BALL DON'T LIE
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BALL DON'T LIE has real potential, is worth further exploring, and |
Pitchdeck
NBA superstar, Demarcus McGee, doesn’t need much help from his teammates to win. That’s probably a good thing, since the mercurial, selfish star has seemingly alienated himself from nearly everyone in the Los Angeles Lakers organization. Demarcus’s Lakers are in the NBA Finals and they’re down by one. Demarcus is also one assist shy of a record-breaking fifth straight finals triple-double. Demarcus has a chance near the end of the game to take the lead with a wide-open layup. Instead, he passes it to a teammate who’s being defended to get his tenth assist and secure his fifth straight triple-double. The ball is passed back to an open Demarcus who quickly passes it back to another defended player. “Absolutely preposterous and ignominiously indefensible,” says Stephen A. Smith. The crowd boos and the Lakers lose. Demarcus blames everyone else in the post-game interviews and gets in a fight with a teammate in the locker room. After a required meeting with the team’s renowned sports psychologist, Demarcus wakes up in the 1950s NBA as the only black NBA player where segregation is the norm and there’s no such thing as a three pointer. Demarcus has to learn what it means to be a good teammate for the last-placed Lakers to break a curse and get himself sent back to the present before the NBA finals game seven. And why the hell are the Lakers in Minneapolis? BALL DON"T LIE is REMEMEBER THE TITANS meets TED LASSO. This screenplay is a genre hybrid mix of hip-hop, comedy and basketball lore coming together to create a story about teamwork, trust and friendship all while addressing race and hate. It is currently a Semifinalist of the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. |
LILY OF THE VALLEY
Feature
Logline: An ornery florist comes up with creative ways for the 100-year-old loveable, town founder to die more quickly to prevent his supermarket with a floral shop from opening and to sell a bunch of flowers at his funeral, while the florists’ happy-go-lucky, pushover husband tries to stop her.
Genre: Dark Comedy
Genre: Dark Comedy
An entertaining small-town story with strong characters and a unique narrative, LILY OF THE VALLEY may find some interest amongst producers and production companies looking for potential festival hits. |
Pitchdeck
For some folks, a job merely bides them time until the weekend. They do not really like their job, and they sure do not love their job. They do not find their identity and sense of worth in their occupation. This is not Linda Cooper. Her entire being lies in her occupation as the owner and operator of Linda’s Flowers, her small business in a small Texas town. Though she gives off no real warmth or affection to anyone in the community, not even to her husband, Wayne, Linda finds that she will go to any length to stop a supposed threat to her business. Elbert Kunkle is just that threat. He’s a legendary figure. Pushing 100 years old he’s seemingly tireless and immortal. He built the small town of Elbertsville, in which Linda runs her flower shop. Now Elbert’s building a new supermarket, which includes a florist department. If Elbert were to “accidentally” die, the supermarket would dissolve, and Linda’s flowers would sell a whole lot of flowers from his death. As Linda plots for peculiar ways to speed up Elbert’s inevitable death, her happy-go-lucky husband, Wayne, suspects no such evil deed. He’s too caught up in an affair with his doctor’s wife. He is also disturbed by a recent death in the community and by news that his own health might land him an early grave. LILY OF THE VALLEY is THE LADYKILLERS meets WAKING NED DEVINE. It explores the old subjects of happiness and envy while mixing zany characters, memorable dialogue, a plot that keeps moving forward, and a satisfying denouement that’ll bring a smile to the bitterest of souls. LILY OF THE VALLEY has been named as an Award Winner and Official Selection to dozens of festivals and competitions. Co-written with Mark Botts |
WHY, ARIZONA
Feature
Logline: The residents and police force of Why, Arizona deal with the hysteria caused by a nearby city's serial killer summer of terror.
Genre: Drama, Crime, NeoWestern
Genre: Drama, Crime, NeoWestern
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Pitchdeck
With the rise in fear and anxiety from the recent pandemic comes the creativity of greedy people looking to profit. From stockpiling hand sanitizers to selling toilet paper roadside, if there’s a dollar to be made, these rascals will find a way to get it. Well, that’s exactly what Harvey Miles aims to do. With the infamous real-life Serial Shooters terrorizing the City of Phoenix, Harvey, a desperate gun salesman in the nearby town of Why, Arizona, exploits his town's fear to profit from the madness. Firing shots in the middle of the night works perfectly to drum up sales for his sleazy gun shop. But following the Coen Brothers law of anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, Harvey gets in over his head when one shot accidentally kills someone. It’s up to Why’s tiny police department including an old police captain trying to give up smoking and a carefree pregnant cop trying to get off dispatch duty to solve the crime spree and put an end to the town’s madness. WHY, ARIZONA is THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI meets NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN. It mixes zany dialogue, memorable characters, and gut-wrenching horror in this genre hybrid that leads to a heart-pounding, irony-filled denouement you will not see coming. WHY, ARIZONA has been named as an Award Winner and Official Selection to dozens of festivals and competitions. Co-written with Mark Botts |
The personalities filling out that cast are unique, diverse, and engaging, drawing the audience’s interest and fleshing out an already great setting. Overall, the script is very promising and enjoyable. |
PECULIAR NIGHTS
TV Pilot
Logline: A small town police department struggle to contain the criminal wrongdoings of Peculiar townsfolk before the upcoming visit from the archbishop.
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
The concept is truly unique, lots of action, and super-fast pace. Awards & Nominations
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Pitchdeck
The town of Peculiar, Missouri earned it distinctive name as a result of letters dispatched between town’s first postmaster and the United States Post Office in the 1890s. The town’s postmaster had suggested the name Excelsior, but the name was rejected because there was already a town in Missouri that claimed Excelsior. Two other names were suggested, but both of those were already claimed as well. The town gave up. “We don’t care what name you give us, as long as it’s sort of peculiar,” they wrote to the US Postmaster General. In his reply, the Postmaster General paved the course for the town’s identity. “My conclusion is that in all the land it would be difficult to imagine a more distinctive, a more peculiar name than Peculiar,” he wrote. And thus, the town of Peculiar, Missouri was established. Every small town has their share of odd folks and petty crimes. But in Peculiar, Missouri their citizens and the vices they hide seem to be a tad bit more… peculiar. From a farming crime syndicate harvesting more than just corn to a hallucinogenic cremator whose furnace doesn’t work to a perpetually bad-lucked, suicidal accountant, these peculiar townsfolk can’t seem to get their act together. It’s up to the poorly funded, small-town police department to try to contain the criminal wrongdoings of Peculiar townsfolk from spiraling out of control before the upcoming visit from the archbishop. PECULIAR NIGHTS is a five-part mini-series teleplay that is more than just strange. It’s a collection of quirky characters, fun dialogue and memorable images dealing with faith, race, mental health and crime snowballing into a climax for the ages. |
OTHER WORKS
Logline: When his morally bankrupt son returns home from the Army, an apathetic small town Deputy is forced to face the consequences of his ethical compromises and take a stand against a local criminal kingpin.
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Logline: After a tornado destroys her quaint community, a teenage sheltered, Amish girl stumbles upon a time machine that sends her back to 1999 where a band of high school misfits try to help her get back to the future to warn her community of the tornado and keep the evil corporation in charge of the time machine from catching her.
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Logline: In 1922, Booker Carmichael accompanies his linguist professor who is hired by the newly-formed Soviet Union to find the Garden of Eden wherein lies the Tree of Life.
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PRODUCED DOCUMENTARIES
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