Petition asks Oprah Winfrey to read prison screenplay

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

Oprah Winfrey – Talent Agents
– Producer, Actress, Soundtrack – The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986), Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013), A Wrinkle in Time (2018), The Color Purple (1985) – William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment, Ari Emanuel –

Dumbass, Terms of Endearment, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, Netherland

Oprah Winfrey & 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 Oprah Winfrey 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 Oprah Winfrey at William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment, Ari Emanuel last week.

In the open letter to Oprah Winfrey, 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 Oprah Winfrey 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.”

Producer, Actress, Soundtrack, Oprah Winfrey, has not responded to the petition. Nor has William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment, Ari Emanuel 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.”

Oprah Winfrey 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.

Oprah Winfrey is a Producer, Actress, Soundtrack known for The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986), Lee Daniels’ The Butler (2013), A Wrinkle in Time (2018), The Color Purple (1985) and is represented by William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment, Ari Emanuel.

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I’ve picked a film that outwardly appears to be a plot-driven story, yet it has a definite character arc. I chose the film “Speed” because it’s an extremely straightforward example.

Let’s take a look at how this is PROPERLY applied to the screenplay structure.

You can’t just create an interesting concept OR an interesting character. Both the internal external conflicts need to be present. They need to be intertwined.

The purpose of a screenplay is to develop an external conflict that forces a protagonist to come to terms with an internal flaw that’s previously been avoided.

Every choice George actually makes in the story defers his external need to escape and ties him closer to the community that he becomes the moral leader of, as he takes on his late father’s role and battles the town’s would-be dictator, Mr. Potter. George does not take on that role happily — he fights it every single step of the way and resents it a good bit of the time. But it’s that conflict which makes George such a great character that we emphasize with. It’s a story of how an ordinary man becomes a true hero.

One of the great examples of inner and outer desire in conflict is the George Bailey character in It’s A Wonderful Life. From the very beginning, George wants to see the world, to do big things, design big buildings: all very male, external, explosive goals. But his deep need is to become a good man and community leader like his father, who does big things and fights big battles — on a microcosmic level, in their tiny, “boring” little community of Bedford Falls, which George can’t wait to escape.

So you, the writer, have to know your character’s inner and outer desires and how they conflict.

But even before all that, one of the most important steps of creating a story, from the very beginning, is identifying the protagonist’s overall DESIRE and NEED in the story. You also hear this called “internal desire” and “external desire,” and “want” and “deep need” — but it’s all the same thing. A strong main character will want something immediately, like to get that promotion or to get the love interest into bed. But there’s something underneath that surface want that is really driving the character, and in good characters, almost always, those inner and outer desires are in conflict. Also, the character will know that s/he wants that outer desire, but will probably have very little idea that what she really needs is the inner desire.