Petition asks Jon Abrahams to read prison screenplay
More than 2000 women sign petition demanding a firm commitment from Jon Abrahams (film producer) to read screenplay addressing Texas judicial system
Jon Abrahams – Talent Agents
– Actor, Director, Producer – Scary Movie (2000), House of Wax (2005), Meet the Parents (2000), All At Once (2016) – Singular Talent, Cynthia Booth – Management Production Entertainment (MPE)
Dumbass, Grey Fox
Jon Abrahams & 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 Jon Abrahams 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 Jon Abrahams at Singular Talent, Cynthia Booth last week.
In the open letter to Jon Abrahams, 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 Jon Abrahams 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, Jon Abrahams, has not responded to the petition. Nor has Singular Talent, Cynthia Booth 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.”
Jon Abrahams 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.
Jon Abrahams is a Actor, Director, Producer known for Scary Movie (2000), House of Wax (2005), Meet the Parents (2000), All At Once (2016) and is represented by Singular Talent, Cynthia Booth.
——————- READ MORE ——————-
Most screenwriters are familiar with the term ‘inciting incident’ in regards to screenwriting, yet I continue to read script after script where I’m on page 12, 20, 25, 32, 44 or even 57 before anything really happens!
Take a close look at how this is done. From the opening teaser we can tell what the basic story is going to be about. We don’t have to know the details. We just have to be intrigued enough to continue watching.
Television uses a hook called a ‘teaser’ (or cold open) to nail the audience to their seats. It usually runs 1 to 3 minutes at the opening of a 1-hour dramatic series and presents an inciting incident that demands the audience continue to watch to see what happens. It’s followed by the credits and a commercial, then after the commercial Act I begins.
but the screenwriter only has 10 pages to hook the reader!
– Thomas Harris’s Francis Dolarhyde, from Red Dragon, is a masterpiece of archetypal imagery. There’s a lot of very well researched police and criminal procedure in that book, but what really gets me about that character is how Harris has created a monster, both more and less than human, by blending the factual with the archetypal. Baby Francis is born with a cleft palate and is described as looking like a baby bat. He has a fetish for biting (true of many serial killers, but used very specifically here). He kills on a moon cycle (true of many serial killers as well), also bringing to mind supernatural monsters like the werewolf. He uses his Grandmother’s fake teeth (vampire). And he thinks he is turning into a dragon. He is also a large man and very pale. Not entirely realistic, these things, but they work for me because of the metaphor.
This is my theory, at least for the villains I love: The psychology is not as important as the theme. I don’t care how realistic a killer is as long as s/he makes metaphorical sense.
You will hear very often about how important it is to create a realistic psychology of a villain. I don’t disagree; nothing makes me toss a book faster than seeing a serial killer who is “cleverly” characterized with an artistic or poetic bent. Doesn’t happen in real life. Of course, a killer like Buffalo Bill doesn’t happen in real life, either, and The Silence of the Lambs — in case you haven’t noticed! — is one of my all-time favorite books and films. So why does that book work for me when so many others just make me groan and throw things?
PSYCHOLOGICAL VS. MYTHIC