Screenplays
When I’m not writing about guys beating the crap out of each other, I write feature length movie screenplays. Didn’t expect that huh? Kinda like a football player who does ballet on the side. But when screenplays get optioned for $50,000 - $500,000 each it’s easy to see why there’s a glut of screenwriters. I’ve written eight scripts, some of which have placed well in several national screenplay competitions and even landed me a literary agent. If you see something you like or know a producer desperate for material, contact me or my agent, Archer King, at (212) 765-3103. Hackers be warned—everything is registered with the WGA.
The Hajj
Semi-finalist, Scriptapalooza 2006
Quarter-finalist, Slamdance 2006
Second Round, Austin Film Festival, 2006
This is probably my best work and got enough attention to land me an agent. Unfortunately every movie about Iraq has bombed at the box office, so he’s been unable to find a studio willing to produce it.
Summary — In the tenth month of their year-long assignment to Korea, Army Majors Greg Sierra and Clint Kirk are suddenly deployed to Iraq with their Brigade. After Greg personally defeats a terrorist cell in Fallujah, he’s ambushed in Ramadi and taken prisoner with two of his men and an interpreter. After a daring escape, they’re forced to walk across half of Iraq to reach friendly territory while Clint tries desperately to find him before the terrorists do.
After failing in Fallujah, the terrorist leader, Sayeed, is ordered to take his remaining men to Baghdad for suicide bomber duty. Being sold out is too much for a once proud jihadist, so when he learns of Greg’s abduction and escape, Sayeed drives his men hard to find him and win back some glory. But what is he really after and at what will he sacrifice to achieve it?
All three lives crash together in the desert along the Hajj.
Sands of Kandahar
Second Round, Slamdance 2007
Consider List, Creative Screenwriting Magazine AAA Contest, 2007
This was based loosely on personal experience. As I walked across Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan one hot afternoon I watched a group of local teenage workers play volleyball on their lunch break while the older men sat in the shade and watched. The funny thing is, they were awesome. These kids loved volleyball despite the heat and long clothes they wore because of their religion. I did some research and learned a lot about the real Afghani volleyball team and the difficulties they had playing a game with exposed legs—a cultural shocker to most muslims.
Logline — Just after 9-11 an American Army Captain with a haunted past brings hope to Afghan youths by teaching them volleyball despite a lingering Taliban threat and major cultural differences.
Kill Kona
Consider List, Creative Screenwriting Magazine AAA Contest, 2007
Top 20% Screenwriting Expo, 2007
I wrote this purely as an outlet for a bunch of comedy that I’d built up and used the two wackiest people I knew as models for the main characters.
Summary — An obsessive-compulsive, bulimic, serial bridesmaid oppressed by a male-dominated workplace falls for a hyper-active, culturally confused, white-rapper wannabee and make schizophrenic music together until her talking dog suddenly demands credit for all the great ideas she used.
Saturday Night Dead
Consider List, Creative Screenwriting Magazine AAA Contest, 2006
This was my first screenplay and is still my wife’s favorite.
Summary — Saturday Night Dead is the futuristic and original story of Patrick O’Driscoll, an Irish immigrant who discovers a way to time travel. But instead of using the device for good, he loses self-control and kills classic Saturday Night Live comics for their material to impress a girl. Soon he’s in over his head when a young, idealistic time cop gets hot on his trail. It’s a science fiction, black comedy adventure through time set in New York City where organized crime families struggle to survive in the new high tech world. It’s the story of how one man gets the opportunity of a lifetime but loses focus of his responsibilities for the greatest folly of all—a woman. And standing in his way is Ted Kavanaugh, an obsessed time cop who still clings to the ideals of his father’s police force.
The Long Way Home
Still competing in 2008 screenplay contests
Going back to my roots, I wrote this based loosely on personal experience since I was stationed in Korea twice.
Summary — Not everyone can readjust. At least some people recognize their shortcomings and take action to avoid disaster, as is the case of Captain Nick Sampson (no foreshadowing there) who took an assignment in Korea rather than return to the U.S. after Iraq. Nick gets involved with a local girl from a well-to-do family against her parent’s wishes and his friend’s protestations. Nick struggles through alcoholism and prejudice as he gets caught up in a family struggle for power and human trafficking. You never know who the puppet and puppet master really are.
Who is Benny K?
Still competing in 2008 screenplay contests
Summary — In 2006 two soldiers recently returned from Iraq were savagely beaten in Pioneer Square in Seattle. That prompted me to wonder what kind of retribution was going to be wrought by their compatriots at nearby Fort Lewis and whether or not the public would ever hear about it. It’s a little like Ocean’s Eleven… with Green Berets… in Seattle.
Outkill
Have you ever noticed the first person voted out of “Survivor” is always depressed and bitter? What if it were someone with the training and conviction to get back at those backstabbing bastards who wrongly discarded him? What if a former Army Ranger decided to take Jeff Probst and his condescending lackeys to hell by forcing them to play their own game, only instead of getting voted off the island they got killed?
Summary — Outkill is an action story set on the very remote Nissan Island off the coast of Papua New Guinea where the latest “Survivor” is being filmed despite severe logistical challenges. The conditions are ideal for a takeover and a showdown between good an evil. The contestants thought they were coming to outwit, outplay, and outlast, but instead they’re forced to outkill.
When I’m not writing about guys beating the crap out of each other, I write feature length movie screenplays. Didn’t expect that huh? Kinda like a football player who does ballet on the side. But when screenplays get optioned for $50,000 - $500,000 each it’s easy to see why there’s a glut of screenwriters. I’ve written eight scripts, some of which have placed well in several national screenplay competitions and even landed me a literary agent. If you see something you like or know a producer desperate for material, contact me or my agent, Archer King, at (212) 765-3103. Hackers be warned—everything is registered with the WGA.
The Hajj
Semi-finalist, Scriptapalooza 2006
Quarter-finalist, Slamdance 2006
Second Round, Austin Film Festival, 2006
This is probably my best work and got enough attention to land me an agent. Unfortunately every movie about Iraq has bombed at the box office, so he’s been unable to find a studio willing to produce it.
Summary — In the tenth month of their year-long assignment to Korea, Army Majors Greg Sierra and Clint Kirk are suddenly deployed to Iraq with their Brigade. After Greg personally defeats a terrorist cell in Fallujah, he’s ambushed in Ramadi and taken prisoner with two of his men and an interpreter. After a daring escape, they’re forced to walk across half of Iraq to reach friendly territory while Clint tries desperately to find him before the terrorists do.
After failing in Fallujah, the terrorist leader, Sayeed, is ordered to take his remaining men to Baghdad for suicide bomber duty. Being sold out is too much for a once proud jihadist, so when he learns of Greg’s abduction and escape, Sayeed drives his men hard to find him and win back some glory. But what is he really after and at what will he sacrifice to achieve it?
All three lives crash together in the desert along the Hajj.
Sands of Kandahar
Second Round, Slamdance 2007
Consider List, Creative Screenwriting Magazine AAA Contest, 2007
This was based loosely on personal experience. As I walked across Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan one hot afternoon I watched a group of local teenage workers play volleyball on their lunch break while the older men sat in the shade and watched. The funny thing is, they were awesome. These kids loved volleyball despite the heat and long clothes they wore because of their religion. I did some research and learned a lot about the real Afghani volleyball team and the difficulties they had playing a game with exposed legs—a cultural shocker to most muslims.
Logline — Just after 9-11 an American Army Captain with a haunted past brings hope to Afghan youths by teaching them volleyball despite a lingering Taliban threat and major cultural differences.
Kill Kona
Consider List, Creative Screenwriting Magazine AAA Contest, 2007
Top 20% Screenwriting Expo, 2007
I wrote this purely as an outlet for a bunch of comedy that I’d built up and used the two wackiest people I knew as models for the main characters.
Summary — An obsessive-compulsive, bulimic, serial bridesmaid oppressed by a male-dominated workplace falls for a hyper-active, culturally confused, white-rapper wannabee and make schizophrenic music together until her talking dog suddenly demands credit for all the great ideas she used.
Saturday Night Dead
Consider List, Creative Screenwriting Magazine AAA Contest, 2006
This was my first screenplay and is still my wife’s favorite.
Summary — Saturday Night Dead is the futuristic and original story of Patrick O’Driscoll, an Irish immigrant who discovers a way to time travel. But instead of using the device for good, he loses self-control and kills classic Saturday Night Live comics for their material to impress a girl. Soon he’s in over his head when a young, idealistic time cop gets hot on his trail. It’s a science fiction, black comedy adventure through time set in New York City where organized crime families struggle to survive in the new high tech world. It’s the story of how one man gets the opportunity of a lifetime but loses focus of his responsibilities for the greatest folly of all—a woman. And standing in his way is Ted Kavanaugh, an obsessed time cop who still clings to the ideals of his father’s police force.
The Long Way Home
Still competing in 2008 screenplay contests
Going back to my roots, I wrote this based loosely on personal experience since I was stationed in Korea twice.
Summary — Not everyone can readjust. At least some people recognize their shortcomings and take action to avoid disaster, as is the case of Captain Nick Sampson (no foreshadowing there) who took an assignment in Korea rather than return to the U.S. after Iraq. Nick gets involved with a local girl from a well-to-do family against her parent’s wishes and his friend’s protestations. Nick struggles through alcoholism and prejudice as he gets caught up in a family struggle for power and human trafficking. You never know who the puppet and puppet master really are.
Who is Benny K?
Still competing in 2008 screenplay contests
Summary — In 2006 two soldiers recently returned from Iraq were savagely beaten in Pioneer Square in Seattle. That prompted me to wonder what kind of retribution was going to be wrought by their compatriots at nearby Fort Lewis and whether or not the public would ever hear about it. It’s a little like Ocean’s Eleven… with Green Berets… in Seattle.
Outkill
Have you ever noticed the first person voted out of “Survivor” is always depressed and bitter? What if it were someone with the training and conviction to get back at those backstabbing bastards who wrongly discarded him? What if a former Army Ranger decided to take Jeff Probst and his condescending lackeys to hell by forcing them to play their own game, only instead of getting voted off the island they got killed?
Summary — Outkill is an action story set on the very remote Nissan Island off the coast of Papua New Guinea where the latest “Survivor” is being filmed despite severe logistical challenges. The conditions are ideal for a takeover and a showdown between good an evil. The contestants thought they were coming to outwit, outplay, and outlast, but instead they’re forced to outkill.
Copyright © 2008 Kelly Crigger. All Rights Reserved.