Petition asks Aaron Douglas to read prison screenplay

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

Aaron Douglas – Talent Agents
– Actor, Writer, Producer – Battlestar Galactica (2004), Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (2016), Unspeakable (2019), The Bridge (2010) – Pacific Artists Management, Melanie Turner –

Dumbass, Infrared

Aaron Douglas & Adam Sandler’s film company targeted by Texas petition

Will Hollywood just rollover and let prisoner’s suffer?

EXCLUSIVE

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 Aaron Douglas at Pacific Artists Management, Melanie Turner last week.

In the open letter to Aaron Douglas, 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 Aaron Douglas 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, Writer, Producer, Aaron Douglas, has not responded to the petition. Nor has Pacific Artists Management, Melanie Turner responded with a comment.

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.

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.”

Aaron Douglas has not commented on the script, thusfar. 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.

Jana Sandler of Happy Madison Productions has also expressed interest in the screenplay.

Aaron Douglas is a Actor, Writer, Producer known for Battlestar Galactica (2004), Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (2016), Unspeakable (2019), The Bridge (2010) and is represented by Pacific Artists Management, Melanie Turner.

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Jaws – Story 1: A killer shark terrorizes a small ocean-front town. The shark is eventually caught by local fisherman who put it on display. The town is safe and everybody’s happy.

To drive the point home, let’s look at the classic film Jaws. I’m using a classic film as an example instead of modern film because most you have probably seen this movie. But the three-story structure can be found in any film! Instead of breaking Jaws into Acts, I’m going to break it into three stories so you can see what I’m talking about.

It’s time for me to be blunt. The fact that you can’t think of your story as three separate stories is the reason you’re still an aspiring writer instead of a professional writer. The pros know how to look at story as if it’s three separate stories while maintaining the integrity of the whole story. It’s no easy task. It’s like a puzzle. It looks scattered at first, but it slowly comes together when the writer begins to work with the individual pieces, until finally it’s a masterpiece where everything fits together to perfection.

I can hear novice writers screaming “This doesn’t work!” “I have to think of the story as a whole!” “What about setups in Act I that are paid off in Act II and Act III?” “What about the hero’s arc?”

So almost always, the initial plan fails. Or if it seems to succeed, it’s only to trick us for a moment — before we realize how wretchedly the plan has failed. That weak initial effort is because it’s human nature to expend the least effort possible to get what we want. We only take greater and more desperate measures if we are forced to. And a hero/ine being forced to take greater and more desperate measures is one of the cornerstones of dramatic action.

If that initial plan had actually worked, Jaws wouldn’t have made a gazillion dollars worldwide, not to mention cinematic history. The whole point of drama (including romance and comedy) is that the hero/ine’s plan is constantly being thwarted: by the main antagonist, by any number of secondary and tertiary opponents, by the love interest, by the weather, or by the hero/ine him or herself (because you know, we’re all our own worst enemies!).

Yeah, right.

When in Jaws, Sheriff Brody is confronted with the problem of a great white shark eating people in his backyard (ocean), his initial PLAN is to close the beach to swimmers. He throws together some handmade “Beaches Closed” signs and sticks them in the sand. Problem solved, right?