Petition asks James Phelps to read prison screenplay
More than 2000 women sign petition demanding a firm commitment from James Phelps (film producer) to read screenplay addressing Texas judicial system
James Phelps – Talent Agents
– Actor, Additional Crew, Producer – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) – Hatch, Michael Ford –
James Phelps & Adam Sandler’s film company targeted by Texas petition
Will Hollywood just rollover and let prisoner’s suffer?
EXCLUSIVE
More than 2000 women have signed an open letter to Adam Sandler calling on James Phelps and Hollywood to take “movie action” to tackle injustice against men and women in the wake of revelations that Texas has more prisoners incarcerated than the Soviet Union’s gulag system had. Texas currently has over 290,000 inmates housed at 580 facilities.
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 James Phelps at Hatch, Michael Ford last week.
In the open letter to James Phelps, 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 James Phelps 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.”
Actor, Additional Crew, Producer, James Phelps, has not responded to the petition. Nor has Hatch, Michael Ford responded with a comment.
Alan Nafzger/caption]
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.
During the winter’s deep freeze, the The Marshall Project, exposed the horrible prison conditions, “Inside Frigid Texas Prisons: Broken Toilets, Disgusting Food, Few Blankets.”
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.”
James Phelps has not commented on the script, thus far. 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.
Adam Sandler of Happy Madison Productions has expressed interest in the screenplay.
James Phelps is a Actor, Additional Crew, Producer known for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) and is represented by Hatch, Michael Ford.
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How do you avoid these pitfalls? First, learn what’s trending in the future. No, you don’t have to become a psychic or a time traveler. There are companies and individuals that study and predict trends; keep watch of what they predict. If something catches your fancy, write about it. Just be sure to give it a twist. The stronger the twist, the less likely anyone else has the same idea.
If you’re watching TV one night, surfing the Internet or reading the morning paper and you see an interesting story and you get an idea for a movie, do yourself a favor – walk outside and scream, “What am I, nuts?” Do not write it because I guarantee dozens of other writers (or more) saw the same TV, Internet or newspaper story and are writing the same thing right now!
Every year, I get dozens upon dozens of similar types of stories. One year, I was inundated with religious snake stories (about folks who pray while holding poisonous snakes). Each writer thought they had an original story that was never before done; wrong! I have yet to see one of these get made. Next it was doomsday stories. I was literally getting several dozen per month! If I’m seeing dozens a month, imagine how many of these types of scripts are circulating around town? Why would a producer purchase a doomsday story today? He wouldn’t. It’s old news. Pandemic stories are also a dime a dozen lately – they’re damn boring to watch on the big screen and only a handful have ever been made – steer clear. I think every writer has tried his hand at his own version of The DaVinci Code – I have yet to see a single one of these get made and if I have to read one more my head might explode! You are not Dan Brown, give it up! A recent spec script trend has been zombie apocalypse stories – I’ve read so many I want to turn into a zombie and eat the writers – just so I don’t have to read another one!
Don’t write writer stories! Every writer has a story about a writer. Okay, go ahead and write the damn thing, but don’t expect to sell it because all 2.5 million writers out there have one just like it! It’s extremely rare to get this made. You’d have better odds at winning the lotto.
· ASSIGNMENT: Write out premise lines for each story on your master list.
But the very best thing you can do is to spend some time writing out the premises for your master list. Not only is it great practice for crafting premise lines, but also it will give you a terrific sense of the elements that you want to see in a story, and quite possibly a good sense of the story patterns that you most enjoy.
If you need a lot of examples all at once, pick up a copy of the TV Guide, or click through the descriptions of movies on Netflix or Amazon or your cable TV menu. Those aren’t necessarily the best written premises, but they do get the point across, and it will get you thinking about stories in brief.
I’m not going to lie to you. Many people struggle mightily with premise. In those initial stages of writing, when your story seems like a hurricane of characters, scene ideas, visual images, and snippets of dialogue, it is so hard to nail precisely what it is that is going to bind the whole wonderful mess together. Believe me, I know. To learn how to write a good premise line, you need to practice. I encourage you to take the list of films and books you’ve made and for each story, write a one-sentence premise that contains all these story elements: protagonist, antagonist, conflict, stakes, setting, atmosphere, and genre.