Petition asks Amy Heckerling to read prison screenplay

More than 2000 women sign petition demanding a firm commitment from  Amy Heckerling (film producer) to read screenplay addressing Texas judicial system

Amy Heckerling – Talent Agents
– Writer, Director, Producer – Clueless (1996), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Look Who’s Talking (1989), Red Oaks (2014) – A3 Artists Agency, Adam Kanter – MGMT Entertainment, Ken Stovitz

Dumbass, Clueless

Amy Heckerling & Adam Sandler’s film company targeted by Texas petition

Will Hollywood just rollover and let prisoner’s suffer?

EXCLUSIVE

The signatories, including state senators, professors of criminal justice, social workers, family, and inmates, call for a “firm commitment” to tackle the unjust prisons in Texas. The petition has also been signed by Beto O’Rourke, and Matthew McConaughey. These two signatories might face each other in the 2022 Texas governors election. Both have expressed interest in the job.  The petitions arrived for Amy Heckerling at A3 Artists Agency, Adam Kanter last week.

In the open letter to Amy Heckerling, the 2080 women write that they are “heartbroken for first-time drug offenders many times addicts who have received extremely harsh sentences in Texas when rehabilitation has proven a cheaper and more effective solution.”  The petition goes on to say their family and friends are often heartbroken for and looking for redemption and rehabilitation for the victimless drug crimes.”

The signatories, including attorneys, professors, politicians, family members, and inmates, call on Amy Heckerling for a ‘firm film commitment’ to tackle the issue of operating the Texas prison system for profit.

The petition came to light when women discovered the screenplay, a copy which was dontated to all 580 of the state’s prison and jail libraries. The existence of the petition surfaced on International Women’s Day. Women in Texas face extreme prejudice in Texas and often receive extremely harsh penalties for even a small amount of drugs, including marijuana. Marijuana is legal now in 21 states.

Inside prisons, the women are faced with such horrendous conditions… the petition demands that “filmmakers begin to take the issue seriously.”  Also, the petition reminds that “even here in the USA in the 21st century citizens are not safe from government oppression.”

Writer, Director, Producer, Amy Heckerling, has not responded to the petition. Nor has A3 Artists Agency, Adam Kanter responded with a comment.

The screenplay “Dumbass” was penned by writer and retired professor of political science Alan Nafzger.

The premise of the story is that, “Adam Sandler writes letters and saves numerous women from the monotony of prison life, and later when he gets into trouble with a drug cartel they return the favor by rescuing him.”

The film would be set in contemporary, Gatesville Texas. There are four women’s prisons located in Gatesville. And of course, Texas is famous for putting everyone in prison for a long sentences for little or no reason. The number of women in Texas prisons has tripled in the last ten years, as mass incarcerations have proven profitable to not only the state but also profitable for an array of business interests.

Writer Alan Nafzger has called on Governor Greg Abbott to, “end the prison industry.”

Recently, “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak spoke out against the Texas system and put a good word in for mercy and forgiveness out on social media. “How nice for those who have lived such exemplary lives that they can express glee when others have their lives ruined by a mistake, real or perceived,” Sajak tweeted last month.

The petition states, “Why don’t we have the ‘Adam Sandler’ character… sending letters to women in prison and being their friend and trying to help them adjust, giving them hope… and when they get out of prison he picks them up so they don’t have to ride the smelly bus back home… but his pickup truck is a junker, smoking and sputtering … worse than the bus. But his heart is in the right place… He’s the last “chivalrous” man on earth.”

Amy Heckerling has not commented on the script, thusfar. A statement is expected soon.

Professor Nafzger has made a short treatment of the project available online.

He has made the finished script available at for select filmmakers.

Jana Sandler of Happy Madison Productions has also expressed interest in the screenplay.

Amy Heckerling is a Writer, Director, Producer known for Clueless (1996), Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), Look Who’s Talking (1989), Red Oaks (2014) and is represented by A3 Artists Agency, Adam Kanter.

——————- READ MORE ——————-

Yet I’m amazed how many don’t understand what this means. It means you can’t film hopes, dreams, fears, etc. UNLESS you externalize them. This means you find a way to show them visually. This sounds obvious, but time and again I read scripts where everything is done internally. If you want to write about hopes, dreams and fears from an internal perspective, write a novel.

#3 The idea can be filmed! We’ve all heard the phrase, “Film’s a visual medium.”

Note: Don’t try out your ideas on Hollywood people. You can’t copyright an idea, so keep the Hollywood people out of the loop until you’ve written the final product.

Most of us have a group of friends, relatives or co-workers we discuss films with. By the way, during these conversations I don’t tell them it’s just an idea. I simply hit them with it, usually when we’re talking about recent movies we’ve seen. I once had a friend call me back wanting to know the title of the film I told him about. Well, it isn’t a film – – yet! My friends are in habit of asking me, “Is that something you’re working on or can we go see it today?” If you tell them up front it’s your idea they’ll like it automatically (friends don’t want to hurt your feelings), so hit them with the idea and watch for their initial reaction.

But what works for me structurally is not necessarily going to do it for you.

I’m primarily a thriller writer, and my personal favorite game is: “Is it supernatural or is it psychological?” I love to walk the line between the real and unreal, so I am constantly creating story situations in which there are multiple plausible explanations for the weird stuff that’s going on, including mental illness, drug-induced hallucinations, and outright fraud. That’s why my master list for any book or script I write will almost always include The Haunting of Hill House and The Shining, both classic books (and films) that walk the line between the supernatural and the psychological.

Once you start looking at the games that genres play, you will also start to understand the games that you most love, and that you want to play with your readers and audience.

So if you’re writing a story like It’s A Wonderful Life, it’s not going to help you much to study Apocalypse Now. A story that ends with a fallen hero/ine is not going to have the same story shape as one that ends with a transcended hero/ine. (Although if both kinds of films end up on your list of favorite stories, you might find one is the other in reverse. That’s why you need to make your own lists!)