Synopsis: In the game of life, John is the favorite. Young, white, American male. But after graduating from a four year college with nothing to show for it but a useless diploma and a heap of debt, he returns to the only job he's ever known; working the customer service counter at a supermarket. College was not what he had expected. His grades weren't good enough. He wasn't prepared for the few interviews he could get. Life is not how he wants it to be. He thinks about killing himself. He feels like the whole world is out to get him and maybe it is. He applies for a pistol permit. His daydreams become more and more violent. All of his anger and frustration builds up inside him. He meets a girl and falls in love. He learns what it feels like to lose what he never even had. And he comes to the harsh realization that there is only one reason why we all live. Hope.
Synopsis: Elk is an intelligent, independent, and hardworking young man going to school out-of-state for his college education. He lives alone, has a job, and gets top grades in his class. Though it appears that he has his act together, he still struggles to pay the bills and put food on the table. Though they would be more then willing to help, Elk would never ask his parents for their assistance. Things only seem to get worse when he finds a woman who believes she's a cat. Not possessing the heart to simply turn her away, Elk must discover what has happened to her, where she belongs, and why in the world she acts like a feline. The young man receives unrequested aid from a female med. student Aida, and an ever-curious Engineering Technologies major going by the name of TNT. While the three search for answers, a mysterious man dressed in a black suit seems to appear all too often. Just what are the true depths to the mysteries that revolve around the Catgirl?
Synopsis: Chase, the Bad Baby, is the story of Chase Johnson, a newborn who suffered anoxic brain damage at birth. Chase's brain damage is the result of an errant OB-GYN doctor who failed to arrive at the hospital within the time limit of 30 minutes to rescue a distressed baby from natural delivery by means of C-Section. When the OB-GYN arrives Chase has been without oxygen due to a prolapsed cord for long enough to cause severe brain damage. Chase Johnson through his parents sue the errant doctor. Medical malpractice Lawyers call these cases "bad baby" cases. American United Healthcare is the doctor's insurance company and they hire the law firm of Jones and Chimel to defend the OB-GYN. At the helm of the defense team is a thirtyish lawyer named Morgan Ellis. As we meet Morgan Ellis he has just successfully defended another doctor before a jury, for medical malpractice, in an unrelated case. [call or write for more, please]
Synopsis: Bo is a charismatic African American--an Ivy leaguer and one of Chicago's rising architects-- who succeeds by force of talent and personality. But beneath his reinforced exterior is a man whose marriage has been gutted after his affair six months ago and whose career gets caught in the dragnet of corporate racism. Drop is a self-help guru and a source of strength to millions whose pre-packaged answers to life turn out to be ineffectual when his own health starts to fail after a collapse on stage. Drop and Bo are the two poles of a screenplay that intesects six characters whose lives follow the scientific concept of a singularity, which is when bodies in the universe self destruct, giving way to new life. I was Writer/Director of The Quiet, 2003 Winner, Best Independent Film, Screen Magazine, and a finalist for the Sundance Film Festival American Spectrum series. I was previously a film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper group. Thanks for your consideration.
Synopsis: "Gran Torino" flies "Blue Thunder." Graham Johnson is an aging, loner news helicopter pilot who shoulders guilt from the Vietnam War and tries to hide his Parkinson's disease. An episode of the disease happens as he is live on the air flying a tornado for the station. He faces an uncertain future when the young man he is training to replace him (Bobby), who is like the grandson he never had, to fly storms for the news station, dies in a helicopter crash. In an attempt to get his life back, he seeks an experimental stem cell gene therapy while being forced to train the young man's older brother(Jack), who blames him for the crash, to cover tornadic thunderstorms for the news station out of Oklahoma City. They must warn the city of the approaching deadly storm to save the public.
Synopsis: Joan is British. Raised by her mother in England, she was made to believe in being an only child - and that her father had died in an accident at work. Heather is American. Raised by her moneyed father in the United States, she ran away from home at the age of seventeen - and began to answer the letters her mum had sent overseas. Heather and Joan are sisters. But they are two strangers who have never met before - haunted by their fate... A story about the clash between the Great Britain and the United States; a story about the love between two sisters and their exposure to past, sickness and death; a story about the breakdown of a family; a story about the failure of parents - and a story about the rocky way of self-discovery...
Synopsis: Orphaned brothers, John and Andrew Taylor, struggle to maintain their lives. In a moment of suffering, John, drunk at their usual watering hole after loosing his job, is helped out of the bar by Andrew, but not before the pair catch the news report of a cult discovered that swindled followers out of millions. They decide to create a religion themselves and reap the benefits. After five years of growth, the brothers have evolved into prophet businessmen. Their religion has reached the far corners of the globe and gains momentum. Enough momentum to attract the attention of government agencies including the FBI. The brothers become accustomed to their new lifestyle and work hard to maintain it, even so far as murder. Dodging the government, assassins and each other, the brothers come face to face with the monster they have created. WGA registered #1252222, written by Stan Rubakhin and James R. Johnson.
Synopsis: As an author, screenwriter and freelance writer, I am seeking representation. Tapping into the idea that bad boys always get the girl, A Regrettable Twist of Fate validates that premise by revealing that sometimes what repels her also entices her. Jay Byrd, NBA champion, is charismatic, witty and is just as outstanding on the court as one might expect. He makes a promise to his dying mother not to break the heart of his first love, Cindy. With every intention of honoring that promise, Jay's plan is soon halted by his attraction for Jessie Winters, WNBA champion. When Jessie and Jay first meet, sparks sizzle immediately. Though Jessie is somewhat put off by Jay's arrogance, she doesn't dismiss him totally. To make matters more complicated for Jessie, Jay vacillates between his first love, Cindy and the woman he always wanted to love-Jessie Winters. Torn and driven at the same time, Jay soon learns that not making a decision can sometimes be the worst decision of all.
Synopsis: GEORGE KALLIS raises his family in Koblenz, Germany. In 1904, George's oldest son joins the German army and is immediately deployed to Africa where he is killed by African tribesmen. George Kallis starts a new life in Detroit- via Canada. His remaining sons grow into young men. The oldest son, LEROY, finds his calling as a baseball player- eventually starring for the Detroit Tigers. His brother, JOHANN, struggles to find his niche. He returns to Koblenz to pursue his advanced studies- only to be conscripted into the German army. LeRoy immediately crosses into Canada to join the army to find his brother. The story comes to its shattering conclusion in the actual Battle of the Somme. LeRoy musters the last bits of his sanity to find his little brother in the utter madness of this fateful morning. Johann musters his newfound resolve during the absolute chaos to persevere over his abusive superiors and crawls through death... crawling home... through Canada.
Synopsis: Real Estate investor Kat Pierce is newly divorced from Danny Wade. Danny has joined forces with her arch enemy Mitch Wheeler. Kat discovers that Danny has stolen her identity to finance one of their deals. Then Kat meets Jack Larson (who later becomes her love interest), a builder who is losing his unfinished lakefront home to foreclosure. She masterminds a plot to save Jack's home, but to do this, she needs Danny. She feeds him enough information to entice Mitch to outbid her at the auction and complete its construction before taking title. Although her plan worked, she's angry that Danny betrayed her to Mitch and she turns them into the Attorney General. In the interim Mitch completes Jack's home, but things go awry the day before closing when Jack files bankruptcy. The court then lifts the stay on his home and Jack sells it to Kat's buyer for a huge profit. The A.G. has Mitch and his gang arrested and in the end, Jack and Kat ride off into the sunset, happy and wealthy.