POTATO RADIO (8-page short comedy screenplay) by Paul Knauer

Isolated and bored, a man fashions a homemade transmitter that leads to an unexpected connection

If you’re like me, you’ve been trying to find new ways to keep yourself entertained while being stationed under the proverbial rock that we call our homes. I’ve been reading a lot of screenplays lately, but I’ve been trying to find other hobbies to break the daily, monotonous quarantine routine. For one, I was mainly watching Netflix, Amazon Prime and Shudder. Bored out of my mind, I decided to mix things up a bit and try out Hulu. Does that count as a new hobby?

Okay, I guess not. It really is hard finding something new to enjoy. If only I had the imagination that David, the main character in Paul Knauer’s quirky comedy, “Potato Radio” had.

The story opens much like my day begins – flipping through TV channels.

This almost feels like a biography – MY biography.

But after aimlessly channel surfing, he finds something on TV that inspires his new hobby.

His mind officially blown, he sets out to create something of his own using a potato – a radio. I’m sure you’ve probably guessed that going by the title.

After putting it all together, David’s really not sure whether or not it works. But he has fun with it, nevertheless. He even hosts his own imaginary potato-themed radio show that he thinks only he can hear.

Unbeknownst to him, his annoying schlub of a next-door neighbor, Russell, seems to be hearing a voice in his head – David’s voice. Not sure if he’s sick or if he’s experiencing the effects of cabin fever after a lot of time spent alone, Russell makes a phone call.

Despite living next door to each other, the two really haven’t had many friendly interactions. In fact, David is a little fed up with Russell, who has a habit of drinking outside and then throwing the empty cans into David’s yard.

It’s not long before David realizes that Russell can somehow hear his potato radio transmissions. However, Russell doesn’t know that it’s David creating these transmissions.

So, David decides to have a little fun with Russell to teach him a lesson and get even with him for littering his yard with empty beer cans.

With a lot of writers, this could have gone into a very mean-spirited, back-and-forth direction. But Paul Knauer keeps it light-hearted and borderline whimsical without compromising the comedy. I, personally, am drawn towards horror films and thrillers. But, in these dark times, this script was a nice breath of fresh, COVID-free air. It made me feel good and left me with a smile on my face.

Now, this was one of the higher rated entries in May’s COVID-themed One Week Challenge. But even though both characters are pretty much on lockdown, you become so engaged with these two very lonely souls that you almost forgot why they’re lonely in the first place. It really was a treat to read this and would be an even better treat to see this get produced.

BUDGET: Low. Two actors, two locations. And potatoes.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Paul is an optioned and produced screenwriter working out of the Kansas City area. His main focus is thrillers and slightly absurdist comedy with heart, most of them about life in the Midwest U.S. His first script, a sitcom pilot titled OH, BROTHER!, placed second in the 2012 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition and was subsequently optioned. Paul’s diverse portfolio includes several feature thrillers, a couple of comedy features and multiple sitcom pilots, as well as dozens of shorts across genres. He believes that becoming a better writer requires the ability to push personal boundaries. Paul can be reached at: pkcardinal (a) gmail.

Read: POTATO RADIO (8-page short comedy screenplay)

Discuss this script on the Discussion Board

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

Find more scripts available for production.

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.

THE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF
(6 page short comedy in pdf format)

A suburban family goes through the five stages of grief during the pandemic.

Imagine if you will, some of film’s famous comedic families – The Griswolds, The Fockers, and The Simpsons holed up in isolation. Scary thought… but also ripe for comedy gold.

Now we can add to that list with Dave Lambertson’s fictional family in The Five Stages Of Grief as he takes us on a comedic journey of a family in lockdown. Cleverly utilizing a series of emotions – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance he chronicles one family’s time in isolation to terrific comedic effect.

The story opens on a typical nuclear family – Dad – John, Mom – Jane, and their cute as
can be kids, Annabelle and Tommy.

Jane and the kids are huddled in front of the TV squabbling over what movie to watch when a news flash interrupts family time –

And so begins…

DAY ONE – DENIAL

And the hilarity that ensues from each day forward…

As the family battles the perils of too much togetherness and negotiates the division of chores, shopping, cooking, homeschooling, and a house that rapidly starts to look like a bomb’s hit it, we discover lockdown is not for the faint of heart.

John’s a head-in-the-clouds kind of guy, while Jane has her feet firmly planted on the ground. While John sees lockdown as an opportunity to try his hand at inventing the next big thing (a see-through toaster), he also dreams of finishing (starting would be nice) his screenplay opus. Jane just wants some order through all the chaos. The kids are running wild, Dad’s battling to flatten a curve of a different kind (too much home-baking will do that to you) and there’s all manner of heckling from all sides. It’s not long before all four members of this household start climbing the walls.

The Five Stages Of Grief is a hilarious slice of life comedy about the ups and downs of family-fun in quarantine, or more aptly a cautionary tale that asks the question: how much togetherness is too much? With its clever comedic one-liners, acerbic wit, and touching observations of family life The Five Stages Of Grief will have you laughing out loud.

FILMMAKERS: Don’t deny yourself me-time. With lockdown soon to be a distant memory you’re going to want to re-emerge from self-isolation with a sure-fire crowd pleaser on your hands. Snap this one up and your acceptance speech may well be on the cards.

* The Five Stages of Grief placed firm favourite: 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, Dave Lambertson: I took up writing rather late in life having already been retired before I put pen to paper (okay – finger to computer key) for the first time. My favorite genres to read and write are dramedies and romantic comedies. In addition to this short, I have written four features; The Last Statesman (a 2015 PAGE finalist and a Nicholl’s and BlueCat quarterfinalist), The Beginning of The End and The End (a PAGE Semi-Finalist). Taking Stock (a drama) and a new comedy – Screw You Tube. Contact Dave via his website.

Read The Five Stages of Grief (6 page short comedy in pdf format)

Discuss this script on the discussion board.

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

Find more scripts available for production.

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.

DEAR GOD, I QUIT – LOVE SATAN (9 page short comedy script) by Jay Williams

When Satan hands in his resignation letter, God is forced into an impossible situation

What if God one of us? Just a slob like one of us? Just a stranger on a bus… trying to make his way home?

That’s what singer/songwriter Joan Osborne asks us in her insanely catchy 90’s pop song, “What if God Was One of Us”. If even you didn’t grow up in the 90’s, love it or hate it, I’m sure you’ve heard it before.

For obvious reasons, this song played in my head after just finishing Jay Williams’s sharp-witted comedy short, “Dear God, I Quit – Love Satan”. While Joan Osborne’s song asks us what it would be like if God was, indeed, one of us, Williams explores the scenario further… while also asking the same question about God’s rival, the Prince of Darkness himself, Lucifer.

In “Dear God, I Quit – Love Satan”, God is a slob like one of us (to answer Joan Osborne’s question)… and a drunk… and a gambling addict.

The story opens outside of a storefront on the Vegas strip where we meet Godfrey – God in human form. Unshaven and unwashed, Godfrey looks like an old homeless man, muttering profanities to himself while glugging down a bottle of whiskey. It’s been a rough go in Vegas – not only is he hammered… but he’s also broke.

That’s when his friend, Lou, sharply dressed and doing much better than his counterpart, comes to the rescue like any friend would. If you were wondering, yes, Lou is short for Lucifer. And, yes, on Earth, he and God are friends.

            GODFREY
Oh Lou, is this how it ends?
How did it ever come to this?

We then cut to heaven, long before God became Godfrey and lost everything in the casinos.

This version of heaven doesn’t seem very heavenly – here, we don’t see angels playing harps with halos over their heads while riding on puffy clouds. This version of heaven looks much like an office you’d find your accountant working in. But maybe a lot less organized and a lot more filthy. Apparently, even in heaven, God is a slob like one of us.

A pile of paperwork in front of him, God seems just as stressed as any nine-to-five office worker. I guess we really were created in God’s image…

That’s when Lucifer arrives to conduct their weekly session where they discuss the balance of good and evil.

            GOD
OK, I’ve enabled a couple of
new strains of penicillin.

But, as their session continues, Lucifer breaks some news to his counterpart, handing him a letter of resignation. Bored of his duties, Lucifer has also “seen the light”…

But to truly be relieved of his duties, Lucifer needs God’s forgiveness first. But God isn’t so sure. After giving it some thought, God comes up with a plan – that he and Lucifer head down to Earth in human form. If Lucifer demonstrates good behavior and shows him that he has indeed changed, God will forgive him. But forgiveness comes with some serious consequences…

Packed with pithy dialogue and fantastic chemistry between God and Lucifer, “Dear God, I Quit – Love Satan” will make you do what any good comedy SHOULD do… laugh. And especially with the world where it is right now, God knows we could all use a good laugh.

BUDGET: Low. Two actors, two locations.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Jay Williams is a UK-based writer working in theater and movies. You can read more of his work right here on Simply Scripts. Jay can be reached at: jaywilliams120671 (a) hotmail.co.uk

Read Dear God, I Quit – Love, Satan.

Discuss this script on the Discussion Board

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

Find more scripts available for production.

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.

Hair 18 pages in PDF format by James Barron

A family man struggling to keep his life from falling apart becomes obsessed with impending baldness.

Have you ever had one of those days? The job is stabbing you in the eyeballs, your child wants to stab you in the eyeballs and your spouse, who is so severely/constantly let down by you, can barely look you in the, um, eyeballs? These types of days have turned into years for salesman Ted Donovan.

But meaningless career and a challenging home life are nothing compared to his REAL problem: male pattern baldness.

James Barron’s “Hair” is a witty romp through a day in a suburban man’s life; a life beginning to fall apart – and fall out.

The story starts with confirmation from his physician – Ted’s hair or, unhair, doctor.

            DR. GREEN
Mr. Donovan, have you been under
any undue stress lately? At work
perhaps?

The problems mount at work, where Ted used to be an Amway selling “machine.” But now he’s locked in cold-call hell, unable to engage potential customers for more than greetings followed by dismal dial tones.

His much-younger boss – who happens to be his old boss’s son – doesn’t help matters, reminding Ted of better day’s gone by.

            TED
It’s been a little slow this month.

Ted is not fine. In fact, this is a decisive turning point in his life. And he literally meets it head-on in the form of a nearly-fatal accident behind the wheel as he checks his hair in the mirror. Knocked unconscious, he dreams of his boss Neal, who tells him “you must make a statement…. a statement shall set you free.”

This free advice amounts to Ted’s moment of clarity, leading him to do the unthinkable. And so his journey to happiness begins anew, with wife and daughter in tow. And Amway and the old Ted in his rear-view mirror – for good.

Ted’s big adventure is a warm, charming “Office Space” meets “Horrible Bosses” meets Paul Giamatti. It’s an extremely low-budget film requiring just a few locations and handful of actors – one of which may need to be willing to shave a little off his ego to make the film a “growing” success.

Budget: Just a few locations and a handful of actors. We’re happy to say that’s all you need.

About the writer: James loves to write comedy and action along with the occasional horror short. You can reach him at jbarron021 (a) gmail.

Read Hair (19 pages in pdf format)

Find more scripts available for production

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: Zack Zupke is a writer in Los Angeles. Zack was a latch-key kid whose best friend was a 19-inch color television. His early education (1st grade on) included watching countless hours of shows like “M*A*S*H,” “Star Trek” and “The Odd Couple” and movies like “The Godfather,” “Rocky” and “Annie Hall.” Flash forward to present day and his short “The Confession” was recently produced by Trident Technical College in Charleston, SC. He’s currently working on a futuristic hitman thriller with a partner and refining a dramedy pilot perfect for the likes of FX. You can reach Zack at zzupke (a) yahoo.

GERIATRICKS (13 page comedy script) by Mark Renshaw

On a whim and in need of healthcare, a group of geriatrics attempt a bank heist. With no experience, no clue and no bowel control, their chances are slim, especially when they encounter an off-duty cop.

Hey, all you young whippersnappers out there! I’m sure you’ve all heard this before – always respect your elders. They’ve seen it all and done it all, collecting years of wisdom and experience we can only be so lucky to accrue if we’re fortunate to live that long. They’ve helped shape the world, molding us into the responsible, respectful adults that we are today. And as the cruel aging process takes its toll, we feel it’s only right that we help them with the everyday things that they’re no longer able to do on their own – helping them cross the street, open jars, lift heavy things, etc.

But it’s because of this that we sometimes tend to underestimate them a bit. And that’s exactly what the small town folks at a local bank find out in Mark Renshaw’s hilarious ode to the elderly, “Geriatricks”, about a gang of geriatric bank robbers pulling off one, final job.

The story opens with cute, old Mister Jay as he shuffles over to the bank teller, Daisy, to make a withdrawal.

Mister J passes her a slip of paper. She reads it, raises an eyebrow

            DAISY
Are you for real?

Mister J nods.

            DAISY
Fifties and hundreds?

Mister J nods again, he places a backpack on the counter.

            DAISY
How old are you?

She thinks its a joke – until the sweet old man reveals a micro 9mm handgun.

But Mister Jay has a slight issue – he has trouble remembering things, often forgetting where he is and why he has a gun. Luckily, he’s not alone – meet Miss B, the foul-mouthed, shotgun-toting enforcer of the group with bowel control problems; Casanova, the ladies man guarding the door; and then there’s the lookout guy, Eagle Eye, who, ironically, happens to be going blind.

All members of this ragtag group have one thing in common (outside of being 80+ years old) – they need money. And boy, do they mean business.

But, despite the guns, their manners haven’t escaped them, making the bank robbery somewhat of a cute and pleasant experience for everybody in the bank, including an off-duty police officer, who tries to talk some sense into the elderly bandits.

            COP
What are you doing robbing a
bank at your age?

She hobbles over to Mister J who’s completely lost and pats his arm.

            MISS B
Exactly. Our age. We’re broken
and don’t have the cash for
repairs. He needs drugs for his
Alzheimer’s, I need back surgery,
Eagle Eye needs to pay off the
loan he took out for his guide dog.

As their plan breaks down, Miss B and her gang of senior citizens capture the hearts of everybody witnessing the robbery, including the off-duty cop and bank teller, Daisy.

            DAISY
Who here thinks we should pretend
none of this happened?

Everyone raises their hand.

            COP
Gosh darn it! Okay!

But as the title suggests, these senior citizens might have an ace or two up their sleeves…

A cross of “Grumpy Old Men” meets “Ocean’s 11”, Mark Renshaw’s “Geriatricks” is a cleverly written knee-slapper full of hilarious dialogue, lovable characters and, something that too many films are missing these days… heart. This deserves to be on the screen!

BUDGET: Low. One location.

ABOUT THE WRITER: by Mark Renshaw is an award-winning screenwriter and producer, his sci-fi TV pilot script “Nearscape” reaching the semifinals of the prestigious Page Awards and 2nd round of the Austin Film Festival. His short script, “Cyborn” was the inaugural winner of the Inroads Screenwriting Competition. Reaching the top 4% of the BBC’s Open Drama Submission, Mark has also been added to their list of promising writers. As a producer, his first two short films, “No More Tomorrows” and “Surrender” have enjoyed successful runs on the independent circuit, garnering several awards. His latest sci-fi short, “The Survivor: A Tale From the Nearscape”, which he wrote and produced, currently has a worldwide distribution deal with Meridian Releasing, also serving as a proof of concept for a TV series. Mark has also had several short stories published, including “Ragnarok” by Cohesion Press in the horror anthology, “SNAFU: Resurrection”. You can watch check out Mark’s produced films and scripts on his website at www.mark-renshaw.com.

READ GERIATRICKS

Discuss this script on the Discussion Board.

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

Find more scripts available for production.

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.

Course Listing Unavailable (14 page short horror in pdf format) by James Barron

An ambitious student signs up for an internship program promising real world, hands-on experience. Who knew bloodthirsty demons would be involved?

For today’s youth, the challenge of getting a good job has never been tougher. Many are determined to do anything that will enhance their resumes in the eyes of employers. Taking “useful” classes, getting internships, and doing extra-curricular activities are just a few examples of what diligent individuals do to spruce up that valuable sheet of paper.

The protagonist in Course Listing Unavailable, 17-year-old Gortat Emmanuel, is just another determined Ivy League freshman with a whiff of intelligent innocence about him. A mix-up in paying the tuition has meant he’s one class short of the minimum semester credit, and so he sees a counselor to get into a subject that appeals to him.

But every time the counselor enters the course he wants, there’s a problem.

Organic Chemistry? Unavailable. Biology? Unavailable. Ecology? Yup… unavailable. As a last resort, the advisor offers Gortat a chance for some real world experience: a month shadowing a service professional. Because the last guy who did it dropped out.

That’s all the information available. Apart from a name: Mr Shephard. Despite this, Gortat accepts, still eager to learn. And so on his first day, he’s dressed up as if he’s the President attending their inauguration.

However, Gortat’s destination isn’t as beautiful as the White House. Unless you’re into dilapidated buildings and tales of wasted lives in needle format littering the ground.

And the professional isn’t some smarmy doctor. Turning up in a classic American muscle with uninviting objects abundantly decorating the interior, Max Shephard invites Gortat in for his “education”. There’s no textbooks. No worksheets either. There’s only one rule, and it ain’t a typical one:

            Max
…no matter what happens
you will not puke in this car.

This may sound easy enough to obey until Max’s profession is revealed…demon hunter. Not quite what our Ivy League kid was expecting. In addition, it transpires that the supposed dropout dropped out of life…unwillingly. Oh, and for his first day on the job, he’s got to complete a practical helping Max eradicate the beast responsible for failing the previous student. Turns out “real world experience” means “other world experience” in this case.

Will Gortat pass his practical? Will he break the one rule? Will he even survive? Only one thing’s assured: direct this one well, and judges at film festivals will be giving you full marks!

Budget: Okay, there’s a bit of FX involved in here. But nothing a skilled director can’t – and won’t want to – tackle!

About the writer: James loves to write comedy and action along with the occasional horror short. You can reach him at jbarron021 (a) gmail.

Read Course Listing Unavailable (14 pages in pdf format)

Find more scripts available for production

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: Hamish Porter is a writer who, if he was granted one wish, would ask for the skill of being able to write dialogue like Tarantino. Or maybe the ability to teleport. Nah, that’s nothing compared to the former. A lover of philosophy, he’s working on several shorts and a sporting comedy that can only be described as “quintessentially British”. If you want to contact him, he can be emailed: hamishdonaldp (a) gmail. If you’d like to contact him and be subjected to incoherent ramblings, follow him on Twitter @HamishP95.

FOOD FIGHT (3 page short comedy screenplay) by Christopher Stewart

A young couple takes a unique approach in deciding who will choose where they eat for their lunch date.

I’m sure we can all use a good laugh right now while cooped up in isolation during these very, very strange times. And I’m sure once society kinda/sorta gets back to normalcy, we’ll still be in need of some laughter to keep our spirits bright as we continue to adjust.

When the time comes and we’re all allowed to leave the house again, I’m sure one thing we’re all going to be looking forward to is being able to dine out again – I, myself, am growing tired of ordering take-out. And my cooking is just deplorable. But one topic of discussion that I’m sure will pop up, whether we’re with friends or with our significant other, will be choosing where to have our first post-quarantine meal.

In Christopher Stewart’s hilariously absurd comedy short, Food Fight, Lori and Adam, your modern, every-day, twenty-something couple, have run into this all-too-familiar pickle – deciding where to go for dinner. Yes, it seems like such a ludicrously mundane thing to debate over. But it can feel like a life or death decision once those tummies start growling at us.

Clouded with indecisiveness, Lori and Adam go back and forth, putting pressure on the other to decide. Trust me, I’ve been there before, myself. This type of debate can go on and on for hours. It’s actually ruined relationships.

But Lori and Adam’s relationship is a strong and healthy one. And, instead of continuing this potentially endless game of hot potato, they decide to settle this conundrum using a conflict resolution technique that they read about online; a technique that you’d probably only see in a WWE story line – an extreme rules, last-man-standing brawl.

Absurd? Yes. Hilarious? Insanely.

In one of Christopher’s perfectly timed sight gags, we then cut to a display of weapons laid along their coffee table: A taser. Baseball bat. Pepper spray. Baton. Steel pipe. Heavy chain.

            LORI
No hard feelings, right?

If that doesn’t crack you up enough, the next perfectly-timed sight gag will have you in stitches.

As preposterous as this farce of a comedy short is, the premise is so simple and relatable that it just works. Part of the reason it works so well, outside of the sight gags, is because of Lori and Adam’s chemistry. Their dialogue is so nonchalant and casual throughout all of this, it’s actually kind of sweet and endearing – giving this Seinfeld meets Key & Peele-style sketch another unexpected dimension.

BUDGET: Cheap. Some props, a little bit of makeup. Three actors. Two locations – a restaurant and somebody’s apartment/home. I’m sure an extra room can be doubled to look like a restaurant with some clever editing and if the shot is tight enough.

ABOUT THE WRITER: Christopher Stewart is a licensed paramedic with a lifelong love of movies, helping others and relentless sarcasm. One random night a few years back, while stuffing his face with pizza, Christopher started reading screenplays just for fun and eventually starting writing scripts as a hobby – once he realized collecting stamps would never get him anywhere. In addition to writing and swearing, Christopher also enjoys helping other writers getting their screenplays in tip-top condition. Christopher can be reached at stewieville (a) me.com

Read FOOD FIGHT (3 page short comedy screenplay)

Discuss this on the Discussion Board

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

Find more scripts available for production

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.

Speaking Test (9 pages in pdf format) by Manolis Froudarakis

Granted, Safeer’s English “not good”, but neither is his examiner.

The job interview has a long history with filmmakers. There’s terrific raw material to be mined especially in the comedy genre. Just take a look at Owen Wilson hamming it up in You, Me And Dupree, Monty Python’s skit The Lion Tamer with John Cleese and Michael Palin; Big Keith’s Appraisal in The Office, and Kevin Spacey’s turn in American Beauty – ‘would you like smiley-fries with that’?

In reality, job interviews are seldom easy and always challenging. Preparation is essential, as are nerves of steel. It’s essential to put your best foot forward. After all this is high-stakes stuff – this is your life, your future. More often than not you get one chance to make that all important first impression.

In Speaking Test, Manolis Froudarakis’ main character, Safeer, is determined to impress. A foreign national from an undisclosed country he has an extra challenge to overcome – English is evidently not his first language. Safeer’s applying for a job as a private investigator. He’s worked at the job successfully in his own country for the past four years. Now all he has to do is pass a test for ‘oral proficiency’ or rather, overcome the language barrier and convince the powers that be that he is indeed the man for the job.

This is no easy feat, especially when The Examiner is a man named Colton – a condescending, obnoxious, prejudiced and racist upstart who does little to disguise his disdain for Safeer by reacting to his test answers with a series of smirks, sneers and guffaws. He continues by stereotyping Safeer and ultimately rejecting his application.

            SAFEER
     (baffled)
My English good?

With those final words the interview is over and Safeer is shown the door. Little does Colton know however that by ignorantly equating Safeer’s broken English with stupidity he is the one who’s just made a big mistake. Safeer is nobody’s fool and he’s about to prove it by utilizing the very talents for which he’s just been passed over. Oh, such sweet irony.

Filmmakers: Want a cleverly plotted comedy with an equally powerful message? One that delivers with a terrific punchline guaranteed to have your audiences laughing in the aisles?

Well, don’t delay. Apply now! We predict this one will have applicants lined up around the block.

* We also recommend you read this imagining the role of Safeer being played by the late great Peter Sellers, the author’s inspiration for the character. Alternately, Sacha Baron Cohen would also do the trick. J

Budget: Minimal: yet more reason to interview and “hire” this one!

About the writer: Manolis Froudarakis has won two awards in short screenplay competitions. His main focus is comedy – preferably, comedy with a little edge. You can contact him at: mfroudarakis (a) yahoo.gr

Read Speaking Test (pdf format)

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

Find more scripts available for production.

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.

Love Can Wait (3 page short comedy in pdf format) by Manolis Froudarakis

After an accident involving an old ring, Eric is tormented by the suspicion that love can indeed wait.

Light, fresh… and lots of fun. Those are the key ingredients to a good rom-com. Sprinkle some sympathetic characters into the mix. (And don’t forget the comedic frosting. Vanilla-strawberry, if you please!)

It sounds simple… But one look at what passes for comedy these days will prove it’s not that easy. You need a good script to provide the foundation – to bind your components deliciously!

Fortunately, Love Can Wait by Manolis Froudarakis is the perfect recipe. As this light-hearted comedy opens, twenty year olds Eric and Julie relax on a hill, enjoying an afternoon picnic. Love is clearly in the air; they’re seconds from becoming engaged. Julie shows Eric the ring her grandpa gave to his beloved when he proposed. She reminisces how grandma promised she’d wait forever. However long it would take…

Sensing the perfect moment, Eric gets down on one knee – and slips the ring on Julie’s finger. But before either can say “I do”, a terrible accident occurs… landing Eric in the hospital!

As Eric wakes and struggles to clear his head, Julie’s the first thing he sees. But the woman before him is ancient… the diamond ring sparkling on a wrinkled finger.

Has their love stood the ultimate test of time? Could Julie have waited sixty years? A simple story with a clever twist, LCW is sure to be a hit with audiences. It’s short, endearing and funny. The perfect dessert for directors with a comedic sweet tooth!

About the writer: Manolis Froudarakis has won two awards in short screenplay competitions. His main focus is comedy – preferably, comedy with a little edge. You can contact him at: mfroudarakis (a) yahoo.gr

Budget: Basic. Locations include a simple picnic setting, a space to replicate a hospital room – and three characters. Oh, and that diamond ring. (Real or prop, it’s up to you!)

Read Love Can Wait (3 pages in pdf format)

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

Find more scripts available for production

About the Reviewer: KP Mackie Über reader. When not reading or researching new story ideas, she enjoys writing animated scripts, historical-fiction and westerns. (Currently working on another animated script.) So many ideas, so little time…  ;D