My friend Pamela Colloff wrote a haunting and powerful two part story about a Texas man named Michael Morton who was accused of brutally murdering his wife, convicted, and then after 20 years, was exonerated by the Innocence Project. The Texas DA who convicted him, Ken Anderson, deliberately withheld evidence - and it turned out had done so in many other cases over the years (including the case of Cameron Todd Willingham who was executed by Texas in the 2000’s for an arson that killed his family - which he never committed). David Grann wrote about Willingham in one of the best pieces of narrative non fiction I've ever read, Trial By Fire.
THE WHITE FLIGHT OF DEREK BLACK, fiction feature
My friend Eli Saslow wrote this story for The Washington Post. As soon as it was published I hit the ground running. I talked extensively with Derek Black and in the end he decided that he wasn't ready to put his story on screen. Brad Pitt and Plan B also wanted to tell this story. I never thought I'd be 'competting' with those folks.
Here's the film we proposed.
Proposed: Feature length film adaptation of Derek Black’s coming of age story set against the growing socio-economic, class and race divisions facing our nation.
Writers: Elgin James and Rod Blackhurst
Their public conference had been interrupted by a demonstration march and a bomb threat, so the white nationalists decided to meet secretly instead. They slipped past police officers and protesters into a hotel in downtown Memphis. The country had elected its first black president just a few days earlier, and now in November 2008, dozens of the world’s most prominent racists wanted to strategize for the years ahead.
“The fight to restore White America begins now,” their agenda read.
This is where we meet Derek Black, 19 years old, a Florida community college student, son of Don Black, and the promising face of the modern white nationalist movement.
At it’s heart, this is a film about the relationships, beginning with the relationship between Derek and his parents, Don and Chloe, who always taught Derek to question indoctrination, to be independent and ideological and to speak his beliefs even when doing so resulted in backlash. Following their advice ultimately leads Derek to renounce the culture and people he was raised by. This coming of age creates a tragic divide in his family amongst people and a community that he loves dearly but that at the end of the film no longer identifies with.
This is also a film about the relationship between Derek and Matthew Stevenson, his classmate at the New College in Florida who invites Derek to Shabbat dinner at his apartment after learning about Derek’s upbringing. The friendship that develops between these two young men on opposing sides of a dogmatic spectrum is unlikely at first but becomes a powerful catalyst in Derek’s life.
Finally, this is also a film about the relationships between those who sit and operate on opposing sides of any conversation or ideological spectrum. As our society and culture grows more and more divided, we frequently ignore those who do not see the world through the lens we do. We find ourselves seeking comfort and connection with those who reinforce the beliefs we already hold. We do not consider those who feel or think differently than us. But it is finding the humanity at the heart of anyone - enemy or ally - that allows us to consider them as human beings and to grow and learn. Beyond Derek’s relationship with the white nationalist movement, his relationship with his family, and his friendship with his classmates at college - this is a film that will show the growing cultural divides, recent political events and the violence simmering and boiling over across America.
INTO THE LONELY QUIET, fiction feature
I cried the first time I read my friend Eli Saslow's Washington Post article about Mark Barden and his family. And every time I've read it since, I've cried. For over a year I actively worked to make this a film - but nobody in Hollywood was interested. I proposed a film that wasn't an issue based film (although the issue here is important to me) - but rather a portrait of a man and his family struggling to grieve and move forward; and at every turn reminded of their loss. And still understanding that someone must carry that flag into battle - and that perhaps it needs to be their family - as painful as that always will be.
This film would have been about one of the great issues facing society today. I believe that in making the film about the people that the message would be there, available for all to understand, without it being preachy. I was told that it was too "heavy" and "dark", that people didn't need this dose of reality. I still disagree and hope to make this film someday. Read Eli's article at the link below.
CACHE MONEY, fiction feature
Who knows if Forrest Fenn's treasure is real or not - but the myth of an old man burying a million dollars in jewels and coins somewhere in the American west would make for a wonderful film, told from the point of view of a modern day treasure seeker. As someone looking for more analog experiences in this digital world I'd also like to come across some treasure.
Still haven't been able to find a producer or company who wants to make this film.
Story in Outside Magazine (2015)
Story in Newsweek (2012)
Story in VOX (2017)
A THOUSAND POUNDS OF DYNAMITE, fiction mini series
My friend Adam Higginbotham writes amazing narrative non-fiction. This story about a bomb plot in a Lake Tahoe casino from the early 1980's would make a fascinating 5-6 part mini series. But by time the public could read the story, Bradley Cooper and Todd Phillips had already optioned the material for development. Us little guys can't compete with folks like Cooper and Phillips.
Here's the story at The Atavist.
Update January 2018: Warner Brothers/Phillips/Cooper let the option lapse. The project is available again.