Experience

My journey in screenwriting began almost 20 years ago with the first independent short film I made. Since then, as a freelancer and now as head of the video and media production team at the company where I work, I have written two feature film screenplays, written and or adapted more than a dozen short film screenplays, and written hundreds of scripts and copy for broadcast commercials as well as industrials (internal corporate video and media). Over the years I have gained, and continue to build knowledge from working with industry professionals, reading and listening to books on the craft of writing, and taking advantage of classes and workshops like MasterClass. What follows is a more in-depth look at my journey as a screenwriter along with examples of my work, awards, articles and reviews, guest appearances for my writing, education and research, and endorsements from professionals and colleagues with whom I have worked.

After starting a career as an actor of stage and screen, in 2001 I started to work behind the camera, writing, directing and producing my first independent short film Mann In Driving. Inspired by many of my late night drives across the country, Mann In Driving tells the story of a thickheaded traveler battling drowsiness on the open road. The comedic short, and main character Mann, was born out of my love of cinema growing up as a kid watching old reels of Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, and Abbott and Costello that would play at the local pizza restaurant my brother and I would frequent (thanks Franco’s Pizza of North High Street).

More of a live-action cartoon, Mann was the common man - the idiot man-child that is in each of us. This was my first experience taking a story from concept, to script, to screen. Mann In Driving was selected for the 2001 Short Film Showcase presented at the historic Strand Theatre in Delaware, Ohio, and received well by the audience. More significantly, I had found a passion for filmmaking. As I continued to work my day job selling office equipment, I devoted all of my other time to learning and honing the craft. With the support of other independent filmmakers, writers, directors, and producers, many of whom still work as professionals in the production industry, I became a student of the business. I liken this period of my filmmaking career to being in “real life” film school, working in every aspect of production from production assistant, to boom operator, lighting, and cinematography.

By 2005 I had written, directed and produced seven more installments in the Mann series of films, including, Mann In Love, Mann In Daytrading, Mann In Rehab, Mann In Trick-or-Treat, Mann In Babysitting, Mann In The Slip (Official Selection, Chicago “Really” Short Film Festival, 2005), and Mann In Hock, which would go on to win Video of the Month in the Independent Film Channel’s MediaLab Competition, and also win the award for Best Director.

As a freelancer I served in various capacities, including: writing, shooting, directing and editing a commercial for a local law firm; and writing and editing three commercials for Out Of Our Heads! Improv. I worked in production as a freelancer until 2012 when I was hired at Teleperformance, eventually becoming manager of video and media production, where I currently work. In this role I work with internal corporate clients to develop videos from concept to completion, writing scripts, shooting live video, directing, editing and creating motion graphics for promotional, training, and educational videos that are distributed both internally and externally on social media.

Throughout my freelance and corporate career I have continued to work on personal projects, most recently writing, directing, producing, and editing Mann Vs Fish (Winner, Best Narrative Short, World Premiere Film Awards, 2020), and co-writing, directing, producing, and editing Supper (Official Selection, Golden State Film Festival 2021) .

It would be in 2007 that I would go into production on my first feature screenplay, Minus One, on which I also served as co-director, producer and actor. Minus One tells the story of the last few days leading up to the deployment of three US Army reservists whose unit gets called up to go to Afghanistan, and the movie itself was based on my personal experiences of when my brother was called up to go to Iraq in 2004-2005. The aim was to capture what soldiers and their families go through when preparing to say goodbye, possibly forever, to a loved one heading into combat.

The screenplay started with a rough outline in 2005. Over the next year and a half I developed the treatment and completed the screenplay in early summer of 2007 (using Final Draft). Having previously worked as an actor with Marc Wiskemann, professor of cinema at Denison University, I asked him to read the script and offer feedback. As it turned out, Marc liked the script, offering some suggestions, and more surprisingly believed that it was film we could make together before he returned to teach that fall. With his experience as a professional director of photography before his academic career, we decided that Marc would helm the camera, I would direct, and together we would produce the film. By the end of June that same year, I secured funding from local investors and principal photography was scheduled for mid-August.

Minus One would go on to be an official selection at 10 film festivals, winning best picture for three of the festivals. In May of 2010, the film premiered at the GI Film Festival in Washington, DC, earning Best Narrative Feature for the fest. Back in Columbus, Ohio, the film had its local public premiere that summer, playing to sold out crowds for both screenings at the Arena Grand Theatre and Grandview Theatre. The film was eventually picked up by MySpotlight Independent Film Distribution (https://www.myproduction.co.uk/) and is currently available on Amazon Prime Video in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Below you will find the shooting script for Minus One, the official trailer, and a link to the movie on Amazon Prime Video.

After completing the film, myself, the co-director and executive producer were asked to be guests on Writer’s Talk to discuss the process of taking Minus One from idea to script to screen. Writer’s Talk was a production of the Ohio Public Broadcasting Service for The Ohio State University’s Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing (CSTW). Click on the image below to watch the complete interview.

Shortly after completing Minus One film festival circuit, I was hired at Teleperformance, where I currently work, and built an internal corporate video and media production team from the ground up. As manager of video and media production, I work with internal corporate clients to develop videos from concept to completion, writing scripts, shooting live video, directing, editing and creating motion graphics for promotional, training, and educational videos that are distributed both internally and externally on social media. Since developing the video and media team, I have written and produced hundreds of videos of varying length and content.

Throughout my freelance and corporate career I have continued to work on personal projects. Most recently I found myself going back to the character I started my with, writing, directing, producing, and editing Mann Vs Fish (Winner, Best Narrative Short, World Premiere Film Awards, 2020). Below are materials from pre-production, production, and post-production, and the finished short film. I have also just completed the final draft of my feature-length screenplay Springfield, a contemporary post-war drama about a woman returning from combat struggling to adapt and adjust.

Throughout my writing career I have utilized various methods and techniques when developing story, from notecards on a bulletin board to creating treatments and outlines. One of the many things I have learned is that there is no one absolute way to accomplish the task of creating a good story. There are however certain principles and disciplines that can be applied: writing often and as consistently as possible; reading acclaimed scripts; keeping a notebook in reach at all times for when an idea might strike; reading and listening to as many books and authors not only about the craft of writing but also the content they produce. Different projects require different solutions and part of what I can attribute my success to is that I have tried to always be flexible and open to learning new ways to improve my craft.

Explore the links below to see the script for my feature-length screenplay Springfield along with its treatment and outline, the script for my award-winning short film Mann Vs Fish, the script for the short film The Crossing which is currently being adapted to a feature length screenplay, as well as examples of corporate video scripts.

Awards

• MINUS ONE (writer, co-director, producer)
  Winner, Best Narrative Feature, GI Film Festival, 2010
  Winner, Best Feature Film, Colony Film Festival, 2010
  Winner, Best Feature Film, Whitewater Film Festival, 2011
  Official Selection, New Filmmakers New York, 2011
  Official Selection, Portobello Film Festival - London, 2011
  Official Selection, Beloit International Film Festival, 2011
  Official Selection, Offshoot Film Festival, 2011
  Official Selection, Columbia River Gorge International Film Festival, 2011
  Official Selection, Media Film Festival, 2011

• SUPPER (director, co-writer, producer, editor)
  Official Selection, Golden State Film Festival, 2021

• MANN VS FISH (writer, director, producer, editor)
  Winner, Best Narrative Short, World Premiere Film Awards, 2020
  Semi-Finalist, Los Angeles CineFest, 2020
  Official Selection, London International Motion Picture Awards, 2020
  Official Selection, Golden State Film Festival, 2020

• MANN IN HOCK (writer, director, producer, editor)
  Winner, Video of the Month, Independent Film Channel MediaLab Competition, 2005
  Winner, Best Director, Independent Film Channel MediaLab Competition, 2005

• MANN IN THE SLIPP (writer, director, producer, editor)
  Official Selection, Chicago “Really” Short Film Festival, 2005

• MANN IN DRIVING (writer, director, producer)
  Official Selection, Drop Your Shorts Film Festival, 2001

Articles and Reviews

• D.C. to see trio's 'Minus One’. (2010, May 15). The Columbus Dispatch.

• Film Seeks to capture emotions of soldiers off to war. (2010, Jul 7). ThisWeek Community Newspapers.

• Denison assistant professor helps bring Afghanistan war story to screen. (2010, Oct 7). Newark Advocate.

• Military movies to watch. (2010, Jul 12). ArmyTimes.com

• Show & Tell. (2010, May 21). The Columbus Dispatch.

• Review on IMDb.com.

Click here for the full review.

Guest Speaking and Appearances

• WRITER’S BLOC, Guest Speaker, May 2011
  Screenwriting: from script to screen, Minus One
  The Thurber House, Wayne Rapp

• COLUMBUS STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Guest Speaker, July 2009
  Screenwriting, Minus One
  Nestor Hall, Prof. Rita Bova

• WRITERS TALK, Guest, June 2010
  Screenwriting and Minus One
  The Ohio State University Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing, Doug Dangler

Education and Research

Below is a list of the classes and workshops I have taken:

• MasterClass, Screenwriting
  Aaron Sorkin, 2020

• MasterClass, Dramatic Writing
  David Mamet, 2021

• MasterClass, Filmmaking
  Werner Herzog, 2019

Over the years of classes and from having worked with various production creatives, the following is a list of a few of the books on acting which I have read and continue to come back to for new contextual discoveries and inspiration:

• Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting, by William Goldman

• The Art of Dramatic Writing: Its Basis in the Creative Interpretation of Human Motives, by Lajos Egri

• Conversations at the American Film Institute with the Great Moviemakers: the next Generation, by George Stevens, Jr.

• The Copywriter’s Handbook: A Step-by-step Guide to Writing Copy That Sells, by Robert W. Bly

• Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect, by Claudia Hunter Johnson

• Directing Actors: Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television, by Judith Weston

• Directing the Film: Film Directors on Their Art, by Eric Sherman

• The Directors: Take One, by Robert J. Emery

• Essentials of Screenwriting: the Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing, by Richard Walter

• Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen, by Steven D. Katz

• Four Screenplays: Studies in the American Screenplay, by Syd Field

• The Godfather Notebook, by Francis Ford Coppola

• Making a Good Script Great, by Linda Seger

• On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King

• Poetics, Aristotle

• Screenplay: the foundations of screenwriting, by Syd Field

• Story: Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting, by Robert McKee

• Writing for Story: Craft Secrets of Dramatic Nonfiction by a Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner, by Jon Franklin

• Writing Movies for Fun and Profit!: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too!, by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas F. Lennon.