Petition asks Lawrence Kasdan to read prison screenplay

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

Lawrence Kasdan – Talent Agents
– Writer, Producer, Director – The Big Chill (1983), Silverado (1985), Wyatt Earp (1994), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Brian Kend –

Dumbass, Paradise Lost, Untitled Anita Bryant Project, Finding Chandra

Lawrence Kasdan & 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 Lawrence Kasdan 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 Lawrence Kasdan at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Brian Kend last week.

In the open letter to Lawrence Kasdan, 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 Lawrence Kasdan 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, Producer, Director, Lawrence Kasdan, has not responded to the petition. Nor has Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Brian Kend 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.”

Lawrence Kasdan 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.

Lawrence Kasdan is a Writer, Producer, Director known for The Big Chill (1983), Silverado (1985), Wyatt Earp (1994), Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and is represented by Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Brian Kend.

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Dramas

Won’t this take away from the big action elements and visualization? It really depends on how you handle it, but remember if you’ve integrated strong character stuff into the story the explosion won’t make or break it either way because the audience will be involved in the whole story, not just the action.

How? Say you have an explosion scene. Instead of showing the whole thing, let us hear it then see a few remnants of flame and that’s it! You still have the explosion but toned down from high-budget to medium-budget geared towards a first sale. This is how a writer takes his art and commercializes it!

Does this mean you have to write a low-budget film to get first-sale consideration? No, this is a big misconception of aspiring screenwriters. You can actually keep all the elements listed about by cleverly toning them down to fit a medium-budget.

But you see what I mean. We all create stories in our own heads all the time, minimal as some of our plot lines may be. So I bet you have dozens of ideas, hundreds. The real question is: “What’s a good story idea?”

We all have story ideas all the time. Even non-writers, and non-aspiring writers — I truly mean everyone — has story ideas all the time. Those story ideas are called daydreams, or fantasies, or “porn starring me and Benedict Cumberbatch.” (Or me and Idris Elba. Or maybe both. Wrap your mind around that one for a second….)

The thing is, “Where do you get your ideas?” is not the real question these people are asking. The real question is: “How do you go from an idea to a coherent story line that holds up — and holds a reader’s interest — for 400 pages of a book?” Or more concisely: “How do you come up with your PREMISES?”

When people ask authors, “Where do you get your ideas?” authors tend to clam up, or worse, get sarcastic — because the only real answer to that is, “Where don’t I get ideas?” or more to the point, “How do I turn these ideas off?”