The Last Nerd (7 pages in pdf format) by Brett Martin

A storyteller performs an epic adventure for kids.

Which films would you consider timeless? The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, and Gone With The Wind are surely worthy of that name. While such tales may be wildly diverse, classic movies share one enduring trait: the ability to find new audiences and fans – generation after adoring generation – for practically one hundred years.

Let’s take that concept even further. What film might be remembered far into the future? Will it still be Citizen Kane? Or another celluloid classic: a story that’s more than timeless. One that’s legendary, in fact.

Written by veteran screenwriter Brett Martin, The Last Nerd opens in a makeshift theatre full of anxious children – awaiting a show by master storyteller “Patton”.

As the curtain opens, Patton and his trusty dog (yes, you read that right. Patton’s co-actor is a dog) take to the stage to perform an epic saga that’s been passed down for eons… Ear to ear. Word by word.

And when Patton opens HIS mouth, the crucial teaser is revealed. He recites the opening lines from a film we’re intimately familiar with. But the children in THIS audience are hearing it for the very first time.

The film in question? Star Wars!

Yep, the heroic derring do of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Leia – acted out scene by scene by Patton, his trusty dog R2-K9, some crude action figures, and a few eager volunteers from the audience. The tension mounts inevitably – until the Rebels reign victorious. And every child in the theater cheers! Because for a few precious hours, Patton’s weaved together a magical story that allows a rag-tag group of children to escape their reality – and travel back a long time ago. To a galaxy far, far away.

But eventually, even the best adventures must end. After the Death Star dissipates in a brilliant blossom of fire and space dust, Patton packs up his wares and ventures off towards his next show. After all, not every child on Earth has heard the saga of the Jedi. And Patton vows he’ll never rest – until the Force is with them all.

A script with more twists than a Death Star corridor, The Last Nerd requires a director who possesses good rapport with child actors and has experience in the theatre. The part of Patton himself? A role any scenery chewing, spotlight stealing theatre actor would love to add to their resume.

Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if Star Wars is your favorite film.

Either way, make sure you give this one a read. Because whatever Director pulls this homage off will have audiences howling in their seats!

Budget: Moderate. A make-shift theatre and some talented child actors. Doggie treats for R2-K9.

About the Author: Brett Martin is an unrepped screenwriter and freelance reader living in Los Angeles. He sold an action/thriller to Quixotic Productions, which is owned by Brett Stimely (Watchmen, Transformers 3). Destiny Pictures recently hired Brett to develop an inspirational sports drama. CineVita Films is currently in pre-production on a proof of concept teaser for Brett’s new contained thriller, which is a modern take on a classic public domain fairy tale. Contact him on LinkedIn

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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 Guest Reviewer:  David M Troop resumed writing in 2011 after a twenty-five year hiatus. Since then, he has written about 50 short scripts, two of which have been produced.   Dave would like to make it three. He is a regular, award-winning contributor to MoviePoet.com. Born on the mean streets of Reading, PA, Dave now resides in Schuylkill Haven with his wife Jodi and their two lazy dogs Max and Mattie. He can be reached at dtroop506 “AT” gmail.com.

Keeping it Fresh (6 pages in pdf format) by Rick Hansberry

Ken and Ruth have done it all. Except this.

What are you willing to do to keep things fresh? That’s a question many couples in their 60s dare to ask, and Ken and Ruth do their best to answer.

Does Fresh mean honest? Or just exciting? And when the stakes are ‘whatever needs to be done to share one’s life’, how can a couple truly know?

As veteran writer Rick Hansberry’s script opens, we meet Ken and Ruth in their well worn family car; tersely discussing their “action plan.” Ruth’s awash with nerves – her hands playing with a folded piece of paper. Ken tries to be sensitive to her concerns, but fails miserably at every attempt.

Where is this duo going? And why?

Their destination – a grocery store. What on Earth could be nerve racking there?

Soon, we discover Ken and Ruth are in… a race. Of what kind? The truth’s unclear. But what unfolds next is a comedy of errors – a wondrous blend of anxiety and charm. Imagine the slapstick as Ken and Ruth dodge obstacles, friends, enemies, wet floors, and – of course – time.

What will the finish line reveal? We won’t spoil the surprise (or the produce). But you will find a warm, sophisticated comedy – ala a young June Squibb or Seymour Cassell.

This is a script with tons of buy-one-get-two-free.  Including: a budget friendly tale, featuring characters of a “specific” (and underrepresented) age. All of which makes this story stand out – and write it’s way into even old and jaded hearts.

Need some older actors? Consider giving your parents’ “cool” friends something to do for a day. But regardless of who you cast, you’ll charm your way into festivals with this Fresh, young-at-heart gem!

Budget: All that’s needed are two good actors, and access to a deli or supermarket – at least a few aisles.

About the writer: Rick Hansberry is a screenwriter, producer and director with more than 20 years of industry experience. His SAG Foundation award-winning Branches features narration by Daniel Stern and garnered international festival awards. In 2017 his thriller/horror film, Evil In Her was released on Amazon Video and Vimeo On Demand. His most recent short, inspired by true events, has won praise for its portrayal of one girl’s positive approach to handling her Type 1 Diabetes. You can view It’s Not Permanent free on YouTube. Rick has two shorts playing in the festival circuit now and has several other shorts and features available here and is presently available for hire for new story ideas, rewrites and adaptations. He can be reached at djrickhansberry – AT – msn, (cell phone 717-682-8618) and IMDB credits available here.

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About the reviewer: Rachel Kate Miller is a veteran of the feature animation industry, having worked on several Oscar winning films, bringing stories to life. In 2012, she left animation to move to Chicago and run the design department for President Obama’s reelection campaign. She is now living in New York, writing, consulting on various projects and creating an educational animated series for elementary students focused on engaging kids in science. Want to drop Rachel line? She can be reached at rachelkate.miller (a) gmail.

Outcall by Chris Beadnell

An elderly man gets a visit from a new home health aide – one with added benefits!

First impressions count. Especially at the start of a new job. It’s a chance to let your professionalism shine, and prove why you were hired in the first place – while demonstrating your top notch skill-set first hand.

This is the situation young Bambi finds herself in at the beginning of Chris Beadnell’s comedy short, Outcall.

A new girl at her agency, Bambi’s got to impress her boss, and satisfy her clients – totally. As we join her in her new venture, she’s preparing to meet a new customer. Is the girl dressed properly? Check. Does she know what her task entails? Double check.

But when she arrives at the address, confusion rears it’s ugly head. Because this locale isn’t your usual meet for Bambi’s line of work. And not a typical client either.

It’s not often you get an 82-year-old man named John requesting the following from a 20-something girl:

            BAMBI
So I have a shave, a back wash
and a massage. That’s what we’re
doing?

Then Bambi realises something else: the senile senior… stinks on ice! So she adds a quick shower to the list of on –the-job services, and gives the octogenarian a wet scrubbing. In the shower. Buck naked. An experience John relishes. Ah, customer service at its best!

But halfway through the shaving routine, two major twists run this train right off its tracks:

   Bambi’s phone rings.
   There’s a hurried knock at the door.

Maybe that’s coincidence. Or these events are connected. But if so – how? Only one person knows for sure, and that won’t be you…until you read the script!

This certainly ain’t a family friendly short, but it’s audience-friendly all the way. That ridiculous shower scene is a total gem: providing a mix of amusing/mature entertainment… with clever plot revelations along the way. It’s not often you see those two adjectives in the same sentence, but Outcall weds them instantly. Now, all it needs is the perfect Minister (um, “Director”) to finish the job… even if Bambi can’t.

Pick this one up, and you’ll be called in to many award ceremonies! With satisfied “clients” all the way!

Budget: Pretty low. Your primary priority: two great actors… with great comedic timing and chemistry!

About the writer, Chris Beadnell: With a 30+ year paramedic career, bearing witness to the complete spectrum of human emotion, I would use the creativity of writing as an escape from the reality of such a high pressure occupation. Most of my writing was never seen by anyone except a very select group of family and friends, and sometimes not even them. However, a serious eye injury in 2015 had me off work for months and the boredom of not working gave me the time and desire to learn the craft of script writing, and the stories locked in my mind finally had an avenue to flow. Chris can be reached out Cbeadnell (a) ymail.com or ChrisBeadnell.wordpress.com. Check out his other works.

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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.

Lady Eva by Steven Clark

Part time reporter Tyler is about to have the interview of a lifetime.

Lady Eva’s life, that is…

A lady of the night who is just that: a lady.

Eva is a hooker. As a small-town prostitute, she is who the local faux-riche kids call when they’re looking for a good time. But tonight, she has a different kind of client.

Tyler is a part-time reporter for a local news magazine and is looking to do a story on the town’s thriving counter culture. During his first meeting though, Eva makes it clear that she is not some two-bit hustler looking to score fifty here and there. You see, she was once a member of the Lady’s Club, an elite escort service catering to the richest one percent. Trump? Naw, that was her friend, Cassie.

As the story develops Eva and Cassie introduce Tyler to the real counter culture, including coke, booze, and a particularly twisted situation involving a Speedo (and later lack thereof).

But behind it all, just who is Eva? Her trailer is littered with remnants of her formerly glam lifestyle. Particularly with souvenirs of a certain Sanderson (Sandy) Shore. The name sound familiar? Perhaps you’re read about the multi-millionaire in Forbes. It seems he and Eva have a special relationship, one that has survived the years and fates. As Tyler learns more about Eva, he learns just what a lady she is. Her story is definitely not what Tyler was expecting it to be.

Reporter driven narratives are all the rage today. This year alone, Spotlight, Truth, and Woman in Gold all used the reporter as an inquisitive tool into an otherwise difficult to access subject. Likewise, Lady Eva takes us by the hand and introduces us to a whole new world that was there all along. The script is set to be a prestige piece more Tangerine than Pretty Woman. Contemporary, relevant, and absolutely unflinching in its portrait of small-town prostitution while addressing larger issues of money, power, and the fall from grace.

So comb your hair, put on some cologne, you’ve got a date with a lady. Think you can handle her?

Budget: Medium. Don’t be intimidated by the page count, the locations are limited. Diner, trailer, house. A flashback to a Park Avenue party and (spoiler) a funeral scene can be done on the cheap, or used as opportunities to show off.

About the writer: Based in upstate, NY, Steven Clark is the writer of over 30 short scripts, several of which are under option, in pre-production, or have already been made into films. On A Clear Night, a family Christmas feature aimed at a Hallmark Channel-type audience, is currently in the works. Steven can be reached at Steamroller138 (a) gmail.

About the Reviewer: Dane Whipple is an attorney based in Hamburg, Germany. He has over 10 years experience with film and film theory and once got to kick-in a door for the German equivalent of CSI. He is currently writing that screenplay everybody keeps talking about: The Wild Age. Contact him at dane.whipple “AT” live.com

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Safe Keeping
The host of a reality show discovers some storage units should never be opened.

TV and film eras are defined by trends. Westerns, crime investigation, and more recently, superheroes have been shoved down the throats of viewers without a care for the potential of oversaturation. Reality TV is no exception. A current craze is storage shows, where overly colorful people bid for the contents of units that house almost anything you could think of in the hope that they can make a tidy profit from whatever lies within. Storage Hunters, Auction Hunters, Storage Wars, and countless other shows have sprung up to cash in on this newest fad.

Mitch Smith’s Safe Keeping adds another show to that ever-growing list. Rico and Jackson are two veterans of the storage circuit, and the hosts of Storage Seeker, a show in which they document their adventures at auctions. At today’s auction, the expertise is shining through. They’re winning bins that look good, pulling tricks to take them from the unsuspecting at the last minute, and avoiding the duds, leaving them to the suckers. To Jackson, it’s just:

JACKSON
(to camera)
Another day, another dollar.

But then they come to the final bin of the day, where they’re thrown off course as both struggle to figure out exactly what is in the most mysterious unit they’ve seen in a while. After the most intense bidding war of the day, our hosts come out on top, and Jackson is jubilant at winning one of those units that has the potential to house something unexpected and valuable.

Unfortunately, the contents can only be described as one of those two words, and as the seekers explore their winnings further, they discover clues and objects that hint to something sick and sinister being hidden at this storage facility. Jackson is skeptical and disinterested; if it’s not worth $, he doesn’t care, but Rico’s curiosity gets the better of Jackson’s doubt and they embark on a hunt that could take Storage Seeker off the air…for good.

Can the duo unlock the secrets that the facility hides behind certain doors and return for another season? Or will this be the dramatic finale that wraps up the show and ties up all loose ends? As a script that hilariously parodies “trash TV” tropes yet has a bitterly frightening and ironic twist, it’s safe to say that Safe Keeping is a great unit for any potential director to win. Get your bids in for this one fast!

Budget: Hey, this is Found Footage! Spend enough to make this a quality production – but keep that wonderful gritty look.

Pages: 13

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 “AT” gmail.com. If you’d like to contact him and be subjected to incoherent ramblings, follow him on Twitter @HamishP95.

About the writer: Mitch Smith is an award winning screenwriter whose website (http://mitchsmithscripts.wix.com/scripts) offers notes, script editing and phone consultations. You can also reach him at Mitch.SmithScripts “AT” gmail and follow Mitch at https://twitter.com/MitchScripts.

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Please join STS in congratulating writer Rick Hansberry.  Not once, but several times…

1) His recently reviewed short, Last Dance, has been picked up for student production by Megan McPherson.

Other directors take note: Last Dance is still available for professional use, as are several more Rick-flavored scripts!

Cards (drama) –  A pair of copyrighters continue their career-long battle long after retirement.

Over the Lump (drama) – Objects in the mind’s mirror may appear larger than they are.

Freak (drama) – A simple wave and smile alters the life of a teenager.

By the Power Vested in Me (drama) – Will a power outage serve as a sign that a wedding shouldn’t happen?

Hello (drama) – Interesting what you can find in used bookstores – and often there’s a reason it’s there.

‘Til Death (Comedy) – A marital tiff erupts to epic proportions….

Burn the Ships (drama) – Life lessons alter the courses taken by a teacher and his student.

Taking the Reins (drama FEATURE) – A reckless equestrian struggles through personal and professional setbacks to try to make history as the youngest winner of the elite Rolex championship, but his destructive personality poses the biggest obstacle to claiming the title.

2) Rick’s SF feature length, Alienate, is now available for purchase!  Take a gander at the DVD review here!

STS is thrilled to announce John Cowdell’s thriller short, Seven Hours, has now officially been sold! The prize goes to 10AM Productions, and we have no doubt we’ll be seeing a wonderful finished product for the festivals soon…!

Needless to say, we’ve got several more Cowdell scripts in the queue… In the meantime, consider shooting John an email now (ommi80 “AT” yahoo.co.uk), and see what else he’s got in store!

About the writer: John Cowdell has been writing and making short films for over ten years as well as creating videos for the internet. During his time at college, where he studied Media Production, he made his first short film with a fellow student. The short film “City Road” reached the finals of a competition in 2000 and was shown at a local cinema. Most recently, John has been reviewing films and producing video content for Squabblebox.co.uk. His main passion is filmmaking and he hopes to write and direct feature films in the near future. Feel free to drop him a line at iommi80 “AT” yahoo.co.uk!