Introduce Yourself : Blank Check by Maurice Vaughan

How much can the check be for?

Any amount, Tim Bragg.

I am working on "Cellophane Shells" with writer Alana Gerdes. Logline: A CIA agent is forced to come out of her shell to chase a general’s mysterious wife across Europe to stop a major arms deal that will decide a civil war.

Let's start with 20 million as we'll throw in an associate producers credit for you. The protagonists are from the USA and I have been thinking Halle Berry or Angelina Joli.

Halle Berry or Angelina Jolie would be incredible in your movie, Willem Elzenga! Your movie sounds thrilling! I can picture it in my head! Thanks. I appreciate the associate producer credit. :D

Tanna'it which is based on the life of the first Jewish woman (Kurdish Mizrahi) that is currently considered the first Rabbi but she was never given the title. The story takes place in 17th century Mosul, which is a few miles away from where I was born. She also spoke a dialect of Aramaic that I speak. I have a producer signed up for this.

Depending upon the amount of the blank check, I'd make an Indy feature entitled "Christmas Grouper" think No Country For Old Men meets House of Cards. If not sufficient for a feature, I'd make a proof of concept short film adapted from my novella "Rituals of Solace" where the Horatio Alger success of the narrator falls apart when corporate skullduggery, think ENRON, clashes with his ethics coinciding with two other life crises that take him back to the rural community of his birth to bury a favorite uncle.

I would hire out directors and make all of my ready-for-production scripts into movies all at the same time.

We‘d be happy to have you on board, Maurice Vaughan :-)

Welcome Maurice!!

Maurice Vaughan - happy Friday. I would use the money for finishing funds for my documentary - Vimeo.com/xochi/reddogandbatestrailer and then move on to my feature, Gambia Untitled, a buddy comedy of shooting a movie in the Gambia. and then, I have a tv series based on the time my family got out of the movie business and moved to New Hampshire to be innkeepers! so many options!

Hi Maurice Vaughan, I would love to discuss it further with you. I would use the money to begin production on a short I am first time directing. The topic is something going on in the world still today.

Sounds like an interesting story, Asmaa Jamil. Congratulations on getting a producer signed up!

Any amount you want, Jack Teague. "Christmas Grouper" sounds interesting. I can see it being on Netflix.

Who's the first director you're hiring, Leonardo Ramirez?

Thank you, Alana Gerdes.

Thanks, Cassandra Slough. What are you gonna do with your blank check?

I would love it if some of the folks were from S32 like Gareth Taylor or Cristina Capra, Maurice Vaughan.

Moving documentary, Xochi Blymyer! Incredible trailer! I'd watch all of your projects!

Congratulations on directing your first short film, Toni Farina! What genre is it?

good catch. I got one for you... Many screenwriters limited with funds are given blank check from the site the network on. The checks get spent in a variety of ways. A few make their movies. Some make their money back plus more and are successful.

Excellent idea, Leonardo Ramirez! Supporting the Stage 32 family.

Love that idea, Vincent Turner!

Thanks!

You're welcome, Xochi Blymyer.

Ooooh, fun question, Maurice Vaughan!! I would want to develop and film a premium television series adaptation of a popular YA book series from when I was a kid- Pendragon by DJ MacHale.

I just looked up Pendragon, Ashley Renee Smith. I think it'd make a great TV series! There's a lot of Pendragon books!

Maurice Vaughan I am happy your in and have the consent of Alana Gerdes as well! Now would you prefer Halle or Angelina? Or maybe Uma Thurman? Well, its for sure a lot of things need to be taken in consideration. Let's do it!

That's tough, Willem Elzenga. How about Halle, Angelina, and Uma in your movie?

Very generous of you Maurice!

Thanks, Jason Mirch. I have a few trillion dollars lying around, so I wanted to share it with everyone. Haha I made this post as a way for members to get their projects out there for producers, directors, etc. to see.

This is one I wrote this year. It's a million dollar budget which almost any actor from Stage 32 could play a part,

The Castle Builder.

The script is available to download on Stage 32.

GENRE: Comedy

LOGLINE:

An eccentric businessman in the bathroom industry risks everything to protect his throne from those who plot to destroy him and steal his life’s work.

Download the Pitch Deck.

https://u.pcloud.link/publink/...

SYNOPSIS:

THE CASTLE BUILDER explores the absurd life of businessman Stanley Droppings. He’s hellbent on being king of the urinals. When he discovers his business partner plans to leave their shared venture to launch a new product, Stanley takes drastic measures to eliminate the competition.

Hey, Tim Bragg. I remember you telling me about The Castle Builder. It sounds like it'd be a funny movie!

There ARE a lot of books, Maurice Vaughan! And I think that VFX is finally in a place where it could look incredible on a premium streaming platform.

Maurice this is the audio pitch for the castle builder.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj2UmKvrC2Y

I'll check it out, Tim Bragg.

I would definitely use the money to help work on my short film called “The Silhouette”. It’s a psychological horror about a man who sees a monster one night and holds on to the traumatic experience which hunts him. I have a script already written which I can send if you are interested. The money would be used to filming costs.

I love psychological horror. Stanley Kubrick was the master when it came to this.

That would ask for re-writes. Let me decide - Angelina; besides being a great actress she also has some interesting side activtities that match the story. It will most likely add 5 million to the above the line production budget. So her star-power needs to do a lot for the movie when released is my guess.

The Silhouette sounds interesting, Anthony Nevarez! And catchy title!

I'm making the only sci-fi script I've ever written. It's called Logan Beats The Shit Out Of Aliens and it's about a guy named Logan who has to fight off an alien invasion with the help of his friends when an alien spaceship crash lands in his backyard. Think Brawl In Cell Block 99 meets Independence Day. Obviously a lot of CGI necessary so the blank check would be put to good use :)

Is Logan Beats The Shit Out Of Aliens gonna be rated PG, Pat Alexander? Haha Sounds exciting! I thought it was gonna be a movie about Wolverine fighting aliens when I read the title.

Very much rated-R, you can't have a guy punching aliens in the face without gratuitous gore LOL

Inspired from a true story, "Greater Love" is a about a family based in Sliver Lake, NC, Dito Jimenez, a vibrant 15-year-old, star athlete suffers a sudden cardiac arrest and passes away. The Jimenez family's faith is rocked to the core as they embark on the journey of ensuring Dito's passing isn't in vain. They battle through the local school board, state and federal bureaucracies leading to an ultimate victory for Dito’s memory. There is no GREATER LOVE than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

That sounds incredible, Peter Herlan!

I am shooting my short Forgiving Retribution now...I shot the first scene in Minnesota over the 4th of July weekend. The rest will be shot here in Las Vegas. You can read about it on my profile. I expect to have it completed within the next 3 to 4 months after I get my last child off to Texas A&M in August... Plan on a year of short film festivals, then final release once that cycle has been completed. Very serious about this short...have invested heavily into it and it deals with a topic that hasn't really been explored much in film...

Hope Forgiving Retribution does great on the festival circuit, Curt Samlaska! Looking forward to seeing it when it's online!

Thanks Maurice...I will be putting a trailer together that we will post on the internet once it is complete. You will get a good look at it then... I will post a link here. Really happy with the first scene. Shooting on Sony FX3 with anamorphic lenses...very, very cinematic...

You're welcome, Curt Samlaska. I'll keep an eye out for the trailer.