MAN’S BEST FRIEND
Three days after a couple’s beloved dog goes missing, a phone call arrives that will change the game. Forever.

Put aside whether you’re a dog person or cat person just for a moment and focus on the incomparable talents of Man’s Best Friend, and why mutts have earned this most eminent title.

Ready…?

Guide dogs, guard dogs, sniffer dogs, therapy dogs, herding, hunting, tracking and cadaver dogs, bomb, drug, and chemical detection dogs; dogs of war, dogs who can sniff out cancer – dogs who rescue their owners from burning buildings and rolling rapids… And that’s just to name a few of their talents. Add to that, unconditional loyalty and love, goopy grins, sloppy kisses and perennially wagging tails, and really – the ‘elegant tramp’, (as one of my friends labels felines), is really not much competition, now is it?

From Rin-Tin-Tin and Lassie to the memorably cute but a lil’ fugly Verdell in As Good As It Gets, it’s no wonder dogs have an illustrious celluloid history, in both leading roles and as sidekicks.

Okay, now picture this:

You’re wandering down the street, minding your own business, and you look up to see MISSING, LOST DOG, or REWARD, stamped across a poster and nailed to a telegraph pole. Typically a photo of said AWOL pooch looks dolefully and adorably into the camera. Aww, so sad, and guaranteed to tug at the ol’ heartstrings.

This is also the opening scene of Steven Clark’s screenplay, Man’s Best Friend.

But hang on now, cause if you’re thinking this is going to be a cute fluffy-dog piece think again. Curt and Cassie, a couple in their thirties (he’s a cop btw) have just received a rather ominous telephone call and discovered there’s a bounty to be paid on Ranger, their missing ‘family member’ – and a rather hefty ransom demand.

MAN (V.O.)
We have your dog. …
He’s got nice teeth. But I’ve got
pliers. … $10,000 dollars for the mutt. Cash. Or
I start playing dentist.

Eww! Marathon Dog, anyone?

To say anything further would spoil the fun, the suspense, and the very, very, dark twists and turns of this piece. Suffice to say this tail (sorry, tale) is less for lovers of Marley And Me , and more for fans of teeth baring, and snarling Cujo, and Seven Psychopaths.

Dare I say, if you’ve got a nose for talent you can call off your search right now cause with Man’s Best Friend you’ll definitely be barking up the right tree.

Solitaire
A troubled loner is about to get a second chance. And maybe more…

In the final act of Steven Clark’s screenplay ‘Solitaire’, main character Randy makes the following comment:

RANDY
They say this game mimics life.
Ladders, chutes. Up, down. Everything
by chance.

This poses the question: Are the cards we’re dealt in life pre-determined, or is the game of life just a random result of luck and fate? Similarly, does playing by the rules, employing strategic maneuvers, knowing when to show your hand and when to keep your cards close to your chest ensure a better result in this game of life?

Steven Clarke’s characters Randy and Amy have been playing by the rules all of their lives. Randy washes dishes in a small-town diner. Amy is a waitress. During his breaks Randy can be found sitting at a table at the back idling away at his favorite card game: Solitaire – or Patience, as he likes to call it.

We get the impression life up until now has been a bit of a struggle for Randy. We know he’s recently returned from a stint in the military and has suffered some sort of trauma. Some might call him damaged goods… As a result, for the most part, he keeps his head down and his mouth shut.

Amy’s also doing it tough as a single mom supporting her daughter.

That she’s attracted to Randy is no secret, but Randy is so painfully shy he can’t even look Amy in the eye. Seems these two might be destined to be ships passing in the night…

We can tell by this line however:

Randy’s gaze follows her as she hip-checks through a swinging
door, out into the dining room.

So there’s still hot blood coursing through Randy’s veins. And Amy’s indomitable spirit ensures Randy’s brooding dark horse personality and solitary habits are not going to put her off.

Amy’s decided today is the day. She’s worked up the courage and she’s going to make her move. Brazenly, she steps up to the table where Randy’s playing his game and asks him for a date. Just like that. Game on.

Of course, as with all good dramas, things don’t exactly go according to plan. Having given his home a long overdue spit and polish, and donned a nice white shirt and tie, Randy sits down at the kitchen table to wait…

And wait… and wait…

Never has the dial on the kitchen clock ticked by more slowly, and still no sign of Amy.

It appears she may have just thrown a dummy move that no-one could see coming.

Then, just when you think game over, there’s a knock at the door.

Is Randy about to discover that Patience is indeed a virtue? That gambling on love, one of the highest-stakes games of all, is worth it? If he gets it wrong, it could be a falling house of cards. Then again, as the saying goes…You’ve got to be in it to win it, right?

With echoes of Frankie and Johnny, and It Could Happen To You, Steven Clark paints a very moving tale with Solitaire about two people searching for meaning in their lives, and that all important love connection.

Filmmakers: Know a good deal – I mean screenplay – when you see one? Don’t you dare leave this one to chance. After all, this could be that all important game changer.

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

A young boy with an overactive imagination gets it in his head to try for a real-life adventure. But can he pull it off? And even if he does, will anyone believe him?

It is a screenwriter’s job to hook you from the first page, to transport you to another world, introduce you to characters you instantly care about and weave a story you can immerse yourself in.

FADE IN:

Mid Summer… A quiet coastal road winds its way through gnarled trees and craggy rocks… the ocean visible beyond… This is Wyeth country…

Josh McDonald hooked me right off the bat with his opening description of Head In The Clouds. In fact, he had me in the palm of his hand the whole way through – and I wasn’t about to let go.

Martinsville Maine, circa 1955, small town America, where the characters look ‘like they wandered in from a Norman Rockwell painting.’

Enter: Johnny and Stevie, two twelve year old boys, and best friends, who couldn’t be more like chalk and cheese. While Stevie has his feet firmly planted on the ground Johnny lives in a rich fantasy world.

50s America is a quieter time, a place where kids are allowed to roam unsupervised. Though he’s growing up Johnny still lets his imagination reign supreme, something as ordinary as a stick can be transformed into a sword to be engaged in ‘swashbuckling swordplay’, likewise a discarded hubcap can magically morph into the ‘Discus of Achilles’.

Endless summer days are spent idling along the coastline until sundown, the highlight of the day culminating at the business end of town with pocket money to be spent on penny-candies purchased from the General Store.

Something’s different about today though, and that something is ‘parked behind the store at the town’s main dock.’ Johnny believes it could be the perfect opportunity for adventure.  Stevie however, is quick to point out there are some things in life kids are just not allowed to do, certain activities reserved only for ‘important people…’ In fact he tells  Johnny in no uncertain terms, ‘you buy too many books’ – translation: you need to get your head out of the clouds and come back down to earth. 

But the seed of an idea has already been sown. Spending a lot of time inside your own head and alongside fictional characters in books will have that effect. Johnny knows there’s a bigger wider world out there full of adventure and he thinks it’s about time he experienced some of it.

Is Johnny’s dream about to become a reality, or will he come plummeting back to earth?

Head In The Clouds is a beautifully written and lyrical coming of age story with richly drawn characters.

Filmmakers, isn’t it high time you spread your wings and turned your own dream into a reality? Want to produce pure poetry in motion, perhaps inject a little of your own Malick-like magic into the landscape of this one? Look no further than Head In The Clouds.

THE GIFTED PHOTOGRAPHER

A photographer pays a house-call to shoot a family portrait where his true talent becomes apparent.

Photographs, those treasured mementos of our lives – they can chart a life from birth through to adulthood, and beyond. We keep photos in our wallets, in lockets around our necks, in photo-frames by our bedside tables. Photographs allow us to freeze moments – to travel back in time.

The Gifted Photographer is set towards the end of the Victorian era. At first glance it conjures Great Britain, but America had its own Gilded Age, most notably in the regions of New England and the Deep South. Think Gothic Architecture, the Women’s Suffragette Movement, Republican domination, and literary greats such as Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain. This was also a period characterized by high society and strict morality.

Ian J. Courter manages beautifully to evoke the images of the time – the cobblestone streets, horse drawn carriages and top-hats.

Photography at this time was in its infancy – there was no such thing as the ‘Selfie’ and no such thing as Instagram or Snapchat. The taking of photographs, in particular portraits, was only ever done for special occasions.

The story opens on Michael Houtman, the titular photographer of the piece. Herbert and Margaret Jaffe have requested his services for a very special family portrait with their daughter, Linda. Michael strikes up a conversation with Linda and discovers this sweet young woman suffered a nasty spill on the ice a few months ago. The accident has left her sickly and confined to a wheelchair, but this morning she wakes to a perfect Spring day feeling better than she has in a long time – and she’s ready for her close-up.

But this is no ordinary day, no ordinary photo-shoot, and no ordinary photographer…

Far be it for me to shed too much light, or bring into focus the darker themes and rich cultural history explored in The Gifted Photographer, suffice to say the Latin phrases Ars moriendi and Memento mori both give clues into a not so well known practice explored in this unique tale.

Of course, all you have to do to find out more is read the script. You’ll not only discover the secret talent The Gifted Photographer possesses, but will also uncover the talent of writer Ian J. Courter.  

With an ending that will stay with you long after the lights come up (we recommend reading it at night) and a final sting in the tail you won’t see coming, we advise you to get The Gifted Photographer in the can quick as a flash, before somebody else snaps it up.