Petition asks Robert LaSardo to read prison screenplay
More than 2000 women sign petition demanding a firm commitment from Robert LaSardo (film producer) to read screenplay addressing Texas judicial system
Robert LaSardo – Talent Agents
– Actor, Producer, Writer – The Mule (2018), Death Race (2008), Nip/Tuck (2003), CSI: Miami (2002) – – DTLA Entertainment Group, Charles Lago
Dumbass, Time Girl, Time Girl and the World of Element, Station 211
Robert LaSardo & 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 Robert LaSardo 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 Robert LaSardo at last week.
In the open letter to Robert LaSardo, 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 Robert LaSardo 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, Producer, Writer, Robert LaSardo, has not responded to the petition. Nor has 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.”
Robert LaSardo 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.
Robert LaSardo is a Actor, Producer, Writer known for The Mule (2018), Death Race (2008), Nip/Tuck (2003), CSI: Miami (2002) and is represented by .
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Reducing or eliminating the areas above will substantially decrease the cost of the film. If you still want a big explosion at the climax, then reduce the number of locations or the total cast. If you want those computer generated SPX in a few scenes, then reduce the location and cast, etc.
#NAME?
-This requires special equipment, special everything and immediately increases a film’s budget. It also increases insurance rates, workman’s comp and things a producer will be considering before he purchases the script.
FILMING ON OR UNDER WATER
But even if you’re not writing an overtly ensemble story or specialist team action story, there’s almost always a sense of assembling a team in the first act or first half of the second act. (Dorothy meeting the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion on the yellow brick road in The Wizard of Oz; Harry meeting Ron, Hermione and Neville on the train in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone…) Because it’s just life: when we have a strong, life-changing desire, we tend to call on our friends and relatives and colleagues for help; or if we declare our intention to the Universe, then previously unknown allies show up who can help. The next few movies you watch, make a point of looking for the hero/ine’s team, and you’ll start to see this important element in action.
In fact there is often an entire sequence you could call ASSEMBLING THE TEAM, which comes early in the second act. The hero has a task and needs a group of specialists to get it done. Action movies, spy movies, and caper movies very often have this step, and it often lasts a whole sequence. Think of Armageddon, The Sting, Mission Impossible (I mean the great TV series, of course), The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen, Star Wars, Inception. One of the delights of a sequence like this is that you see a bunch of highly skilled pros in top form — or alternately, a bunch of unlikely losers that you root for because they’re so perfectly pathetic. I had fun with this in The Harrowing; even if you’re not writing an action or caper story, which I definitely wasn’t in that book, if you’ve got an ensemble cast of characters, the techniques of an Assembling the Team sequence can be hugely helpful. The inevitable clash of personalities, the constant divaness and one-upmanship, and the reluctant bonding make for some great scenes. It’s a lively and compelling storytelling technique.
The hero/ine’s ALLIES will also be introduced in the second act, if they haven’t already been introduced in Act One. These are friends, relatives, colleagues, or experts that will help the hero/ine get their DESIRE.
(While we’re on the subject, I highly recommend, again, Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey and John Truby’s Anatomy of Story for in-depth discussions on archetypal characters such as the Herald, Mentor, Shapeshifter, Threshold Guardian, and Trickster/Fool.)