The Picture of Jonathan Laslow (16 page drama, crime, murder, suspense) by James McCormick

A bankrupt mill owner turns to a rich friend for help but soon wishes he hadn’t when he learns the terrible price he must pay in return.

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Thanks Richie and Bob for the heads up on:

Saint Frances – July 6, 2018 Shooting Draft script by Kelly O’Sullivan – hosted by: Variety – in pdf format

Thirty-four-year-old aimless server Bridget hasn’t yet achieved her goal of becoming a respected writer. When casual relations with a younger ‘nice guy’ leads to an unexpected confrontation with potential motherhood, she manifests a job nannying a pint-sized spirit guide disguised as an obstinate six-year-old. 

Information courtesy of imdb.com

Thanks Bob on the heads up on these three scripts for Oscar Consideration from Sony Pictures Classics

The Climb – Undated, unspecified draft script by Michael Covino & Kyle Marvin – hosted by: Sony Classics – in pdf format

Kyle and Mike are best friends who share a close bond – until Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée. The Climb is about a tumultuous but enduring relationship between two men across many years of laughter, heartbreak and rage. It is also the story of real-life best friends who turn their profound connection into a rich, humane and frequently uproarious film about the boundaries (or lack thereof) in all close friendships.

Information courtesy of imdb.com
The Father – Undated final script script by Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton – hosted by: Sony Classics – in pdf format

A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.

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I Carry You With Me (Te Llevo Conmigo) – Undated final script script by Heidi Ewing and Alan Page Arriaga – hosted by: Sony Classics – in pdf format

An epic love story spanning decades is sparked by a chance encounter between two men in provincial Mexico. Based on a true story, ambition and societal pressure propel an aspiring chef to leave his soulmate and make the treacherous journey to New York, where life will never be the same.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

AFTER ACTION (9-page short drama screenplay) by STEVE MEREDITH

A young Army JAG attorney defending a soldier on trial for assaulting a superior officer must convince the opposing counsel to have a redacted after-action report declassified… a report that could exonerate the mentally ill defendant.

There’s a very blurred line between right and wrong in writer Steven Meredith’s courtroom military drama, After Action – a masterclass in dialogue. Yes, film is a show me medium, but when dialogue is this good, seeing two people talk can be just as fascinating as a dazzling set piece. In what reads like a play – this is 99% dialogue – every moment of dialogue simmers with tension as grizzled Captain Peter Crawford faces off with young army JAG attorney, Lieutenant Benjamin Walker in a chess game of words.

Though this has the feel of a military courtroom drama, it all takes place in a conference room as young Lieutenant Walker tries to convince Captain Crawford to have a completely redacted after-action report declassified to help exonerate his mentally ill defendant, Private Sam Ross who faces charges for violently attacking his commanding officer. But he claims that the attack was provoked by constant abuse at his commanding officer’s hands that caused severe PTSD.

Lieutenant Walker’s client faces an uphill battle though.

Of course, there’s much more to the story – and that redacted after-action report could very well determine the fate of Private Ross.

Just as compelling as the strongest scenes in A Few Good Men, this would be a piece of cake to film, especially when taking COVID precautions into account.

BUDGET: Shoe string. Two actors and a conference room.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Steve Meredith began writing short screenplays as a student in college, and while he currently works as a small business lender, in his spare time he continues to write heavily dialog driven short screenplays that are ideally suited for production by independent film companies, or student filmmakers. Steve holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Seton Hill University, and he currently lives in Western Pennsylvania with his wife Kelly, and his son Preston. Steve can be reached at: steve.meredith (a) live.com

Read: AFTER ACTION (9-page short drama screenplay)
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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.

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Geek (4 page short, drama) by Cindy L. Keller

When a fifteen year old boy is unable to get any help from authorities for the bullying he’s been suffering through for the past two years, he snaps and ends it himself.

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Filmed by Aldrien Veon

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HONEY MUSTARD

 After being stiffed, an unhinged waitress, hell-bent on revenge, torments the customer who didn’t tip her and his surprisingly resourceful family.

One of the hallmarks of a great screenplay is how quickly a reader can become immersed in a story. The writing flies off the page, the dialogue zings, the action never lets up, and the characters instantly come to life.

Honey Mustard has all this and more… From page one Michael Kospiah’s feature-length Indie-Horror puts the pedal to the metal and never lets up in this blood-soaked and frenetically-paced whodunnit tale of action and revenge.

Ever wish you could press rewind on a particularly bad day?

We open on the emotionally wrought and tormented character of Stella in a scene of not-so domestic bliss. To say Stella’s having a bad day is rather an understatement. Having finally had enough of the abuse at the hands of her redneck husband, Oscar, (a small-town cop, no less), Stella grabs a kitchen knife and a frying pan and in a violent frenzy dispatches him (albeit in self-defense) in short order.

What does Stella do next? Well, she grabs a ride with co-worker and secret lover Matilda, and sets off for work as if nothing happened, leaving her husband’s blood-soaked and lifeless body on the kitchen floor.

Stella’s a waitress at Mel’s Diner, an establishment we instantly recognise as being light on equal-opportunity in the workplace and heavy on juvenile frat-boy antics. And that’s just the guys working the grill. Usually, Stella is stoic in the face of frequent taunts, sexist barbs, and racial slurs, but the events of the morning have left her traumatized and her sanity hanging by a thread. Not to mention she’s now hallucinating the spectre of dead husband Oscar, who continues to get inside her head and bark orders at her – including telling her to: ‘kill them all’!

The final straw in Stella’s awful day comes in the form of a nightmare customer –  one Buford Blumpkin, and his seemingly innocuous request for –

Chicken Fingers with

…  a side of Honey Mustard

Little does Stella know that Buford not getting his precious honey mustard will set off a chain of events destined to throw the two of them on a deadly collision course.

DINING ROOM

He grabs her by the wrist, forcing her to a halt.

Now, Buford’s having a pretty bad day himself. His house is up for sale, he has a wife and son to support and fresh from the unemployment office he’s already bent out of shape. Not taking kindly to being treated like this he devises a little payback of his own.

After all, the customer is always right, right?

When Stella returns to his table –

Two little words that might just prove fatal.

Especially as a little bit later we cut to a scene of utter carnage at the diner and a stunned Buford watching a news report on the television –

            FEMALE NEWS REPORTER (V.O.)
I’m standing in front of Mel’s Diner in the small,
rural town of Keaufax where six people were found
brutally murdered earlier today…

Nerves rattled, Buford continues to watch…

It seems like hell hath no fury like a server scorned. But all this over a lost tip?

What’s particularly disturbing for Buford however is that his wallet’s gone and now Stella knows exactly where he lives.

Don’t even imagine you can guess where this plot’s headed because the third act is a killer with its clever twists and turns, shocking reveals, and high octane action. Just when you think you’ve got things sussed and the characters firmly pegged in their separate camps as good guys and bad guys, writer Michael Kospiah throws a curveball into the mix that you won’t see coming.

Written with a sure hand and with a sly nod to 80s pulp slashers, Honey Mustard is a gory, funny, tense and suspenseful thrill ride with one helluva bad-ass lead female character. If you enjoyed Don’t Breathe, You’re Next, Villains, and one of my personal favourites, director Coralie Fergeat’s Revenge, you’re going to love this. 

… Just one last thing before I hit the time-clock, and it’s a big tip of my own –

Honey Mustard’s the special of the day – destined to join the ranks of horror/thriller sure-fire hits, or become a much-loved Indie cult favourite. It’s going to be in big demand and because of this very likely to be on the table for a limited time only…

My suggestion: Get your order up fast, before it gets snapped off the menu…  Just be sure to ask nicely.

As Stella would say –

Y’all have an amazing day now.

BUDGET: Low budget, especially suited to Indie filmmakers, two main locations with a few generic locations for smaller scenes. Someone adept with blood SFX.

NB: CASTING – A special shout-out to Sasha Lane who the writer had in mind when creating the character of Stella. According to Michael, “She’s awesome and would murder the role”.  I suppose one could “At” her at @SashaBianca23.

ABOUT THE WRITER:

Michael is a NYC-based, award-winning screenwriter. His critically-acclaimed feature film, “The Suicide Theory” (79% Rotten Tomatoes score) won awards at Dances With Films and Austin Film Festival and received a limited US theatrical release, 3-year run on Netflix and can now be seen on Amazon Prime, Itunes & Google Play. His latest film, “Rage” continues to collect film festival awards and will be available on most streaming platforms Feb. 2021 after picking up worldwide distribution. His feature films, “Her Lost Winter” (co-writer), and “They Never Left” are slated for production mid/late 2021. Michael can be reached at: spesh2k (a) msn.com

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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:

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 screenwriting. 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.

Over on the Unproduced Scripts page are the scripts of the December One Week Challenge wherein writers had a week to write a six or less page script on the theme of an enchanted ornament.*

Check ’em out!

– Don

*anyone interested in obtaining the rights to these scripts, please reach out to me at webmaster (a) simplyscripts OR wait until the end of the week when the writers are announced.

Thanks Bob! for the heads up on this script up for award consideration.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things – March 12, 2019 Yellow revised draft script by Charlie Kaufman (Based on the novel by Iain Reid) – hosted by: Variety – in pdf format

Despite second thoughts about their relationship, a young woman takes a road trip with her new boyfriend to his family farm. Trapped at the farm during a snowstorm with Jake’s mother and father, the young woman begins to question the nature of everything she knew or understood about her boyfriend, herself, and the world.

Information courtesy of imdb.com

May or may not be a script posted for award consideration, but regardless, Thanks Richie for the heads up on this one.

The King Of Staten Island – June 3, 2019 unpecified draft script by Judd Apatow & Pete Davidson & Dave Sirus – hosted by: Deadline Hollywood – in pdf format

Scott has been a case of arrested development since his firefighter dad died. He spends his days smoking weed and dreaming of being a tattoo artist until events force him to grapple with his grief and take his first steps forward in life.

Information courtesy of imdb.com