"Criminal Conversations," one of my newest screenplays, has attracted a wide range of interest over time. It has been optioned twice, had interest from well-known actors, attracted a commitment from a distributor, and briefly got some media attention and Internet buzz. It also became the subject of an IndieGoGo fundraising campaign that fell embarrassingly short of its too-lofty goal a couple of years ago. And its team of producers eventually broke up and moved on to other projects.
The script now is back in my hands, and I am doing what I can to get it back into action.
Logline: A man meets up again with his ex-wife while his current wife is dying and his ex-wife's current husband is suing her for divorce and trying to prove adultery so he can keep all of their assets.
One budget drawn up for the project has pegged its cost at $200,000. With name actors, it could cost more, up to several million to produce; and the more "name", the more expensive, of course. Or, with actors who are complete unknowns, the script could be shot for just a few thousand bucks.
My Plan A is to get the Criminal Conversations screenplay into the hands of some new producers who believe in it and will stay committed to it. It matters not to me whether the production budget will be big or small. I'll take a very small fee and "monkey points" for the screenplay if that will help the movie get produced.
Plan B is to attempt to produce it myself or (most preferably) find production partners willing to join in and help me. I have been a producer on a couple of projects, but writing is my forte. I am no good at pitching a project and raising money. Most writers aren't. I could even see this script being a fine project for a group of film-school students with access to campus settings and equipment.
The script's synopsis is below:
Dr. Alexandra Livingston, a drama professor, is unpleasantly surprised when her ex-husband of 29 years ago, Dr. Ted Smith, suddenly shows up at her campus office and tells her he’s coming back to school to study acting. Ted, now a psychiatrist, also informs her that he will be in her class, and Alexandra tries to talk him out of it. But he has already enrolled and insists he just wants to learn. He has always wanted to act, he says, and hopes to be in at least one movie or play before he dies. Unable to change Ted’s mind, Alexandra stresses that he will be just one of the students in her classroom. He will get no special breaks from her.
There are other, bigger complications. Ted’s current wife is dying and pushing him away so he won’t keep watching her suffer. She also wants to know Ted can get on with his life once she is gone. Meanwhile, Alexandra’s current husband, Frank, is suing her for divorce and having Alexandra spied on by a shadowy character with a camera (“the Watcher”), who is disguised as a student. Frank wants evidence to prove adultery– which also is known as “criminal conversation” in legal terms. Frank’s goal is to get Alexandra’s assets and leave her with nothing, even though he brought little money to his and Alexandra’s marriage.
Both Ted and Alexandra now need someone they can confide in and seek comfort from – but their timing for getting back together is wrong. Alexandra is up for tenure in her teaching position and needs to keep her pending divorce out of the tenure committee’s sight. And the school has strict rules against teacher-student fraternization. Ted, meanwhile, needs to re-start his psychiatric practice. He sold his previous practice so he could move his dying wife closer to her relatives. And he must be home each day by six o’clock, so his wife’s home health-care nurse can leave.
Ted and Alexandra also are restricted by the expectations of their separate families, friends and colleagues. And they did not have a happy marriage, so there is tension between them that time has not healed.
Whatever can happen between Ted and Alexandra must happen on campus, in the classroom, in her office or on a stage, always in view of others, including the Watcher, who keeps capturing seemingly compromising photographs when Ted and Alexandra are together.
Ultimately, Ted’s wife dies, and Alexandra is granted tenure. Meanwhile, a sudden moment of routine campus life blocks the Watcher from getting the picture that might have appeared to prove adultery--or at least raise reasonable doubt in a judge’s mind. By missing the shot, the Watcher also misses out on a bonus Frank promised. But another opportunity soon arises, and The Watcher’s greed shines forth.
Alexandra’s class begins rehearsing a future performance of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, with Ted playing Benedick and Alexandra as Beatrice. When Benedick passionately kisses Beatrice near the end of the play, the Watcher is hiding in the theater. He gets tight telephoto shots that appear to show Ted and Alexandra in adulterous lip-lock.
Ted and Alexandra soon are subpoenaed and face official “criminal conversation” allegations. But when their lawyer and Frank’s lawyer face off to try to arrange an out-of court settlement, the case quickly collapses once the “damning” photographs are revealed and it becomes clear that Frank’s best “evidence” was gathered at a play.
Alexandra is granted a divorce and gets to keep her assets. Ted has proven that he can act, and he is free to move forward with his life. The world is now wide open to Ted and Alexandra getting back together again, if that is what they choose to do. But will they?
* * *
These are the screenplay's major and minor characters and bit players:
TED SMITH – Late fifties, doctor of psychiatry, previously married three times but now very devoted to his fourth wife, GEORGINA SMITH, who is dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, A.L.S.). As a sign of his devotion, he has sold his psychiatry practice in Washington, D.C., and moved Georgina to Georgetown, New Mexico, so she can be closer to her children and other relatives. In his youth and young adulthood, Ted was an “adrenalin junkie” who raced motorcycles. He finally gave them up after two crashes left him severely injured and caused him to rethink his life and pursue a career in psychiatry.
ALEXANDRA LIVINGSTON – Mid-fifties, drama professor with a Ph.D. Currently married, but that relationship is falling apart. Her current husband, FRANK LIVINGSTON, is suing her for divorce. Previously married to Ted Smith when they both were young. She divorced him after a short, childless marriage because he wanted to keep racing motorcycles, and she wanted a stable home with children and didn’t want to have to constantly worry about Ted getting hurt or killed in a crash. Alimony money from Ted Smith helped her go to graduate school and pursue a career in movie and theater acting. But after a few years, she decided she preferred to teach drama rather than compete for roles. Now she is an established professor with a good reputation, and she is up for tenure just as her marriage is falling apart.
Minor Characters
GEORGINA SMITH – Ted’s fourth wife. Early fifties, a former Washington, D.C., lawyer who has incurable A.L.S. She is now bedridden and in the acceptance phase of dying. She is more concerned with Ted’s ability to get on with his life once she is gone. She has a HOME HEALTH CARE NURSE during most of each day. So she is now pushing Ted to re-start his psychiatry practice and get out of the house and have some fun. She doesn’t want him hovering over her all of the time. It is she who convinces Ted to take a class.
HOME HEALTH CARE NURSE – Forties. Competent and caring. She knows how to take care of Georgina, and she knows the best ways to help Ted cope in the moments right after Georgina dies.
FRANK LIVINGSTON – Alexandra’s current husband. Mid-fifties. He and Alexandra own a house in North Carolina, which still recognizes the old term “criminal conversation” as a legal synonym for adultery. They have rented apartments in New Mexico while Alexandra teaches at the Santa Fe College but have considered North Carolina their official “home.” Now, with their marriage falling apart, Frank has been staying in North Carolina while Alexandra stays in Austin. Frank brought almost nothing tangible to their marriage, but now he wants to use the “criminal conversation” statutes to get a divorce settlement that will allow him to keep everything and pay Alexandra nothing. To that end, he has hired “The Watcher” to help him gather evidence against Alexandra.
THE WATCHER – Late twenties to early thirties. Able to blend in with students on the university campus. Uses his disguise to take surreptitious photographs of Alexandra and Ted when they are together. The Watcher is motivated by money, and his desire to earn a bonus from Frank eventually causes him to get a bit too creative with his evidence-gathering photography.
MIKE KEELER – Late teens to early twenties. One of Alexandra’s students. The class clown. Always looking for opportunities to perform or show off. Has some talent and gets a lot of laughs from other students during classes. But also gets admonished by Alexandra and others occasionally. Wants to be a movie maker.
DOCTOR CLOUD – A drama professor well past his prime. Early seventies. Should have retired several years ago. Most students, including Ted, find him boring when he briefly substitutes for Alexandra.
FRANK’S LAWYER – Sharply dressed, competent, well-experienced, well-paid. Probably in late thirties to late forties, or older.
ALEXANDRA’S AND TED’S LAWYER – Sharply dressed, competent, well-experienced, well-paid. Probably in late thirties to late forties, or older.
Bit Players
STUDENT #1 – college age drama student.
ARMANDO VARGAS – college age drama student.
CYNDIE MASTERS – college age drama student.
REGISTRATION ASSISTANT – female, mid-twenties, working for the university and still taking classes there.
PROCESS SERVER – Fifties. Can be a male in his forties, fifties or sixties who looks like he might be an ex-cop or ex-deputy sheriff.
* * *
If you are a producer wanting to read the screenplay, it is posted at InkTip.com. Or email me at sidunn@hotmail.com.
– Si Dunn is a novelist, screenwriter, freelance book reviewer, and former software technical writer and software/hardware QA test specialist. He also is a former newspaper and magazine photojournalist. His latest book is Dark Signals, a Vietnam War memoir. He is the author of an e-book detective novel, Erwin’s Law, now also available in paperback, plus a novella, Jump, and several other books and short stories.
The script now is back in my hands, and I am doing what I can to get it back into action.
Logline: A man meets up again with his ex-wife while his current wife is dying and his ex-wife's current husband is suing her for divorce and trying to prove adultery so he can keep all of their assets.
One budget drawn up for the project has pegged its cost at $200,000. With name actors, it could cost more, up to several million to produce; and the more "name", the more expensive, of course. Or, with actors who are complete unknowns, the script could be shot for just a few thousand bucks.
My Plan A is to get the Criminal Conversations screenplay into the hands of some new producers who believe in it and will stay committed to it. It matters not to me whether the production budget will be big or small. I'll take a very small fee and "monkey points" for the screenplay if that will help the movie get produced.
Plan B is to attempt to produce it myself or (most preferably) find production partners willing to join in and help me. I have been a producer on a couple of projects, but writing is my forte. I am no good at pitching a project and raising money. Most writers aren't. I could even see this script being a fine project for a group of film-school students with access to campus settings and equipment.
The script's synopsis is below:
Dr. Alexandra Livingston, a drama professor, is unpleasantly surprised when her ex-husband of 29 years ago, Dr. Ted Smith, suddenly shows up at her campus office and tells her he’s coming back to school to study acting. Ted, now a psychiatrist, also informs her that he will be in her class, and Alexandra tries to talk him out of it. But he has already enrolled and insists he just wants to learn. He has always wanted to act, he says, and hopes to be in at least one movie or play before he dies. Unable to change Ted’s mind, Alexandra stresses that he will be just one of the students in her classroom. He will get no special breaks from her.
There are other, bigger complications. Ted’s current wife is dying and pushing him away so he won’t keep watching her suffer. She also wants to know Ted can get on with his life once she is gone. Meanwhile, Alexandra’s current husband, Frank, is suing her for divorce and having Alexandra spied on by a shadowy character with a camera (“the Watcher”), who is disguised as a student. Frank wants evidence to prove adultery– which also is known as “criminal conversation” in legal terms. Frank’s goal is to get Alexandra’s assets and leave her with nothing, even though he brought little money to his and Alexandra’s marriage.
Both Ted and Alexandra now need someone they can confide in and seek comfort from – but their timing for getting back together is wrong. Alexandra is up for tenure in her teaching position and needs to keep her pending divorce out of the tenure committee’s sight. And the school has strict rules against teacher-student fraternization. Ted, meanwhile, needs to re-start his psychiatric practice. He sold his previous practice so he could move his dying wife closer to her relatives. And he must be home each day by six o’clock, so his wife’s home health-care nurse can leave.
Ted and Alexandra also are restricted by the expectations of their separate families, friends and colleagues. And they did not have a happy marriage, so there is tension between them that time has not healed.
Whatever can happen between Ted and Alexandra must happen on campus, in the classroom, in her office or on a stage, always in view of others, including the Watcher, who keeps capturing seemingly compromising photographs when Ted and Alexandra are together.
Ultimately, Ted’s wife dies, and Alexandra is granted tenure. Meanwhile, a sudden moment of routine campus life blocks the Watcher from getting the picture that might have appeared to prove adultery--or at least raise reasonable doubt in a judge’s mind. By missing the shot, the Watcher also misses out on a bonus Frank promised. But another opportunity soon arises, and The Watcher’s greed shines forth.
Alexandra’s class begins rehearsing a future performance of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, with Ted playing Benedick and Alexandra as Beatrice. When Benedick passionately kisses Beatrice near the end of the play, the Watcher is hiding in the theater. He gets tight telephoto shots that appear to show Ted and Alexandra in adulterous lip-lock.
Ted and Alexandra soon are subpoenaed and face official “criminal conversation” allegations. But when their lawyer and Frank’s lawyer face off to try to arrange an out-of court settlement, the case quickly collapses once the “damning” photographs are revealed and it becomes clear that Frank’s best “evidence” was gathered at a play.
Alexandra is granted a divorce and gets to keep her assets. Ted has proven that he can act, and he is free to move forward with his life. The world is now wide open to Ted and Alexandra getting back together again, if that is what they choose to do. But will they?
* * *
These are the screenplay's major and minor characters and bit players:
TED SMITH – Late fifties, doctor of psychiatry, previously married three times but now very devoted to his fourth wife, GEORGINA SMITH, who is dying of Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, A.L.S.). As a sign of his devotion, he has sold his psychiatry practice in Washington, D.C., and moved Georgina to Georgetown, New Mexico, so she can be closer to her children and other relatives. In his youth and young adulthood, Ted was an “adrenalin junkie” who raced motorcycles. He finally gave them up after two crashes left him severely injured and caused him to rethink his life and pursue a career in psychiatry.
ALEXANDRA LIVINGSTON – Mid-fifties, drama professor with a Ph.D. Currently married, but that relationship is falling apart. Her current husband, FRANK LIVINGSTON, is suing her for divorce. Previously married to Ted Smith when they both were young. She divorced him after a short, childless marriage because he wanted to keep racing motorcycles, and she wanted a stable home with children and didn’t want to have to constantly worry about Ted getting hurt or killed in a crash. Alimony money from Ted Smith helped her go to graduate school and pursue a career in movie and theater acting. But after a few years, she decided she preferred to teach drama rather than compete for roles. Now she is an established professor with a good reputation, and she is up for tenure just as her marriage is falling apart.
Minor Characters
GEORGINA SMITH – Ted’s fourth wife. Early fifties, a former Washington, D.C., lawyer who has incurable A.L.S. She is now bedridden and in the acceptance phase of dying. She is more concerned with Ted’s ability to get on with his life once she is gone. She has a HOME HEALTH CARE NURSE during most of each day. So she is now pushing Ted to re-start his psychiatry practice and get out of the house and have some fun. She doesn’t want him hovering over her all of the time. It is she who convinces Ted to take a class.
HOME HEALTH CARE NURSE – Forties. Competent and caring. She knows how to take care of Georgina, and she knows the best ways to help Ted cope in the moments right after Georgina dies.
FRANK LIVINGSTON – Alexandra’s current husband. Mid-fifties. He and Alexandra own a house in North Carolina, which still recognizes the old term “criminal conversation” as a legal synonym for adultery. They have rented apartments in New Mexico while Alexandra teaches at the Santa Fe College but have considered North Carolina their official “home.” Now, with their marriage falling apart, Frank has been staying in North Carolina while Alexandra stays in Austin. Frank brought almost nothing tangible to their marriage, but now he wants to use the “criminal conversation” statutes to get a divorce settlement that will allow him to keep everything and pay Alexandra nothing. To that end, he has hired “The Watcher” to help him gather evidence against Alexandra.
THE WATCHER – Late twenties to early thirties. Able to blend in with students on the university campus. Uses his disguise to take surreptitious photographs of Alexandra and Ted when they are together. The Watcher is motivated by money, and his desire to earn a bonus from Frank eventually causes him to get a bit too creative with his evidence-gathering photography.
MIKE KEELER – Late teens to early twenties. One of Alexandra’s students. The class clown. Always looking for opportunities to perform or show off. Has some talent and gets a lot of laughs from other students during classes. But also gets admonished by Alexandra and others occasionally. Wants to be a movie maker.
DOCTOR CLOUD – A drama professor well past his prime. Early seventies. Should have retired several years ago. Most students, including Ted, find him boring when he briefly substitutes for Alexandra.
FRANK’S LAWYER – Sharply dressed, competent, well-experienced, well-paid. Probably in late thirties to late forties, or older.
ALEXANDRA’S AND TED’S LAWYER – Sharply dressed, competent, well-experienced, well-paid. Probably in late thirties to late forties, or older.
Bit Players
STUDENT #1 – college age drama student.
ARMANDO VARGAS – college age drama student.
CYNDIE MASTERS – college age drama student.
REGISTRATION ASSISTANT – female, mid-twenties, working for the university and still taking classes there.
PROCESS SERVER – Fifties. Can be a male in his forties, fifties or sixties who looks like he might be an ex-cop or ex-deputy sheriff.
* * *
If you are a producer wanting to read the screenplay, it is posted at InkTip.com. Or email me at sidunn@hotmail.com.
– Si Dunn is a novelist, screenwriter, freelance book reviewer, and former software technical writer and software/hardware QA test specialist. He also is a former newspaper and magazine photojournalist. His latest book is Dark Signals, a Vietnam War memoir. He is the author of an e-book detective novel, Erwin’s Law, now also available in paperback, plus a novella, Jump, and several other books and short stories.
