Petition asks Blake Anderson to read prison screenplay

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

Blake Anderson – Talent Agents
– Actor, Writer, Producer – Workaholics (2011), Dope (2015), Game Over, Man! (2018), Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) – William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment, Tim Curtis – Avalon Management, Isaac Horne

Dumbass, Sexcastle, Untitled CBS David Hornsby/Blake Anderson Project

Blake Anderson & 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 Blake Anderson at William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment, Tim Curtis last week.

In the open letter to Blake Anderson, 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 Blake Anderson 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, Blake Anderson, has not responded to the petition. Nor has William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment, Tim Curtis 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.”

Blake Anderson 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.

Blake Anderson is a Actor, Writer, Producer known for Workaholics (2011), Dope (2015), Game Over, Man! (2018), Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015) and is represented by William Morris Endeavor (WME) Entertainment, Tim Curtis.

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Still struggling with this? Then do an exercise. Repetition is the mother of knowledge. Take movies in your home that you’ve seen – DO NOT READ THE BACK COVER and write what you think it says on the back cover. You’ve seen the movie, so give it your best shot. Now turn the DVD or VHS over and read what the distributor wrote on the back. How do the two compare? Is your synopsis too detailed? Does it fail to sell the story? Note how they sold the story. Do this enough times and you’ll learn how to write killer synopses that will land reads time after time.

When you write the one-sheet, you’re really writing a sales pitch. You’re a salesman! Act like you’ve been hired to write the back cover of your own DVD.

I bet that somewhere in your house, probably the basement, are old VHS cases. Go find them. Or look at the backs of DVDs. Notice how they reveal just enough information to intrigue you to want to rent, buy or watch the movie. They aren’t trying to tell you the story. They’re trying to sell you the story. The writer needs to do the same thing with the synopsis in a one-sheet. It’s a sales tool, not a story tool.

The synopsis is the second hardest part of writing the one-sheet. It’s usually the reason the writer avoids the one-sheet until after the script’s written. As mentioned above, this is a fatal error made only by amateurs!

· Hero/ine’s Ordinary World

· Meet the Hero or Heroine

· Opening Image

When you’re making up index cards, you can immediately make up several cards that will go in your first act column. You may or may not know what some of those scenes look like already, but either way, you know they’re all going to be there. Note that these scenes are not necessarily in order, and in some cases they may occur later than Act I, but usually not.