SeanPaulMurphyVille

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 24, Bad News Betty

Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 25, Joe's Tale

Let's stay in touch:

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Friday, February 23, 2024

First Five: The Mark

Inspired by the three-page challenges on the Scriptnotes podcast by John August and Craig Mazin, I have decided to post the opening of some of my scripts in a series of blogs. However, rather than three pages, I am going with five pages because I feel that will provide a more accurate appraisal of my writing and the stories. I am not posting the scripts of any of my produced films. That would be complicated legally since those scripts now belong to their respective production companies. These scripts are either new or part of my back catalog. Some are ready to be pitched. Others need a little polishing. But you can read the first five pages now.

The Mark is my second script, and the first one to receive major Hollywood attention. It is a thriller inspired by the Bible's Book of Revelations. Hollywood had previously mined this territory with The Omen, however, the subgenre of End Time films hadn't come into being yet. Had I pursued this script, I might have beat Left Behind to the punch -- both the books and the movies. And I had the chance....

The Mark got genuine interest. An agent at a mid-sized agency that handled directors read it. He really liked it, but they didn't handle writers. Still, he tried to set it up with one of his directors, but he was unsuccessful.

I found the agent's attitude about the project fascinating. He was Jewish, but he wasn't put-off by the Christian content and themes. He never viewed it as a Christian film. He looked at it as a futuristic Twilight Zone-ish allegory of the Holocaust set in the United States. In fact, he said he felt the script was perhaps a little too Jewish for him!

That would never happen today. In those days, Christian content and themes were acceptable in projects as long as the story would appeal to the mainstream movie-going public. Nowadays, more Christian films than ever are being made. However, they are considered a small niche and marketed predominately to Christians mainly through outreach to the megachurches. The need for church approval severely limits what is "acceptable" content. It also severely limits the audience. Don't expect mainstream crossover hits anymore.

I think The Mark would have crossed over. I wish I would have pursued it. I tossed this script into the back catalog because I wrote Then The Judgement, which got a much stronger response. (Then I backed off that script because I was getting an even stronger response to The Long Drive....)

Oh well. That's the problem with always chasing what's new and shiny....

Here are the first five pages:

I hope you enjoyed those first five pages, If you're interested in reading more, send me an email.

First Fives:

To read about my journey to "success," read my blog: Persistence, or My Writer's Journey

Learn more about the book, click Here.

Listen to me read some chapters here:

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 24, Bad News Betty

Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 25, Joe's Tale

Let's stay in touch:

Follow me on Twitter: SeanPaulMurphy

Follow me on Facebook: Sean Paul Murphy

Follow me on Instagram: Sean Paul Murphy

Subscribe on YouTube: Sean Paul Murphy

Saturday, January 20, 2024

First Five: Then The Judgement

Artwork by Belinda Butler

Then The Judgement is my third script, and the second one to receive major Hollywood attention. It was read at Creative Artists Agency. The assistant to a major agent wrote me back. He said they would be interested in handling it if I made three changes. This was my first experience with "changes."

At the same time, Stu Robinson at Robinson, Weintraub and Gross, later Paradigm, was reading my script The Long Drive. He wanted to rep it. I told him of CAA's interest in this script. He asked to read it. I FedExed the script to him. (Remember when you had to print out scripts and FedEx them?) He read it the day it arrived and called me back. He said it was a good script. However, it was horror. He said if my first film was a horror film, I would be typecast as a horror writer. He said if The Long Drive got produced, I would be able to write anything.

I ghosted the CAA offer and went with Stu with The Long Drive. I understood his logic, but it was probably just foolish pride. I didn't want to make the changes CAA requested. Little did I realize that those would have been the fewest changes I would ever be requested to make!

In retrospect, I should have gone with CAA.

Then The Judgement is a high-concept horror film with a faith aspect. Here's the logline: Weary vampire Richard Stevens, desperate for release from his immortal existence, collides with disillusioned TV evangelist Reverend William Renfrow and vengeful FBI Agent Robert Gray. As their paths intertwine in a deadly dance, each man pursues his own salvation, setting the stage for a climactic confrontation where fates are sealed in unexpected ways.

The script has been optioned but never produced. I have the rough draft of a sequel finished, and the third film of the trilogy in mind. I have taken the script off the market because I would like to execute it as a book first. That said, if you're interested, send me an email.

Here are the first five pages:

I hope you enjoyed those first five pages, If you're interested in reading more, send me an email.

First Fives:

Learn more about the book, click Here.

Listen to me read some chapters here:

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 24, Bad News Betty

Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 25, Joe's Tale

Let's stay in touch:

Follow me on Twitter: SeanPaulMurphy

Follow me on Facebook: Sean Paul Murphy

Follow me on Instagram: Sean Paul Murphy

Subscribe on YouTube: Sean Paul Murphy

Wednesday, November 15, 2023

First Five: West Rhodes

West Rhodes is the first script I wrote with my friend director Lee Bonner, who ultimately co-wrote and directed my first produced feature 21 Eyes. When I met Lee Bonner, he was a top commercial director and a budding director of episodic primetime dramas. He had also been an RCA recording artist with his band The Lafayettes. Their most famous song was Life's Too Short. Here it is:

Lee had previously directed a low budget featured called Two For The Money, which was ultimately released by Troma as The Adventure of the Action Hunters, featuring a fabulous supporting performance by former Baltimore Colts great Artie Donovan. (Interesting, the leading lady of the film was named Sean Murphy -- not to be confused with yours truly.) The film was about a cocktail-loving man who lives on a boat on the Chesapeake who becomes entangled in a mystery and treasure hunt. Here's the trailer:

Not surprisingly, Lee wasn't satisfied with the release of the film. He was aiming a little higher than Troma. He wanted to try again and he already knew who the film was about: A carefree Maryland State water cop named West Rhodes who becomes entangled in a murder mystery. (Lee got the name was a newly-born nephew.*) He wanted and a co-writer, and that's where I came into the picture.

I had known Lee for years. He was the top commercial director in the Mid-Atlantic area and I was a boy producer at Smith Burke & Azzam, one of the top advertising agencies in the area at the time. When I left the agency and became a freelance film editor, Lee became one of my top clients. However, he didn't view me as a writer until my screenplays, The Long Drive, won the praise of Baltimore's own Academy Award winner Barry Levinson. Barry called me "a very good writer." That was all Lee needed to hear.

Lee invited me out for the day on his sailboat, along with producer David Butler. I'm not much of a drinker, but the first thing Lee did was make me am industrial-sized martini. Then he asked me to read his notes and thoughts for the story and character while he and David sailed the ship around the Chesapeake. I loved the idea and I said I would be happy to write it with him. During that trip, I also began my tradition of losing something overboard -- my glasses, my wallet, my phone, etc. -- every time I got on one of his boats.

I loved the final script, but, sadly, Lee decided that it wasn't viable as an independent film at the time because of the expense of shooting so much action on the water. Lee and I followed that script up with a few others. They tended to be mysteries that leaned heavily into characters and humor. That's my wheelhouse.

Hopefully one day we'll get it made.

Here's a brief synopsis:

Meet West Rhodes, marine police; his beat, the waterways surrounding the gold coast of Annapolis, a cop who gives warning tickets to girls so he can ask them on dates and confiscates beer from teenagers so he can drink it.

Then one day, West discovers the body of a man hung by the ankles with his head submerged in the Severn river, left there at mean low water to die a slow death on the incoming tide.

The case is assigned to detectives Burger and Frye, spare them the witticisms, they’ve suffered enough. Fate brought them to the department at the same time and no Lieutenant could resist pairing them as a team.

But West knows something they don’t know, a secret from his own past that links the victim to a previous crime. Soon West, conspiring with ex-girlfriend and local newshound Joey Bliss, finds himself up to his neck in multiple homicide, and a case that will change his life forever.

*BTW, the real West Rhodes, whose name inspired the character, has grown up and actually became a water cop!

Here are the first five pages:

I hope you enjoyed those first five pages. Here's the trailer for the film we made together:

You can read about the making of the film here:

21 Eyes, A History, Part 1
21 Eyes, A History, Part 2
21 Eyes, A History, Part 3
21 Eyes, A History, Part 4
21 Eyes, About That Nude Scene....

Here's the pilot of a travel series Lee produced, directed and starred in called Iron John Cruising about traveling on the Chesapeake Bay. It played on Maryland Public Television:

Here's Lee on our podcast discussing the film That Thing You Do, about a one-hit wonder band -- a subject which he knew every well.

Yippee-Ki-Yay Mother Podcast · YKY_That Thing You Do

First Fives:

Learn more about the book, click Here.

Listen to me read some chapters here:

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 24, Bad News Betty

Read about the true haunting that inspired the novel here:

The Haunting of 21 St. Helens Avenue, Part 25, Joe's Tale

Let's stay in touch:

Follow me on Twitter: SeanPaulMurphy

Follow me on Facebook: Sean Paul Murphy

Follow me on Instagram: Sean Paul Murphy

Subscribe on YouTube: Sean Paul Murphy

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

First Five: Candido

Yours truly with his favorite mob bookkeeper

Inspired by the three-page challenges on the Scriptnotes podcast by John August and Craig Mazin, I have decided to post the opening of some of my scripts in a series of blogs. However, rather than three pages, I am going with five pages because I feel that will provide a more accurate appraisal of my writing and the stories. I am not posting the scripts of any of my produced scripts. That would be complicated legally since those scripts now belong to their respective production companies. Nor am I posting any script currently under option for the same reason. These scripts are either new or part of my back catalog. Some are ready to be pitched. Others need a little polishing. But you can read the first five pages now.

This is a sample of my script Candido. The script was inspired by my friend, the late Michelle Proimos. When she lived in Queens, New York, Michelle was the book keeper for a mob-owned restaurant supply company. She noticed that the ledgers never added up correctly. Some of their customers never paid, and that was fine with the owners, who told her to forget about them. However, "the nephews" were sent out to collect when other customers didn't pay in a timely manner. The nephews always returned with the money, usually in cash. That said, everyone was always very nice to her.

Her stories inspired me to this script about an aging mafioso who tries to change his life after falling in love with the recently-divorced manager of a nearby supermarket. Technically speaking, this screenplay was the second story in an intended mafia trilogy centered around my fictional Semenza Family. It is an oddball trilogy because the stories are totally unrelated, but they all take place in the same criminal universe. The only common character would be Pete Ricco, a grandfatherly figure who is deceptively calculating and vicious. Pete would appear as a key supporting character in all three films. I have already featured the first part of the trilogy: Mr. Inside. The third part has been written yet.

Around this time, I stopped writing for market. I was writing to test myself. In this case, I wanted to write a crime film where you didn't hear a gunshot until the third act. In other words, I wanted to sell the story through character only rather than action. I believe I succeeded, although I suspect most people who like mob films want gunshots throughout!

This was the last script I sent to my agent Stu Robinson. He liked the script, but he didn't think it had a shot. He thought it was too serious for the then current marketplace. He was familiar with the upcoming Billy Crystal mob comedy Analyze This and the upcoming series The Sopranos (which he thought would be played more for laughs.) He thought Hollywood was only in the mood for mob comedies.

The legendary casting director/producer Lou Digiaimo, who worked on The Godfather films, requested to read the script. I had a fascinating discussion with him. He really liked the script, but he said it could never get made since the leads were older people. He said the only way Candido could get financed was if Al Pacino agreed to do it. No one else could get it greenlight. I, in my ignorance, disagreed completely with him. To illustrate his point, he told me he optioned a critically-acclaimed off Broadway about four older women that no one would touch -- despite the fact that four Oscar winning actresses were already signed on.

Here's the logline:

A mid-level capo in a Queens crime family, Kenneth "Candido" Provanti, has lived without dreams or hopes since the death of his wife and son in an attack aimed at him two decades earlier. A chance meeting with Angie DeMarco, the newly-divorced manager of the local supermarket, changes everything. Their blossoming love finally gives him the courage to confront his past and pay the price fate demands for his long life of violence. Mr. Kenneth is a love story about second chances set against a dark world of violence and intrigue, where greed and a lust for power blur the line between friends and enemies.

Here are the first five pages:

I hope you enjoyed those first five pages!

You can read the rest of the script on Coverfly here: Candido

First Fives:

Learn more about the book, click Here.

Listen to me read some chapters here: