Petition asks Wim Wenders to read prison screenplay

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

Wim Wenders – Talent Agents
– Director, Producer, Writer – Wings of Desire (1987), Paris, Texas (1984), Until the End of the World (1991), Faraway, So Close! (1993) – United Talent Agency (UTA), Keya Khayatian –

Dumbass, Rebel in Paradise

Wim Wenders & 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 Wim Wenders 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 Wim Wenders at United Talent Agency (UTA), Keya Khayatian last week.

In the open letter to Wim Wenders, 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 Wim Wenders 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.”

Director, Producer, Writer, Wim Wenders, has not responded to the petition. Nor has United Talent Agency (UTA), Keya Khayatian 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.”

Wim Wenders 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.

Wim Wenders is a Director, Producer, Writer known for Wings of Desire (1987), Paris, Texas (1984), Until the End of the World (1991), Faraway, So Close! (1993) and is represented by United Talent Agency (UTA), Keya Khayatian.

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The next major thing a producer looks for is a solid, one-genre story. Ten years ago, producers could easily sell mixed genre stories. But in today’s economy, producers are forced to deal with penny-pinching audiences who would prefer a straightforward comedy over a sci-fi thriller/action/adventure/comedy. Producers must sell to a targeted audience and this requires one genre. To grab a producer’s attention, an aspiring writer should establish the genre in the first ten pages. I’d recommend establishing the genre on page one with word one.

ESTABLISHING GENRE & THEME

Irony is all around us. It can be funny, dramatic, cruel, sad, happy….it provides entertainment. It’s one of the things that makes life interesting. That’s why producers need it to sell a concept to an audience. If you still think I’m nuts, then tell me why your well-written script that has had tons of contest placements is still sitting in a drawer collecting dust? Take another look at it. Does it contain plot irony? If not, it could be the one thing keeping it from selling. If you’re just starting to write a script, add plot irony and be ahead of 98% of the scripts on the market because most fail to add it. I just told you how to beat the competition – now go do it!

This was a bold choice of the filmmakers (and it was not Towne’s original intention; it was Polanski who pushed for the tragic ending) and sets the story far apart from most Hollywood offerings; one might say it out-noirs most noir as well.

So Chinatown begins with a protagonist who we come to understand is wounded, but doing better, and the mystery that presents itself to him as the case seems to offer a chance for Jake’s complete redemption (and the chance of real love). The uniqueness of Chinatown, of course, and the reason it would not be made as a film today, is that the case that Jake (unconsciously) and we (consciously) hope will redeem him destroys him instead.

When we meet him, Jake seems on the surface to be doing pretty well. Whatever happened in Chinatown, it doesn’t seem to consume him. His business is good, he’s making good money, he’s not a broken-down alcoholic or basket case, he keeps a sense of humor about things. But there’s a good reason the filmmakers start Jake on a fairly even keel. Chinatown shows the fall of Jake Gittes: despite his sincere and determined attempts to do the right thing, he is up against the much greater forces of a malevolent universe. Fate, one might say. So the storytellers had to start him fairly high up in society to make the fall that much more tragic.

· Chinatown is a “Hero Falls” story