The Sandbox

You can now hear demo recordings for our new musical, Dancing As Fast As We Can, at a new blog that’s up and running here. It’s a script and score that my wife Bev and I have been working on for some time. We’re getting close to having it ready for our first formal readings. We’re not sure if it will end up on film or on stage. It will work in either medium. It was supposed to be included in the NYFringe Festival this year (2009), but we wanted to hold off and make sure the book was ready — and we needed more financial backing.  The story centers on a married couple — parents of three boys (not unlike ourselves) — who write a cloyingly rotten children’s television show (like The Wiggles or Teletubbies). They long to work on something more satisfying, but in pursuing their dream of artistic fulfillment, they threaten to ruin their marriage and family.

The script is essentially done. All we need now is the capital to get started on a production of some kind. That’s always the hardest part — getting the first producer to dive in.

The big news right now is that I’ve just finished the second draft of my screenplay, not that the first draft wasn’t good. This latest version fixes some dialogue and clarifies some plot points that might have been confusing. I’ve also taken a look at my villain and made him a more interesting character. If you haven’t heard what this film is about yet, here’s the logline:

“It’s the future and football is a deadly sport. A star player falls in love with a dancer and decides to quit the game, but when he learns that he was genetically engineered for football and bound by contract before he was even conceived, he’s forced to keep playing to save his girlfriend’s life.”

I guess you’d call this film a cautionary tale about human genetic engineering. It’s part romance, part football movie, and part sci-fi thriller. The idea for the film came when I observed the rabid bahavior parents display when on the sidelines of their children’s sporting events. Over the past few years this initial concept has become a footnote for the real story about genetic engineering.
 I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but if you’re looking for projects as a potential producer, send me an email and I’ll send you a script. I’m looking for that initial investor.