Writing. I love writing and have focused my attention on penning screenplays since 1984. I've sold em, optioned 'em, given 'em away...and have even had some actually been produced for television! (Next stop: the big screen!) I work by myself and I also collaborate, mostly with comedians (I've worked with Dana Carvey, Rick Overton, Brian Haley, Franklyn Ajaye and others.)

UNDER WRAPS

Currently, I'm working up a pair of feature film scripts. Each is quite different from the other -- one a science fiction/action picture, the other a political dark comedy. Both are in collaboration with different people, each at opposite ends of the United States.

Also, I'm in development with several different concepts for internet-based series. SpamBusters!, a comedy series, is being produced by Crackle.com, who has already funded a pilot 'sode and has ordered an initial four 'sodes.

My buddy Brant von Hoffmann brought me in to help conjure up a horror/comedy take on late night police officers called Dead Beat that's coming together in bits and pieces, produced by the Chioto Brothers (of Killer Klowns from Outer Space fame) and Eric Young of Sparkhill Productions. Mr. Young is also one of the production principals behind an internet anthology suspense series I'm creating with my friend Matt Weinhold.

A PAIR OF SHORTS

In 2005-2006, I participated with Team Scattershot, a San Francisco-based production team pulled together to participate in the international 48 Hour Movie Project, a contest that involves teams in 30 cities in the U.S. and overseas. Our entry was The Write Stuff. I headed up the writing team for the 7-minute "Comedy Romance" short video and the whole crew did a bang-up job: We ended up beating out 26 teams to win both Best Script and Best Film. That distinction put us into competition with the Best Film winners from 29 other cities, which then landed us in the TOP 5, which meant that Team Scattershot got to create ANOTHER short film in 48 hours to compete against the other four teams.

So it was that, five months later, Team Scattershot saddled up again and churned out Essence, a horror movie (the genre given to us at random by the contest organizers) which included three elements shared by ALL the teams involved: P. Reginald, an author; a shower cap as a prop; and the line "Life is full of little trade offs." Our finished product ran 4:59 and was quite an experience. We lucked out and got to use a creepy former barracks at the Oakland Army Base as our location. The entire crew and cast did a fantastic job and it was a tremendous experience.

Prior to Meet The Santas, my most recent "calling card" movie was written exclusively for the Hallmark Channel: the romantic comedy, Wedding Daze.

Jack and Audrey Landry are a middle-aged couple who have barely gotten the hang of being a pair of "empty nesters" when their three grown daughters - Teri, Nora, and Dahlia -- end up tumbling back home again. That's not so hard to take but just as the parents re-adjust their lifestyle to accommodate their offspring, all three of the Landry daughters fall in love. Happiness abounds - until the daughters each announce they're getting married. At the same time. And guess who's footing the bill? Now it's a race to see which runs out first - Jack and Audrey's bank account...or their sanity.

Wedding Daze premiered on Monday, September 6, 2004. Starring John Larrouquette, Karen Valentine, and French Stewart. It likely will replay numerous times on the Hallmark Channel during the next year. You can also click on the link below to my personal "Wedding Daze" page for some behind-the-scenes pictures.

Prior to that was last Halloween's Monster Makers, the story of a kid who finds an old black & white monster movie from the 50's. When he watches it one Halloween night, a power surge caused by a bolt of lightning allows the three monsters and the movie sheriff to get out of the film. Starring Linda Blair, George Kennedy, and Adam Baldwin, it appeared as an original movie on the Hallmark Channel the Halloween before last.

And before that was Santa Jr., the story of Chris Kringle, Jr., the 20-something slacker son of Santa Claus who doesn't want to take over the family business. It featured Lauren Holly, Judd Nelson, George Wallace, Nick Stabile, and Ed Gale. When it first aired during the holiday season of 2002, it was the second-highest rated original movie Hallmark Channel had done! (Click on The Hallmark Channel link below to go to the official website.)

The DVD & VHS versions of both Monster Makers and Santa Jr. are avaialble online through outlets such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Click here to check out my complete writing resumé!

* I finally got my first writing credit on the big screen (after a fashion) when I headed up the writing team behind "The Write Stuff", the Scattershot Films entry in the 2005 48 Hour Film Project. All 26 entries were movies that had to be written, shot, edited and completed in 48 hours starting Friday, July 22 and ending Sunday, July 24. I'm happy to announce that "The Write Stuff" won both Best Script and Best Film, to emerge as the San Francisco winner! It now goes on to face the winners from 29 other cities!

I also write jokes -- I'm among the legion of freelance joke writers who submit material to The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. A lot of the material I generate ends up not getting bought. Which means I can pass the savings -- and the jokes -- onto YOU, if you're a disk jockey, comedian or columnist looking for a piece of wit to tag onto your bit. I call it "comedy shareware" and you can check out what's available at The Daily Grill, a blog that I supply regularly with topical jokes and "phodoodles" -- editorial cartoons created via photo manipulated images.

I have also created scripts and other content for everything from corporate & industrial videos to websites & tradeshows. Feel free to e-mail me if you're interested in having similar work created for your company...

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