I’LL BE SEEING YOU
(five page short drama)

A man vows to bring his wife home from a nursing home in the midst of a deadly pandemic.

After reading Gary Howell’s script, I’ll Be Seeing You I was instantly reminded of this unforgettable line from a very well known and loved film…

I am nothing special… There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who’s ever lived. I’ve loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me this has always been enough. — Duke/Noah Calhoun – The Notebook (2004)

The same beautiful sentiment shines through Gary Howell’s I’ll Be Seeing You, an unforgettable tale of love in the time of lock-down.

We open on a grizzled Henry, recently separated from his one true love, Annie.

At first glance we don’t know the reason for the couple’s separation but then we quickly discover Annie is gravely ill and in a nursing home.

One thing’s for sure though. Henry’s devotion to Annie is dogged. He’s certainly not going to let something like a virus come between him and the woman he loves.

His shoulders droop and he shuffles back to the car. He contemplates driving away, but then gets out and opens the trunk.

So, what’s Henry going to do?

First lock-down and now locked out from the love of his life?

What I will tell you is that this is a beautiful timeless love story. With its clever narrative running parallel to Henry serenading Annie with: I’ll Be Seeing You (a song made famous by Frank Sinatra, Billie Holliday, and the indomitable Jimmie Durante) writer Gary Howell knows exactly how to pull at an audience’s heartstrings, combining the perfect blend of sentimentality with realism in a tear-jerker that will stay with you long after reading.

Following in the tradition of such classics as: The Notebook, An Affair To Remember, Up, and The Fault In Our Stars, and for anyone who has ever fallen deeply in love, I’ll Be Seeing You tells a tale of the indefatigable power of enduring love.

Filmmakers: You’re going to swoon over this one. Just don’t let it be the one that got away.

I’ll Be Seeing You tied for First Place, Writer’s Choice, Simply Scripts May, 2020 challenge – The Journal Of the Plague Year – stories real and imagined/inspired by the current pandemic.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Gary Howell is an attorney by trade, but a writer at heart. He has written several shorts, three of which have been produced, Country Road 12 that stars Dee Wallace (“E.T.”, “Poltergeist”), “Skip,” and “Study Date,” and was executive producer on another short film, “Clean Slate.” He has also co-written with Rick Hansberry a dramedy, “According to Plan”, that was optioned with Josh Monkarsh of Traffic City Productions, and is in development. He has had a manager reach out regarding representation after a drama pilot, “Bounty,” has performed well in several competitions.

Gary enjoys writing both comedy and drama, and leans towards indie-themed pieces that are character driven. He enjoys reviewing scripts and providing advice and constructive criticism to other writers, and would welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with any producers/directors looking to work with him on any type of project. Gary can be reached at: GaryMHowell (a) gmail.

Read I’LL BE SEEING YOU (five page short drama in pdf format)

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ABOUT THE REVIEWER: L.Chambers has been writing all her life – especially in her head, and on scraps of paper. It’s only in the last few years she began to get serious about screen-writing. Prior to this she worked in the Features Department for ABC TV as a Program Assistant, and trained as a FAD. She currently works as a freelance web-content editor and lives with her husband (also a screenwriter) in Sydney, Australia.

I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM (6 page short script) by ANTHONY RUSSO

A man encounters turns of fate during an excursion into a virus-ravaged world.

Not sure if you’ve seen the news, but there’s this COVID pandemic thing going on right now. Many of us, including myself, have been under lockdown for the past three months or so. And for those not under mandated lockdown or curfew, I’m sure we’ve all practiced some pretty strict social distancing and self-quarantining during that time.

All joking aside, I’m sure you’re all pretty tired of being locked indoors for the most part. I bet we’re all just chomping at the bit for some sort of normalcy. I, myself, can’t wait to live my life again and enjoy the small things that I took for granted. For instance, the first thing I’m going to do when businesses open back up is enjoy a nice scoop of ice cream – several scoops, in fact. In a huge, dunce-cap sized waffle cone. Yes, I hear the ice cream trucks outside, playing “The Entertainer” tune that come around my neighborhood often. But I want REAL ice cream. I’m talking like some Cold Stone Creamery. Or even a Baskin Robbins. I want that gourmet s**t.

But what if things get worse? What if that day never comes? Sure, that’s a very pessimistic scenario to consider… but who would’ve expected any of this to happen? You never know…

In Anthony Russo’s COVID-themed May – One Week Challenge entry, “I Scream, You Scream”, that’s exactly the kind of world we live in.

Set not too far into the future, the world has been ravaged by the effects of the COVID crisis; Businesses have been decimated, families have been destroyed and the world we once knew has become a post-apocalyptic ghost town, essentially.

We follow an unnamed survivor’s journey through his everyday routine that he was forced to adapt to as he drives through the barren streets wearing a Tyvek suit with a backpack respirator. We get a little context through an old news taping, revealing just how bad things have gotten via voice-over during this unnamed survivor’s journey as he gathers food and necessities…

Not only have people become infected with the COVID virus… but so has the plant life. Yes, you read that correctly – the God damn TREES have become affected by the virus!

A very grim glimpse into the future, indeed. Tis a very lonely existence for our unnamed protagonist, who has somehow found a way to adapt to this way of life – the sole purpose of his existence now is to survive.

But is surviving the same as living?

He reaches an existential epiphany after he happens upon an abandoned ice cream shop. And he makes a decision based on two choices– to “live” or to continue surviving.

Very well written, Anthony Russo’s entry almost feels like a stream of consciousness in its poetic execution. Though dark, “I Scream, You Scream” isn’t all gloom and doom. Yes, the journey is grim. But its cathartic, bitter “sweet” finale is very satisfying.

BUDGET: Low. With some creativity. It would be easy to shoot exterior shots of junkyards and abandoned houses to give that post-apocalyptic feel.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Anthony J. Russo is an aspiring screenwriter who graduated Summa Cum Laude from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia with a degree in Liberal and Professional Studies and minors in Philosophy and Political Science. His feature-length screenplay JOHN LENNON’S HEAVEN, available for production, explores religion, physics and philosophy in a way never before attempted on screen. His feature project GRAND AVENUE, culled from Anthony’s experiences growing up in the town of Maspeth, Queens, a blue-collar town known for its mob influence, is making the rounds in Hollywood. Anthony has also written several short scripts and has freelanced for Generocity, a Philadelphia based philanthropic organization which highlights charitable endeavors in the region. Anthony can be reached at ajrscreenworks (a) verizon.net.

Read: I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM (6 page short, drama, sci-fi script)

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.

Before The End Of The World
(6 page, short, rom com)

written by David Gonzalez

Two best friends discover they are in love minutes before the world ends.

This script was a submission in the January, 2019 One Week Challenge wherein writers are challenged to write a short script in one week on a particular theme. In this case, the theme was: Love/Romance, the Genre: Rom-com and the Challenge: Roses, chocolate and something red must be in the script. They should not be mere props in the background, but play some part, even if small.

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COME ALONG, HARRY HIGGINS
(20-page short sci-fi, historical, western, crime script) By Kevin Machate

Successful safe cracker Harry Higgins decides to hang up his drill for good when he meets the woman of his dreams, only to be tailed by the constable that put him away once already.

While looking through scripts, I came upon one based on O. Henry’s short story, A Retrieved Reformation… but with a sci-fi twist! So, I just HAD to give it a read. And, boy, I did not come away from this disappointed…

In what seems like a traditional period piece, we’re taken to the year 1899, where convicted bank robber (and the story’s protagonist), Harry Higgins is serving a four-year sentence at Missouri State Penitentiary. Ten months into his sentence, while making shoes in the prison’s workshop, he’s called to the warden’s office, where he’s told that he’s just been pardoned by the governor.

Now a free man, the confident and charming Harry Higgins heads back to meet up with his old friend Davey, a bartender at the inn where Harry was originally arrested for his crime. But before he gets there, he finds a unique and possibly other-worldly way of communicating when arriving at the train station…

Harry walks toward the train station and sees a large crow land on a telegraph pole. He smiles and tips his hat.

Hmm. I know crows are supposed to be smart. And who knows? Maybe Harry’s some kind of bird whisperer or something. Of course, we find out that isn’t quite the case when Harry arrives at the bar. Upon meeting with Dave, both their eyes glow green – suggesting that these guys aren’t of this world. The crow is in fact a communication device that allows them to converse using face-time – a technology that isn’t even explored until The Jetsons hit television sets.

After enjoying several seltzer-with-milks (gross), Harry heads to his room where he retrieves a hidden briefcase containing some sort of futuristic device that allows him to easily break into bank vaults and make away with piles of money.

As Harry bounces around from town to town, knocking off bank after bank, he decides to retire from bank-robbing and settle down in the quaint town of Elmore, Kansas. He starts a shoe-making shop and eventually finds love, marrying Anna Sharp who, ironically, is the daughter of a local bank mogul. But despite going straight, the string of bank robberies preceding his change of lifestyle has caught the attention of Jack Wolfe, the pesky police constable who initially put Harry behind bars.

Hot on Harry’s trail, Wolfe eventually tracks him down in Elmore, finding out that he’s living under the alias Robert D. Thompson.

Wolfe finally has his man in his sights at the local bank where Harry’s father-in-law presents to the public his new vault – a vault deemed to be “impenetrable”, opening automatically only at certain times of the day.

Unfortunately, as the presentation continues, a little girl finds herself trapped in the vault while goofing off with a friend. And with the vault not scheduled to reopen anytime soon, the little girl’s life is at stake. If only there was someone with the kind of technology to break into this “impenetrable” vault…

A unique story with a sci-fi twist and excellent characters with impressive arcs, “Come Along, Harry Higgins” is a story that NEEDS to be on the big screen.

BUDGET: This one isn’t exactly low budget (a costume designer would be necessary), but there are numerous shortcuts the filmmakers could make to keep the budget sensible. Regardless, this story is worth every penny.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Although he began his film career as an actor, Kevin quickly moved into producing and eventually directing and writing. Kevin’s films and screenplays have won numerous awards worldwide with his two most recent films having been screened in various cities in the US, Europe, South America, Oceania, and Asia. He has directed six short films and his credits as a producer have exceeded 50 at the time of this writing. His recent works include three short series starring Golden Globe and Tony Award winner Barry Bostwick and Saturn Award Winner Doug Jones, along with a series of short musical and educational videos (With puppets!) starring Ed Helms. Kevin can be reached at: kmachate (a) gmail.

Read: COME ALONG, HARRY HIGGINS (20-page short sci-fi, historical, western, crime script)

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.

Over on the Unproduced Scripts page are twenty one original scripts for our reading pleasure.

Also, discover “Who Wrote What” from the June, 2020 One Week Challenge.

– Don

“Fright Filter” is now available for pre-order for $2.99! (This is only for the eBook edition; paperback version coming very soon.) Stay shook, kiddos!*

This comes from the minds of Sean Elwood and Chris Shamburger

It’s a chilling middle grade chapter book series in the tradition of Gosebumps and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

It’s called – Twisted Books to Leave You Shook

The scares begin with Fright Filter. Twelve-year-old Nicole loves playing with the face filters on her phone. When she discovers an app update with a new selection of monster filters, she can’t wait to try it out. But the monster filters prove to be a little too real, and now Nicole may have changed her face in real life…forever.

Then stay shook with another tale of body horror, It Started with an Itch, a terrifying bonus story by Sean Elwood (another SimplyScripts regular).

*SimplyScripts is an Amazon affiliate and gets a small percentage of each order. This does not cut into the amount the content creator gets.

Grenade pdf format by Steve Miles

A chance discovery at an abandoned army barracks gives a bullied youngster a chance to reconnect with his errant grandfather.

The L2 series fragmentation grenade has a detonation delay of 4.4 seconds. Pull the pin and you’ll hear the metallic clang of the primer, igniting the fuse, tick tick ticking down to detonation. Four and half seconds till a bubbling cauldron of combustive materials unleashes molten shrapnel fury indiscriminately over a 15-meter blast radius.

Its efficiency as a killing machine is undisputed.

But can it be more than that? Could a device built to maim and destroy serve as an agent of change?

Steve Miles’ complex and moving drama short Grenade seeks to find out exactly that. When a troubled, isolated 12-year old named Iggy discovers a live grenade, the future looks very bleak indeed. Then there’s his mother, barely keeping the family afloat. His grandfather, detached and aloof. Not to mention a group of bullies determined to make Iggy’s life hell. Will the grenade be the spark that sets it all ablaze? Or can it somehow bring a family back from the brink?

Production: A few interior locations, couple exterior (street and park might do the trick), four main characters, please don’t try and use a real grenade.

About the writer: Steve Miles started writing scripts around five years ago after realizing that his social life was vastly overrated. He enjoys writing in a variety of genres but leans toward raw, grittier characters and the worlds they inhabit – from the deadly serious to the darkly comic. Drinks coffee, owns an unhealthy amount of plaid and uses a calculator for the most basic of sums. Check out more of his work here.

About the reviewer: James Barron is a former law student turned screenwriter who loves to write comedy along with the occasional horror/thriller. Contact James at jbarron021 (a) gmail.

Read Grenade (17 page short drama in pdf format)

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VIRUS-99 (6 page horror short) by Rob Herzog

The quarantine for a deadly virus is over, but the trouble has just started for a man keeping his bizarre family on permanent lockdown.

There was some serious talent on display here on Simply Scripts during its May One Week Challenge. For those visiting and checking out this review, the theme of the One Week Challenge was a pretty relevant topic in today’s world – the COVID crisis. The participating writers had one week to write a 2-6 page screenplay centered around this theme that could realistically be shot during these strange times of social distancing. The results of the challenge saw some very impressive entries across various genres, reflecting our own personal experiences as well as many topics and stories we’ve all seen on the news.

When the writers of the entries were revealed, it was no surprise that Rob Herzog, who has a panache for exploring the deepest, darkest depths of human nature, was the author of one of my personal favorites, the very dark and twisted, VIRUS-99.

What I found really unique about this story in particular was that it didn’t take place DURING the quarantine, but rather POST quarantine, exploring the lingering psychological effects that months of isolation can have on a person.

This twisted tale opens with protective father and husband, William Butler, talking to his sister Erica over the phone. Disheveled and haggard, he looks like a guy who hasn’t left the house in a very, very long time. Though the quarantine has been lifted, William isn’t quite convinced that all is safe, keeping himself and his family on lockdown. Ever the conspiracy theorist (like many during this lockdown), not only does he believe that it’s not safe out there – but he truly believes that there’s something rotten going on. But his sister, Erica, tries to convince him otherwise…

            ERICA (VO)
Go check your window. You’ll see people
outside. The quarantine’s been lifted.

You can’t really blame the guy for being a little paranoid and overprotective. This quarantine is pretty unprecedented, at least in our lifetime. And it can be very difficult to make the distinction between what to believe and what not to believe based on the information we’re given through the news media.

But as we spend more time with William, we find that his paranoia is a little more disturbing than we’re initially made to believe… bordering crazy.

            WILLIAM
Erica, I know that it’s not really you
I’m talking to. You’re a computer-generated
deep fake. You sound like my sister, but
you’re not.

Convinced that his REAL sister is dead, William hangs up on his concerned sister (or sister’s doppelganger), who is determined to come over and talk some sense into her nutso brother.

As if William couldn’t seem any crazier, we really see just how off-the-reservation he might beas he’s cooking up some grilled cheese sandwiches for his wife, Wendy, and his three children. But, rather than actual people sitting at the dinner table, there’s stuffed dummies dressed as his family with facial expressions drawn on pillow cases. Which makes us wonder what happened to his REAL family?

Speaking to them as if they weren’t inanimate, stuffed objects, William prepares them for his “fake” sister’s arrival with a very strange and memorable pep-talk/monologue about the movie, “Apollo 13” – William is 100% certain that an ambush is about to go down.

I won’t reveal TOO much, but just to give you a clue as to how this story may or may not play out, allow me to go back a few sentences in this review where I mentioned – we really see just how off-the-reservation he might be… emphasis on might be.

Very unique and very dark, Rob Herzog’s “VIRUS-99” explores the depths of our paranoia during these strange times, suggesting that some of that paranoia might not sound as insane as others may think.

BUDGET: Shoe string. This would be about as easy as it can get to film with only one location and one on-screen actor.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Rob Herzog is a Chicago screenwriter. He has sold two short scripts and won prize money in two small screenwriting contests. His short horror script Creak and Shriek was produced in 2019 by Mad Dreamer Entertainment and can be viewed on various platforms like Amazon Prime, YouTube and Vimeo. He has a master’s degree in English composition from Northeastern Illinois University. Rob can be reached at: robherzogr (a) hotmail.

Read: VIRUS-99 (6 page horror short)

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*This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

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About the Reviewer: Michael J. Kospiah is the award-winning screenwriter of critically acclaimed indie-thriller, The Suicide Theory (79% Rotten Tomatoes – available on Amazon Prime, Itunes, Google Play, etc) and 2020’s upcoming Aussie thriller, Rage. His horror feature, They Never Left is currently in development.

Dear Abby by Ashley Hamilton

Haunted by tragedy, a young woman struggles to return to normalcy.

It’s common to take for granted just how easy some of us have it. We pass folks in the store, on the street, or even have brief encounters without knowing what struggles some people may be going through. Every person has a story, and some of those stories are tragic.

Twenty-five year old, Abby Miles has experienced tragedy. As a result, she suffers from a variety of mental issues, and it’s held her back. But she has worked hard, and is determined to push through it. Abby is a strong female protagonist, who courageously decides to make up for lost time and attend college, even reside in a dorm. Her new roommate, Becky however, makes a snap judgment based on Abby’s age and appearance. She relays her thoughts to a friend:

            BECKY
She’s sooo weird!…. And Old!

            BECKY
She dresses like an Amish man. OMG

When Becky leaves for the night, we watch as Abby’s fears surface and her emotional issues fight to take over. You’ll find yourself wondering, is she just too far gone to have any kind of normal life? Is she delusional? Is she haunted by her past, or is it really coming back to get her? Abby’s strength will make you root for her, her struggle will make you sympathize. She is complex, and troubled…and you’ll find yourself just wanting her to be okay.

Mental illness is a silent struggle, and ABBY portrays that beautifully. This is a short drama that offers an excellent opportunity for a female lead to showcase many sides of herself.

Budget: This can be filmed on a very low budget, in basic locations like a bedroom.

About the Writer: Ashley Hamilton is attached to direct and star in the horror film Gothic Harvest.

Read Dear Abby (7 pages in pdf format)

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This screenplay may not be used or reproduced for any purpose including educational purposes without the expressed written permission of the author.

About the Reviewer: Marnie Mitchell-Lister has creative A.D.D. Some of her writing can be read here: BrainFluffs.com. Some of her photography can be seen here: marnzart.wordpress.com.