Petition asks Nathan Fielder to read prison screenplay

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

Nathan Fielder – Talent Agents
– Writer, Actor, Producer – Nathan for You (2013), The Curse, Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009), Who Is America? (2018) – United Talent Agency (UTA), Gregory McKnight – Rise Management, Christie Smith

Dumbass, Untitled Nathan Fielder/HBO Pilot

Nathan Fielder & Adam Sandler’s film company targeted by Texas petition

Will Hollywood just rollover and let prisoner’s suffer?

EXCLUSIVE

More than 2000 women have signed an open letter to Adam Sandler calling on Nathan Fielder and Hollywood to take “movie action” to tackle injustice against men and women in the wake of revelations that Texas has more prisoners incarcerated than the Soviet Union’s gulag system had. Texas currently has over 290,000 inmates housed at 580 facilities.

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 Nathan Fielder at United Talent Agency (UTA), Gregory McKnight last week.

In the open letter to Nathan Fielder, 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 Nathan Fielder 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.”

Writer, Actor, Producer, Nathan Fielder, has not responded to the petition. Nor has United Talent Agency (UTA), Gregory McKnight responded with a comment.

Alan Nafzger/caption]

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.

During the winter’s deep freeze, the The Marshall Project, exposed the horrible prison conditions, “Inside Frigid Texas Prisons: Broken Toilets, Disgusting Food, Few Blankets.”

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.”

Nathan Fielder has not commented on the script, thus far. 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.

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

Nathan Fielder is a Writer, Actor, Producer known for Nathan for You (2013), The Curse, Important Things with Demetri Martin (2009), Who Is America? (2018) and is represented by United Talent Agency (UTA), Gregory McKnight.

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I didn’t renew the contract with the agent. Instead, I solicited producers and got several reads for “The Yellow Tulip.” All passed, except one producer. I was so excited about meeting with her I nearly quit my day job. Thank goodness I didn’t.

My second mistake was not remaining in control of my own career. I turned everything over to the agent figuring he’d make the calls, the contacts and the sales. Isn’t this what an agent is for? I soon learned that even with a good agent a screenwriter still has to be involved in selling their material on one level or another.

This was mistake #1 in a long list of mistakes, miscalculations and what I consider to be some pretty unnecessary mistakes I’ve made in my quest to become a professional screenwriter. Had I done my homework, I would have discovered the agent (to remain unnamed) hadn’t sold a thing in over 2 years.

Some time ago I wrote a coming of age drama titled “The Yellow Tulip.” Out of 1,500+ submissions received in the Writer’s Digest Screenwriting Competition it placed in the Top 10. As a result, a WGA agent contacted me and soon after I signed with his agency.

So my workshops, my blog, and this book are my way of making these screenwriting techniques and tricks available to novelists and aspiring novelists who may not live anywhere near Hollywood, but who could be getting the same benefits that I and other author friends have reaped from applying screenwriting techniques to our novel writing. And beyond my professional film experience, I’ve also taught story structure to film students on the college level, on the staff of Otis College of Art and Design, so aspiring screenwriters and film students should find the storytelling techniques valuable as well.

But I also think that this stuff is just in the air out here. Without even half trying, just by virtue of living in Los Angeles and working in the business, I was automatically exposed to the techniques that successful filmmakers have used since the beginning of the form, and that have been painstakingly detailed by story and scriptwriting gurus such as Robert McKee, John Truby, Christopher Vogler, Linda Seger, Viki King, Michael Hauge, the late Blake Snyder, and the late Frank Daniel (who taught screenwriting at the USC film school).

Because of my screenwriting and theater background, I was immediately in demand to teach writing workshops at writing conferences in various genres. And I realized very quickly that the Three-Act, Eight-Sequence structure and other storytelling techniques that Hollywood types take for granted are a huge revelation to people outside the glass dome of the film business. Granted, I’d had a lot of exposure to this stuff, not only as a working screenwriter, but also before that as a story analyst for various production companies, and on the Board of Directors of the WGA, West (the screenwriters’ union), and as the founder of WriterAction.com, a private message board of over 2000 WGA screenwriters.

And before I was an author, I worked as a screenwriter for ten years, selling original scripts and writing novel adaptations for most of the major Hollywood studios before I finally snapped and wrote my first novel. The Harrowing sold right away and was nominated for both the Anthony Award (mystery) and Bram Stoker Award (horror) for Best First Novel.