Petition asks America Olivo to read prison screenplay

More than 2000 women sign petition demanding a firm commitment from  America Olivo (film producer) to read screenplay addressing Texas judicial system

America Olivo – Talent Agents
– Actress, Producer, Writer – Chicago P.D. (2014), Bitch Slap (2009), Friday the 13th (2009), Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) – TalentWorks, Brandy Gold – Vanguard Management Group, David Guc

Dumbass, Broadway Dreams

America Olivo & Adam Sandler’s film company targeted by Texas petition

Will Hollywood just rollover and let prisoner’s suffer?

EXCLUSIVE

The signatories, including state senators, professors of criminal justice, social workers, family, and inmates, call for a “firm commitment” to tackle the unjust prisons in Texas. The petition has also been signed by Beto O’Rourke, and Matthew McConaughey. These two signatories might face each other in the 2022 Texas governors election. Both have expressed interest in the job.  The petitions arrived for America Olivo at TalentWorks, Brandy Gold last week.

In the open letter to America Olivo, the 2080 women write that they are “heartbroken for first-time drug offenders many times addicts who have received extremely harsh sentences in Texas when rehabilitation has proven a cheaper and more effective solution.”  The petition goes on to say their family and friends are often heartbroken for and looking for redemption and rehabilitation for the victimless drug crimes.”

The signatories, including attorneys, professors, politicians, family members, and inmates, call on America Olivo for a ‘firm film commitment’ to tackle the issue of operating the Texas prison system for profit.

The petition came to light when women discovered the screenplay, a copy which was dontated to all 580 of the state’s prison and jail libraries. The existence of the petition surfaced on International Women’s Day. Women in Texas face extreme prejudice in Texas and often receive extremely harsh penalties for even a small amount of drugs, including marijuana. Marijuana is legal now in 21 states.

Inside prisons, the women are faced with such horrendous conditions… the petition demands that “filmmakers begin to take the issue seriously.”  Also, the petition reminds that “even here in the USA in the 21st century citizens are not safe from government oppression.”

Actress, Producer, Writer, America Olivo, has not responded to the petition. Nor has TalentWorks, Brandy Gold responded with a comment.

The screenplay “Dumbass” was penned by writer and retired professor of political science Alan Nafzger.

The premise of the story is that, “Adam Sandler writes letters and saves numerous women from the monotony of prison life, and later when he gets into trouble with a drug cartel they return the favor by rescuing him.”

The film would be set in contemporary, Gatesville Texas. There are four women’s prisons located in Gatesville. And of course, Texas is famous for putting everyone in prison for a long sentences for little or no reason. The number of women in Texas prisons has tripled in the last ten years, as mass incarcerations have proven profitable to not only the state but also profitable for an array of business interests.

Writer Alan Nafzger has called on Governor Greg Abbott to, “end the prison industry.”

Recently, “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak spoke out against the Texas system and put a good word in for mercy and forgiveness out on social media. “How nice for those who have lived such exemplary lives that they can express glee when others have their lives ruined by a mistake, real or perceived,” Sajak tweeted last month.

The petition states, “Why don’t we have the ‘Adam Sandler’ character… sending letters to women in prison and being their friend and trying to help them adjust, giving them hope… and when they get out of prison he picks them up so they don’t have to ride the smelly bus back home… but his pickup truck is a junker, smoking and sputtering … worse than the bus. But his heart is in the right place… He’s the last “chivalrous” man on earth.”

America Olivo has not commented on the script, thusfar. A statement is expected soon.

Professor Nafzger has made a short treatment of the project available online.

He has made the finished script available at for select filmmakers.

Jana Sandler of Happy Madison Productions has also expressed interest in the screenplay.

America Olivo is a Actress, Producer, Writer known for Chicago P.D. (2014), Bitch Slap (2009), Friday the 13th (2009), Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) and is represented by TalentWorks, Brandy Gold.

——————- READ MORE ——————-

Remember the first Jurassic Park and the stunning scene where the characters first see the living dinosaurs? Notice how we’re taken from that scene immediately to the laboratory where the ‘rules’ of how this came about is explained in scientific detail. While even I think this scene was a bit dry, it was vital to the believability factor of the audience. In Honey I Shrunk the Kids we learn up front that the father is a mad scientist and we learn of his potential to shrink objects (and eventually kids) before the event happens, thus setting up the believability factor when it happens.

What if the writer hadn’t visually and verbally revealed this information? Then the audience would be shouting; “No way, vampires can’t live in daylight!” The entire movie would have lacked believability. While vampires, zombies, ghosts, werewolves and other horror creatures are make believe, they have established rules audiences accept. If these rules are broken, then the writer must provide an explanation. I recommend a visual explanation, if possible, but even a dialogue one will suffice. A word of caution regarding horror; the screenwriter can bend the rules to suit the story’s unique world, but don’t take it too far or the audience won’t accept it.

In the Twilight saga the vampires are running around during the daytime. Aren’t vampires supposed to sleep during the day and only come out at night? In the first movie of the trilogy, the writer establishes how this story breaks the rules by establishing new rules; the vampires can be out in the daylight, but must refrain from direct sunlight. While direct sunlight won’t kill them, it will expose what they really are. By knowing this, the audience accepts the daylight scenes and the vampires’ world.

In Cowboys and Aliens the rules are learned as the story progresses. We learn how Daniel Craig’s character came to have the metallic bracelet on his arm, what happened to him and how he ties in with the aliens and why they’ve come to earth. Learning the ‘rules’ gradually is a necessity for this story to work because it helped build suspense. If the writer had laid out the circumstances of this unique world up front, the story would have lacked suspense.

#NAME?

#NAME?

(This might not be the kind of story you’re writing! That’s fine. That’s why I keep hammering the idea that you need to do your own analyses of films and books that you yourself respond to, and see what’s really going on in the stories that particularly work for you.)

A story is very often a thematic argument between a hero/ine and an antagonist. (You may want to Google Hegel’s Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis.) On a basic level, the hero/ine represents one vision of how to live, and the antagonist another. Very often the antagonist also presents a dark vision of what the hero/ine could become, or is on his way to becoming, and it’s through battle with the antagonist that the hero/ine is able to change.