Petition asks Candis Cayne to read prison screenplay

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

Candis Cayne – Talent Agents
– Actress, Additional Crew, Producer – Candis for President (2018), To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), Elementary (2012), Dirty Sexy Money (2007) – Artists & Representatives – John Sobanski Management, John Sobanski

Dumbass, Untitled Murder in Paris Project

Candis Cayne & 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 Candis Cayne 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 Candis Cayne at Artists & Representatives last week.

In the open letter to Candis Cayne, 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 Candis Cayne 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.”

Actress, Additional Crew, Producer, Candis Cayne, has not responded to the petition. Nor has Artists & Representatives 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.”

Candis Cayne 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.

Candis Cayne is a Actress, Additional Crew, Producer known for Candis for President (2018), To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995), Elementary (2012), Dirty Sexy Money (2007) and is represented by Artists & Representatives.

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My next mistake was in believing she was 100% wrong. This script made finalist out of 1,500 scripts! After this, I moved forward in life and went to work at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. I worked in Corporate Communications, otherwise known as the press room.

I asked the producer why she wasn’t interested in purchasing “The Yellow Tulip”. After all, she loved it, right? Then she said something that utterly infuriated me. She said the script was well written, but it wasn’t commercial.

She loved the script. It made her cry. I was elated! Only she wasn’t interested in purchasing the script. Instead, she wanted me to rewrite a script she had previously purchased. She was offering a writing assignment! At the time I found this insulting. I don’t want someone else rewriting my material, why would I offer to rewrite someone else’s material? What I didn’t realize is a majority of writers make a living taking writing assignments, and many agents won’t sign a writer who refuses to do assignments. It’s the bread-and-butter of the industry for writers and agents.

I didn’t renew the contract with the agent. Instead, I solicited producers and got several reads for “The Yellow Tulip.” All passed, except one producer. I was so excited about meeting with her I nearly quit my day job. Thank goodness I didn’t.

It’s often easier to see the mechanics of structure in a film than in a novel.

The thing is, film is such a compressed and concise medium that it’s like seeing an X ray of a story. In film you have two hours, usually a little less, to tell the story. It’s a very stripped-down form that even so, often has enormous emotional power. Plus we’ve usually seen more of these movies than we’ve read specific books, so they’re a more universal frame of reference for discussion.

A novelist who picks up or samples this book will probably be wondering why I spend the bulk of my time analyzing films when this book is slanted toward authors. Good question!

So my workshops, my blog, and this book are my way of making these screenwriting techniques and tricks available to novelists and aspiring novelists who may not live anywhere near Hollywood, but who could be getting the same benefits that I and other author friends have reaped from applying screenwriting techniques to our novel writing. And beyond my professional film experience, I’ve also taught story structure to film students on the college level, on the staff of Otis College of Art and Design, so aspiring screenwriters and film students should find the storytelling techniques valuable as well.