MOVIE SCRIPTS

I learned script writing at San Francisco State University, but my interest in working in the film industry didn't germinate until later. I was heavily involved in the rock music industry during those years, and my attention was completely absorbed by that world and work on my three nonfiction books about music, which were published in the 1980's. In 1986 I went to live in London with a photographer named Christine Lawrence. Christine was a remarkable woman with a great talent; I was first drawn to her work when I saw her concert photography.

It was while I was living in England that the idea for my first script, Paradise Lost, was born. During my undergraduate years I read extensively in the classics, and John Milton's epic poem was one of my favorites. With the usual twisted workings of my mind, however, I saw Lucifer as the hero of the epic; a hero who is strong in mind and body, and seeks freedom from the oppression of a dictatorship.

I wrote Paradise Lost, a satire of Milton's religious poem, and it was read first by David Bowie's agent, Duncan Heath, and then by a producer at Paramount. Unfortunately the report was that the film would cost 30 million pounds to produce...nearly 50 million U.S. dollars.

When I returned to the states, I began writing with Sandra Brandenburg. We had begun work on our first novel, Beyond the Glass Rainbow, before I went to England, and film work would again recede to the back of my mind while we worked as fine arts journalists during the early 1990's. We also embarked on an ambitious four-volume fantasy novel series, and in the middle of the 1990's I began working as an investigative journalist. First for a local newspaper and eventually as an internet journalist, I loved this phase of my career, which unfortunately ended when the internet bubble collapsed.

My interest in film was renewed in the mid-1990's, and I tried my hand at more scripts. Sandra and I wrote a few together, and in 1997 I was nominated to the Who's Who of American Women for my music books -- to my surprise, I was accepted. This was followed by inclusion in a lot more volumes -- if these interest you, see my biography page.

That year I was introduced to Scott Ferguson, who was at that time an associate of my agent, Ellen Lively Steele. Ellen was a remarkable woman who had been, in her hey-day, a New Mexico state representative as well as a respected book and film agent. She helped Sandra and I hone our novels and scripts, but she was unfortunately past her prime, and a heart-attack and the chronic illness of her husband forced her retirement.

We continued to work with Scott, and wrote a script to his original concept entitled THE DANGER CLUB. This was our first venture working with another collaborator, and it lead to several true-life film scripts. One of these, a solo project based on part of my life entitled DEATH OF A SHINING STAR, was signed for development by ShadowHawk Productions in Ireland, in January of 2003. In March of 2003 I signed a production contract with ShadowHawk for another solo script entitled THE SEWING CLUB. FRUIT OF THE POISON TREE, a true-life story co-written with Sandra, was taken for production in May of '03 in what has to become a three-picture deal. We ended our alliance with Shadowhawk in July of 2006.  We are now registered with Script Network and represented by
Chad Davis at Script Broker.

My film scripts with Sandra are featured at this site.