take a second chance at finding happiness before his life is over. After a series of heart-wrenching conflicts and brave sacrifices the wartime lovers are finally married 51 years to the day after they first met.
Hollywood speak: “The Notebook” meets “The Bridges Of Madison County”.
(script)
FREE AND CLEAR (comedy)
A thirty-something guy, coming out of a ten year marriage, gets completely screwed with alimony payments in a brutal divorce settlement. Realizing he’ll have to live like a student until his ex-wife either dies or re-marries, he takes the more civilized option and decides that instead of killing her, he’ll pay someone $50,000 to marry her.
Hollywood speak: “Sideways” meets “War Of The Roses”.
(script)
TOM, DICK, AND HARRY (action-comedy)
“Tom” is the code name of a con man with a conscience, who is part of a massive heist masterminded by a notorious and mythical character called “Harry”, whose identity is a mystery. When the heist goes wrong, “Tom” hides the money before he’s caught and takes the fall. In jail, he’s reluctantly befriended by a well-meaning minister, who he takes as his hostage when he breaks out. Pursued by the FBI and his former partners as he tries to get the money, “Tom” finds out that his hostage isn’t quite who he seems to be.
Hollywood speak: “Out Of Sight” meets “The Usual Suspects”.
(script)
SEPARATED (psychological thriller-drama)
A security guard suffering from an extreme form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the form of personality disassociation, becomes the patient of a psychologist, who specializes in PTSD. But as their relationship develops, both men’s reality starts to disintegrate as the patient appears to have telepathic and supernatural powers. Nothing is what it seems until, after a series of shocking and dramatic twists, we finally discover the disturbing truth and a severely troubled man can be healed.
Hollywood speak: “Fight Club” meets “Awakenings”.
(script)
RACHEL RAY (period English romantic comedy, based on a novel)
Adaptation of Anthony Trollope’s novel about a London businessman who moves to the country and falls in love with a local working-class girl. Needless to say, everyone around them tries to sabotage the romance and make the two lovers come to their senses. Full of wonderful, rich characters, this lesser known Trollope novel has all the humor and poignancy of a Jane Austen story, set against a Thomas Hardy backdrop.
Hollywood speak: Nothing to do with the celebrity chef!
(script)
THE DEVIL GABRIEL (period family comedy/drama)
Set against the back-drop of rural America in the 1930’s Depression, a disabled and abused boy is becoming increasingly isolated from his family and the world in general, when his eccentric, free-spirited aunt returns from years in Africa to live on the family farm in Illinois. She soon shares her little secret with the boy…she has brought back a baby gorilla that she rescued from poachers in the wild and intends to raise it as her child. The boy and his simian “cousin” develop an extraordinary relationship, which changes the course of the boy’s life and enables him to become a functional human being again.
Hollywood speak: Feel-good, tear-jerker comedy for an audience of all ages.
(script)
INSIDE STORY (romantic comedy, written with Margaret Oberman)
A cute, preppy heir to an American fortune is planning to marry a British pop star in “the wedding of the century”. A feisty female male London news videographer is assigned to covertly follow him as he travels incognito across Europe before the wedding. By a quirk of Fate, she’s forced to give him a ride when his car breaks down. Naturally, she can’t explain who she is or what she’s doing or that she thinks he’s a rich, spoiled brat. He reveals his identity at the outset of their journey and his hatred for the press. The situation gets increasingly tense and further complicated when along the way, they fall in love.
Hollywood speak: A modern-day “It Happened One Night”.
(script)
SMART (comedy, written with Margaret Oberman)
An average Joe believes his life would be much better is he’d only been born smarter. He volunteers to be the guinea-pig for a revolutionary new experimental “smart drug”. It works like a treat and his wildest career and romantic ambitions finally come true, until we discover that the drug has an unfortunate side effect…the effects are only temporary and they don’t just wear off, they go into sharp reverse and the guy soon become a congenital idiot.
Hollywood speak: Big high concept family movie for big (or rising) comedy star.
(script)
A DOG’S LIFE (comedy, written with Margaret Oberman)
There are two brothers who don’t get along. One’s a low-life screw-up, the other’s a rich, successful guy, married with two kids. The screw-up overhears two other low-life’s planning to kidnap his brother’s kids. For the first time in his life, he decides to do the right thing and hurries to warn his brother, but in his haste gets run over by a truck en route. Now a ghost, he tries to get through to his brother’s family as they watch tv. No-one can see him or hear him, except…the family dog, who he hates and who hates him. The kidnapping can’t be prevented, so the dog and the ghost team up to rescue the kids.
Hollywood speak: Big high concept family movie.
(script)
THE BOY WONDER (comedy, written with Margaret Oberman and Allan Rucker)
A formerly successful sitcom writer has just turned 50 and can’t get arrested. After his agent dies, he decides to use a young kid fresh from the boonies, who dreams of being a television writer, to front for him and pitch a show to a Network (which he’ll secretly write himself). The kid has bags of charm, big balls, and that’s about it. He’s totally without talent and none too bright. But he’s young, hip, and claims he’s right out of Harvard (which he isn’t) and the project sells. When the show becomes a hit, the 50 year old writer suddenly has more work than he can handle, but the dumb kid is getting all the glory and, to make it worse, having an affair with the writer’s ex-girlfriend, who works for the Network.
Hollywood speak: A smart comedy about ageism in the vein of “The Front”.
(script)
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