Petition asks Taylor James to read prison screenplay
More than 2000 women sign petition demanding a firm commitment from Taylor James (film producer) to read screenplay addressing Texas judicial system
Taylor James – Talent Agents
– Actor, Producer – Mamma Mia! (2008), Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), Blitz (2011), Samson (2018) – Insight Management & Production, Charlie Wilson – Management 360, Clifford Murray
Taylor James & 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 Taylor James 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 Taylor James at Insight Management & Production, Charlie Wilson last week.
In the open letter to Taylor James, 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 Taylor James 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, Taylor James, has not responded to the petition. Nor has Insight Management & Production, Charlie Wilson 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.”
Taylor James 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.
Taylor James is a Actor, Producer known for Mamma Mia! (2008), Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021), Blitz (2011), Samson (2018) and is represented by Insight Management & Production, Charlie Wilson.
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If the writer has properly setup the internal and external conflicts, then conflict should come naturally. The key to conflict is to make sure it’s in every scene in every Act. No conflict equals a failed story. For the record, I’d like to note the producers do more than red pen scenes with no conflict, they completely delete them. Or more often than not, they simply don’t buy the script in the first place.
CONFLICT
I really hate the word ‘setup’, especially when I tell writers everything must be setup in Act I. I hate the word because it can often be misconstrued to mean ‘tell all’. When, in fact, the opposite is true. The word setup should be changed to ‘hint’. Drop hints in Act I. These tidbits of information, like showing a nail clipper for no reason (paid off in Act III), builds audience suspense. Writers often make the mistake of believing they don’t need suspense unless they’re writing a suspense thriller or a genre that involves mystery, but this isn’t true. EVERY genre should contain suspense in its plot. If we don’t wonder what’s going to happen to a character or a situation, then we won’t want to watch the movie. Suspense starts in Act I by dropping hints.
CREATE SUSPENSE
Or put another way, the CENTRAL STORY ACTION is John Cusack getting his family to the spaceships before the world ends.
Will Cusack be able to get his family to the spaceships before the world ends?
And lo and behold, that’s exactly what happens; it’s not only Cusack’s PLAN, but the CENTRAL ACTION of the story, that can be summed up as a CENTRAL QUESTION:
The PLAN is reiterated, in dialogue, when Cusack gets back to his family and tells his ex-wife basically exactly what I just said above: “We’re going to go back to the nutjob with the map so that we can get to those spaceships and get off the planet before it collapses.”