Petition asks Bill Duke to read prison screenplay
More than 2000 women sign petition demanding a firm commitment from Bill Duke (film producer) to read screenplay addressing Texas judicial system
Bill Duke – Talent Agents
– Actor, Director, Producer – Predator (1987), Commando (1985), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Mandy (2018) – Pantheon Talent, Stephen Rice – Priluck Company, Jason Priluck
Dumbass, Tru Dattt, Trapped
Bill Duke & 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 Bill Duke at Pantheon Talent, Stephen Rice last week.
In the open letter to Bill Duke, 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 Bill Duke 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, Director, Producer, Bill Duke, has not responded to the petition. Nor has Pantheon Talent, Stephen Rice 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.”
Bill Duke 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.
Bill Duke is a Actor, Director, Producer known for Predator (1987), Commando (1985), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), Mandy (2018) and is represented by Pantheon Talent, Stephen Rice.
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6) Casey Ryback has no internal conflict. This character has no real flaws. He’s a perfect killing machine.
#NAME?
5) Casey Ryback is a larger-than-life character, meaning he can get shot at a hundred times and never get hit. Okay, he gets a shoulder wound during the film, but I think you get the meaning.
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The opening image of The Silence of the Lambs is a dark, misty forest, through which Clarice is running as if in a dream.
The opening image of The Usual Suspects is a man taking a piss… a sly reference to Verbal and the whole movie “taking the piss” — as the British say — out of the audience.
Of course in a film, you have an opening image by default, whether you plan to or not. It’s the first thing you see in the film. But good filmmakers will use that opening image to establish all kinds of things about the film: mood, tone, location, and especially theme. Think of the opening image of Witness: the serene and isolated calm of wind over a wheat field. It’s the world of the Amish — the non-violent, unhurried world into which city violence will soon be introduced. It’s a great contrast with the next images to come; the chaos and noise of the city (and the reveal of the cemetery and the funeral gives a sense of life and death stakes). This is a great opening image because it’s so thematic, and also suggests the climax, part of which takes place in the grain silo: one villain is killed by the spill of grain.
OPENING IMAGE