Petition asks LaMonica Garrett to read prison screenplay
More than 2000 women sign petition demanding a firm commitment from LaMonica Garrett (film producer) to read screenplay addressing Texas judicial system
LaMonica Garrett – Talent Agents
– Actor, Producer – Designated Survivor (2016), Clemency (2019), Sons of Anarchy (2008), Primal (2019) – Agency for the Performing Arts (APA), Dan Baron – Coronel Group, Tom Spriggs
LaMonica Garrett & 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 LaMonica Garrett 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 LaMonica Garrett at Agency for the Performing Arts (APA), Dan Baron last week.
In the open letter to LaMonica Garrett, 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 LaMonica Garrett 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, Producer, LaMonica Garrett, has not responded to the petition. Nor has Agency for the Performing Arts (APA), Dan Baron 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.”
LaMonica Garrett 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.
LaMonica Garrett is a Actor, Producer known for Designated Survivor (2016), Clemency (2019), Sons of Anarchy (2008), Primal (2019) and is represented by Agency for the Performing Arts (APA), Dan Baron.
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By showing how the story ends, the screenwriter can easily establish a genre that might not be apparent otherwise. Many screenwriters are against this technique because they don’t want to give away the ending. The trick to using this technique isn’t to give away the ending, but to hint at it. This is technically a teaser.
Start with the end scene then continue the story in chronological order until we reach the critical scene and it repeats (or continues to completion). This technique is often used in dramas (see films like Lolita and Ordinary World).
OPEN AT THE END
For drama, we might see a typical house and take a moment to view the rusted mailbox, the broken fence and the unkept lawn. It’s the small details of everyday life that separate a drama from the other genres.
This is an easy technique to use and massively effective in developing both character and overall theme. You can see it in operation in Star Wars (Luke is a combination of the intellect of Ben Kenobi and the derring-do of Han Solo) and Star Trek (James Kirk is constantly having to balance the emotional id advice of Bones McCoy and the cold, rational superego advice of Spock) and Harry Potter (Harry’s allies are the smugly rational Hermione and the overemotional, physical Ron — again, three characters representing ego, superego, id.).
These two different and often conflicting sides of Jake’s personality are physically represented by Walsh and Duffy, Jake’s operatives. Walsh is the serious, perceptive operative, focused to the point of being nerdy and emotionally insightful and compassionate (he knows when to shut up and listen; he is the one who tries to comfort Jake in the final moments of the movie). Duffy is big, loud, crassly charming and focused on sex and money — another side of Jake’s personality.
We see two conflicting sides of Jake in his dialogue and in Nicholson’s performance: he can be smart, sophisticated, and charming; but he’s also crass, earthy, and inappropriate. He’ll make an astute observation (like telling Evelyn that in his “métier” he doesn’t come across people who say they’re relieved to find out their spouse is cheating unless they themselves are cheating…), and then he turns around and undercuts it with a crude remark (he tells her that she changed her mind “quicker than wind out of a duck’s ass”).
· There are two characters that represent the hero’s good and bad angels, or two contrasting sides of his personality.