I retired early from AT&T in 1998 to do what I always promised myself I would when retiring; that is, write. Since then I've written 2 novels, 2 non-fiction books, 10 screenplays and 3 stage plays – all since 1998. As a body of work, I have been recognized as finalist or better in over 150 theatre, book and screenplay competitions around the world which include novel successes in Norumbego Fiction Award, Dana Awards, Frontiers in Writing, SFWP (Santa Fe), First Coast (Jack’ville), etc. The screenplays alone have won 24 contests (Woodshole/Garden State/Queens/Telluride/Spirit Quest Film Festivals, Fade In Magazine, etc.). Also, these scripts came in second place – first runner up - in 17 other competitions (Breckenridge, Pocono and Phoenix Film Festivals, etc). My stage plays won a reading series at Abingdon Theatre in NYC and Ohio State University, and a play I co-wrote with Drew Keil has won the stage play category in both the London Film Awards and the American Movie Awards. I taught adult education at Northampton County Community College in screenwriting, and I was Temple University screenplay judge in their undergraduate program (Freese Award).
BOO HOO FLANAGAN Drama ⋄ Sports A black correctional officer in personal turmoil coaches the inmate basketball team and finds the strength and motivation he needs -- both in life and on the job -- in Boo Hoo Flanagan, an aging, white, crippled inmate who shoots three-point baskets better than anyone has ever seen. Or – The Longest Yard except it’s basketball with a little Shawshank Redemption thrown in.
HAT TRICK Adventure ⋄ Comedy ⋄ Drama ⋄ Sports A retired cop streaks naked down the field during the present-day Army/Navy game believing his heroics will atone for a fumble he made years ago during the same football classic and, while planning for this wacky gridiron adventure, he takes his two codger friends on an endearing journey proving retirement is no place for the slow pokes or the timid.
CORPORATE POLICY Drama Greedy executives of a large corporation implement an illegal downsizing process, and they would’ve gotten away with it, but they didn’t count on a desperate employee whose courage and family loyalty proves much stronger than any of their corporate policies. (Inspired by true events)
THE ED DENNEHY STORY Adventure ⋄ Biography ⋄ Drama ⋄ Historical Ed always wanted to be in theatre, acting or directing; infant epilepsy, a lifelong love of booze, or the bizarre hallucinations of van Gogh, Barrymore and spiders the size of dogs was not going to stop him from following his passion. Living in reality was another matter in this physiological journey where a man struggles to find peace between the worlds of the real and the imaginary.
THE GODS OF BELL Drama When a telephone worker invades the public’s privacy by using the telephone lines to find the man who killed his wife, he inadvertently becomes a pawn in a twisted tale of espionage and intrigue.
GOING SOLO (by Keil and Gately) Comedy ⋄ Drama Logline for Going Solo, a screen and stage play by Drew Keil and Robert Gately Self-exiled at home for over 30 years, an agoraphobic mother must choose between her recluse life and trekking alone through bustle of New York City to see her estranged daughter perform a solo at Carnegie Hall and, while she takes this voyage, a chance encounter with a cantankerous female vagrant provides unexpected solace and a surer way to her daughter’s heart.
LIVING PROOF Drama ⋄ Sports Logline of Living Proof, (based on a true story of a year in the life of Jerry Gaughan) Adopted at infancy, a professional minor league ice hockey player searches for his biological parents during a championship season where his dream of playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins hangs on a thread and a prayer, but his quest to find his birth parents is more disruptive than expected and he finds himself more on a journey of enlightenment than discovery.
TERROR ON THE RUN Action ⋄ Drama How do you wipe out a terrorist organization who is training in the heart of Iraq while also inspiring Arab Sultans in the Mid-East to join with Western nations in a global war against international terrorism? Our heroes do it.
SOUTH OF MAIN STREET (screenplay and novel) Drama ⋄ Family An emotionally challenged dad, who most believe suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress, or worse, suddenly must prove he’s ‘normal’ or be judge by the legal system as incapacitated when his wife dies and his daughter sues for financial control of the estate. (Christmas time)
1st place for "The Barking Spider" in the California Film Awards
(2016)
1st place for "The Barking Spider" in the Feel the Reel screeplay contest
(2016)
1st place for "The Barking Spider" in the Yosemite Internation Film Festival
(2015)
1st place (stage play cat.) for "Going Solo" in the American Movie Awards
(2014)
1st place (stage play cat.) for "Going Solo" in the London Film Awards
(2013)
Won a production in the BaCCA Perform’g Arts Center (1 act festival) for "Get the Hell Off"
(2013)
1st place for "South of Main Street" in the Script Exposure Screenwriting Competition
(2012)
1st place for "South of Main Street" in the Spirit Quest Film Festival
(2012)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the Greenlight.com monthly screenplay contest
(2009)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the Indie Gathering screenplay contest
(2009)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the Garden State Film Festival screenplay contest
(2008)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the A/Exposure screenplay contest
(2007)
Won a spot at Abingdon Theatre's First Reading Series for "Going Solo"
(2006)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the Zoiefest screenplay contest
(2005)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the Split-Screen screenplay contest
(2005)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the Seventh Dimension screenplay contest
(2005)
1st place for "Boo Hoo Flanagan" in the Hollywood Screenwriting Institute screenplay contest
(2004)
1st place for "Boo Hoo Flanagan" in the Queens International screenplay contest
(2004)
1st place for "Boo Hoo Flanagan" in the Burris-Hulett screenwriting contest
(2003)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the Woodshole Film Festival screenplay contest
(2003)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the Telluride IndieFest screenplay contest
(2001)
1st place for "Hat Trick" in the Fade In Magazine screenplay contest
(2000)
Fairleigh Dickinson University - College at Florham
(1980-1982)
Stony Brook University, SUNY
(1980-1982)
SUNY Suffolk County Community College
(1980-1982)
NY Institute of Technology
(1980-1982)