CHRISTMAS IN VEGAS

 

Story's about a 12 year old boy who runs away from home, making it from St. Louis, MO, to San Jose, CA, although his intentions were to end up in Las Vegas. It's set at Christmas time, 1972.

 

It deals honestly and sometimes graphically with child abuse, thereby making it a little difficult to produce, despite a couple of attempts and generally laudatory response by readers. At one point the script was optioned by a small production company until that company lost its studio deal and financing.

 

At one point, an A-list producer and famous director (both remaining unnamed here) were behind it until irreconcilable creative differences emerged between the producer and yours truly, the writer. To be fair to the producer, he had valid ideas, but to be fair to myself, these ideas changed not only the entire script structure, but the lead character as well, who was and remains the boy. All rights currently reside with me.

 

Script is offered for option/sale, or private financial backing. At the time the producer and director were involved, a budget of between $3 - $5 million was discussed as a ballpark figure.

Ideal co-producing entities would be:

  • A concerned indie production company, willing to take risks with edgy and uncomfortable material, with a commitment to the authenticity of the story and the writer's vision and words.
  • Individual financial backers with the same characteristics.
  • Child advocacy and/or protection organizations eager to dramatize the issue of child abuse.
  • Any producer, director, film industry executive desirous of dramatizing the issue, fully aware that this is not the movie they are going to make a lot of money on.

One of the main concerns of mine is that the story retain its honesty for the audience, especially anyone going through similar situations. This script cannot be "Hollywoodized" to make it go down better, placate censors, be more accessible to the general public, or for any other common reason Hollywood companies use to justify softening the edge of a good, honest, true story.

 

First and foremost is retaining the story's believability in the eyes of the audience. Welcoming inquiries from all serious parties.