Jean M. Knowlton's Lounge Discussions

Sorry you had to go through that, Jean M. Knowlton. Writing a screenplay about it sounds like a great idea.

I'll go look for it!

This is fantastic, William. Added to the quarantine watch list.

Very nice trailer. Can't wait to watch it. Well done William!

looks cool man, Congrats on making and finishing it.

I saw it and it was very exciting to watch. I would have hoped the news clipping at the end mentioned she had won the seat in congress instead, but I guess not every movie has a happy ending, that probably would not have been realistic.

Glad you introduced yourself! Congratulations on your published novels and I wish you continued success sharing your stories bridging between the US and Mexico.

Welcome Ernestina!

Wonderful motivation, and I'm so impressed you were a finalist in the Nicholl!

Ernestina, you should connect with @analydiamonaco on Twitter. She's an accomplished indie writer-director and a strong advocate for LatinX and WOC.

Welcome Jean!

Thanks, Tasha. Dan, the post started as my latest idea for a screenplay, which was a sequel to Saturday Night Live that would provide some healing for the rape incident that occurred. It was in no way re-writing the original, just responding to what was pretty appalling to most women who saw it. The characters, I would want to believe, grew and changed over the years, and the third film in the series would simply provide a healing for the wound created by the first film, which was a rape that was minimized and basically dismissed. It would not be something, as an amateur, I would likely want to be responsible for writing the final script. I could write it as a writing exercise at this point, since I have very little experience in the genre. I could provide ideas, but professionals in charge of the original material would be the ones to do it, obviously. It probably would only work with the two original cast members involved and overseen by the original screenwriting team, augmented by some women to broaden the viewpoint. Seeing the controversy it raised in this thread, it appears it would create a buzz, great built-in publicity for a film.

I am still working on writing the scene between Tony and Annette where they hash things out. I'm taking a dialogue seminar, which should help some. Plus I decided the first way I took it where she is saying she doesn't believe the woman making the Me, Too accusation was just wrong. It should be believed, and it should turn out to be true. It just shouldn't be something unforgivable like Weinstein's behavior, more of a temporary lapse of judgment during a difficult time in his life. It will be in the fairly distant past so his realization comes slowly of the truth in the charge, as he is being confronted by Annette, which jogs his memory. He will be seen as a hero in the end for courageously admitting his mistake and making amends in a time when many men are engaging in denial and cover-ups. Reminiscent of the scene where he hands the check to the Hispanic couple at the dance competition because he knows they actually won were it not for a racist choice.

I've rewritten the one scene, but realized now I really do want to write the whole thing because more ideas keep pouring in as to how to approach it. The scene I wrote explains the crux of it, between Annette and Tony, but I think the conflict may need to be teased out over several scenes with some storming out and more upset. Maybe he will sue her not to publish her book because even though she doesn't mention names, everyone will know it's him sitting in the car doing nothing while she was raped. I thought maybe after they start to reconcile a bit over it, there could be a scene where Tony saves someone's life by doing CPR, having someone help him by having the song Staying Alive playing, because as many of us know now, it's the perfect rhythm for CPR. That would be a good heroic scene for Tony, tying in the first movie and also educating those who don't know about that fun fact. Maybe it could be he saves Annette's husband. So I'm going to go back to the story board and work on this for a few weeks and will let anyone who is interested read it when it's in first draft for any suggestions, helpful hints, etc. I did take a screenwriting college class a long time ago in San Francisco when I lived there, and since then I have always kept taking online classes and so I like to keep learning and growing. It's just a fun way to express the many ideas that come percolating through many of us who have super active minds.

Now into the pandemic, I went into such a fog so far, starting to lift, but wasn't able to do much except write things that I hated later. Anyway, today I came up with an idea for this where instead of Annette confronting Tony and him being accused of harassment, his wife could be an actress who stands up to a well-known director and ends up getting him convicted in court. As a result of what Tony goes through with her courageous story and action, he remembers Annette and he is the one who approaches her. I think her character could have grown in the same ways as in the previous version and she hosts a talk radio show. He reaches her through that and then they have a conversation about what happened and make things right between them. That would protect Tony's hero image, yet go back and heal the harm.