Petition asks Adam Curtis to read prison screenplay
More than 2000 women sign petition demanding a firm commitment from Adam Curtis (film producer) to read screenplay addressing Texas judicial system
Adam Curtis – Talent Agents
– Director, Producer, Writer – The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear (2004), Pandora’s Box (1992), HyperNormalisation (2016), Bitter Lake (2015) – –
Adam Curtis & 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 Adam Curtis at last week.
In the open letter to Adam Curtis, 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 Adam Curtis 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, Adam Curtis, has not responded to the petition. Nor has 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.”
Adam Curtis 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.
Adam Curtis is a Director, Producer, Writer known for The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear (2004), Pandora’s Box (1992), HyperNormalisation (2016), Bitter Lake (2015) and is represented by .
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Logline Should Suit the Genre
The toughest parts will be the logline and synopsis. Here are some shortcuts to help the writer create loglines and synopses that sell the story:
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In the beginning of a project, you will probably be going back and forth between all of those tracks as you build your story. This is my favorite part of the writing process — building the world — which is probably part of why I stay so long on it myself. But by the time I start my first draft, I have so much of the story already that it’s not anywhere near the intimidating experience it would be if I hadn’t done all that prep work.
4. A collage book of visual images that I’m pulling from magazines (or posting on Pinterest!) that give me the characters, the locations, the colors and moods of my story. (See Chapter 23, Visual Storytelling, for more about this. In fact, I strongly suggest you read the chapter on Visual Storytelling sooner rather than later.)
3. An expanded on-paper (or in Word) story outline that I’m compiling as I order my index cards on the structure grid.
2. A notebook (or file) of random scenes, dialogue, character descriptions that are coming to me as I’m outlining, and that I start to put in chronological order as this notebook gets bigger.