Telling stories through film and conversation.
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WILDsound's The Film Podcast

In each episode, the C.E.O. of WILDsound, Matthew Toffolo, chats about all things storytelling and film. Conversations with talented individual from all around the world.

Posts tagged writer
EP. 1186 - Screenwriter John Woodard (A HOLIDAY CAROL)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAPTlkoZJlg

Modern day adaptation of Dickens “A Christmas Carol.” Evan Scrooge lives his life as a rich, greedy, bitter, closeted gay man, who despises the holidays. Until one Christmas Eve night, when his dead, ex-lover and business partner, Jake Marley, along with the three spirits of Christmas Present, Past, and Yet to Come, show Scrooge the errors of his ways. Leading Scrooge to open his heart and love for the holidays, as well as his sexuality.

Get to know the writer:

It’s about two men seeking to find love, who spot each other, mutually attracted, but are unable to meet as one is whisked away in his cab.. Both now set on finding the other again, setting into motion a serious of comedic events.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1182 - Screenwriter Matt Gallagher (GREEN RUSH)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ-DmtHBCeU

Out of work actors in LA plan a robbery of a marijuana dispensary in the middle of Covid lockdown.


Get to know the writer:
The plot is a heist of a dispensary during the peak of Covid lockdown. But the story is about who is winning and losing in the modern American economy. In it, a couple young American males have lost faith in the late capitalist system. History tells us that when young males feel lost en masse, bad things can happen. Here, this group takes a crazy risk with their lives over a compartively small prize. By the start of the film, they have lost faith in institutions, dropped out of higher education, and are pursuing moonshots to achieve what they perceive as success. You could read the story as a mini-revolution with real winners and losers.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1150 - Screenwriter R.A. Modro (BEGIN THE BEGUINE)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRRmkXi2wUA

Two families from different eras, one White and one Black, are inextricably linked by a violent family legacy and a historic home that holds a haunting secret. The story unfolds across two timelines, intricately weaving their lives together through violence, love, acceptance, and the discovery of a shared past.

Get to know the writer:

Begin the Beguine should be made into a movie because the time for it is right. It’s not just a story for the LGBTQ+ community, it’s a universal story that reflects our history as a nation coming to grips with its racist and homophobic past, and learning to move beyond it. As an artist, I wholeheartedly believe that film and television possess the transformative power to inform, challenge, and reshape society. They can serve as conduits to ignite empathy, compassion, and personal creativity. Through the mediums of film and TV, we can embark on journeys that transport us to different times, cultures, and places, broadening our perspective and offering us the opportunity to grow and learn. Begin the Beguine is a love story, but it’s also a story about us as a nation and how we treat People of Color and People in the LGBTQ+ Community.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1139 - Screenwriter Gary Porpora & John Fichera (AMERICAN BREAKDOWN)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rbzGDWo548

Logline: At the mercy of an accelerating dementia, Jonas Flemming, aka, America’s Coroner–the state’s lead witness in yet another high profile murder trial–melts down on the witness stand, setting a psychopath free.

When the L.A. detective on the case reopens his investigation, Jonas becomes the prime suspect.

Get to know the writer:

A world famous coroner, scientist and murder trial expert, think Cyril Wecht–experiencing a rapid deterioration of his mind due to Alzheimers–breaks down on the witness stand, setting a murderer free. When the LAPD reopens the investigation, America’s coroner becomes the main suspect…

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1136 - Screenwriter Denis Crampton (NO 3 Hollythorne Cottage)

Watch the Horror Screenplay Best Scene Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik3-Lji9zPY

When a remote cottage is invaded by three young women and their psychopathic hostage takers, it’s malevolent spirit is unwittingly awakened with tragic consequences.

https://www.threeinonepictures.com/


You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1132 - Screenwriters Laura Elliott & Joseph Samuels (Beyond The Rivers of Babylon)

Watch the best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t96yy7b3gI

A journey through time when the Jews were threatened by the Muslims and how one young man’s life changed when he escaped and helped others smuggle into Israel from Baghdad- based on a true story.

https://www.laurasmagicday.com/

Get to know the writers:

Laura : It’s the true story of how Joseph came of age in Babylon during WWII, when a brutal pogrom of violence against the Jews (the Farhud), forces him to smuggle aboard a riverboat to freedom in Israel––leaving his friends, family, and country behind. It’s the story of how a mischievous, fun-loving boy became a man under extraordinary circumstances and not only survived, but thrived. But it’s also about how Muslims and Jews lived in peace in the region for over two thousand years until the Farhud.

Joseph: It is about sharing the lessons of life. Facing broken dreams to build new ones. How to take failure and use it as a stepping stone to success. How you can learn from disappointment and use it to learn how to improve your life. Facing fate, the uncontrollable circumstances we all find ourselves in, and using resilience to not only survive those circumstances, but to thrive. Last Sunday I spoke at the Holocaust Museum to a room full of people. I was saying that university teaches you about life. When you see this movie you will learn how to live. Not only how to survive, but to thrive. To see all the difficulties and turn to resiliency, tenacity, and courage to overcome the unpredictable difficulties that we face.


You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1124 - Screenwriter Jacqueline Escolme (THE BIRTHDAY LIST)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp8Y7Y8Qxfo

Inspired by a young adventurer, a frustrated midlife wife escapes her marriage and flies to America with a birthday bucket list that helps her find truth, freedom and the future she’s waited twenty years for.


Get to know the writer:
Jenny Collins is a bored, midlife bookworm who unexpectedly gatecrashes a wake, gets inspired by a young adventurer and takes a surprise trip to New York with a birthday bucket list that turns into the adventure she’s always wanted. Discovering who she might be, if she gave herself a chance.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1122 - Screenwriter Anastasia Warmuth (FIREFLY TV Show)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk9nn1nx1xA

Type of Script: TV spec script for the tv show Firefly

The pain caused by the bounty hunter, Jubal Early, in the finale of Season Two still echoes. When the crew of Firefly are infected with a mysterious and deadly airborne virus with dark links to River’s past, Simon must choose between saving the crew and saving his sister.

Get to know the writer:

A spec script of the tv show Firefly. The pain caused by the bounty hunter, Jubal Early, in the finale of Season Two still echoes. When the crew of the spaceship Serenity are infected with a mysterious and deadly airborne virus with dark links to River’s past, Simon must choose between saving the crew and saving his sister.

I was really interested in how the crew in a confined space would react to a deadly disease. Bullets and fist fights can be faced head on, but disease is more insidious and plays on different fears. Infection makes everyone suspect.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1117 - Jeff Rones (DERECK FROM HINGE)

DERECK FROM HINGE, 7min., USA
Directed by Jeff Rones
Fresh off a breakup, a young millennial tries her luck on a popular dating app with a gen z.

Get to know the filmmaker:
As a single twenty-seven-year-old in 2024, I am no stranger to dating apps. Unfortunately, what dating apps promise is a far cry from what they achieve for the people on them. I wanted to channel my frustration into something relatable. Although studies on the impact of mental health and self-esteem from dating apps are out there, active dialogue on how these apps are affecting the users is few and far between. I hope that my film builds awareness on what we actually seek from swiping away our loneliness. Perhaps the commodification of building connection and romance is not actually in our best interest. My hope is that this film allows the audience to dig deeper and laugh at the ridiculousness that is dating apps.


Another aspect that I wanted to incorporate was the generational gap between millennials and generation z. As someone on the cusp of these generations, I find myself caught in the middle. I might frequently use “puppers” to describe cute dogs like Madison, or find myself caught up on TikTok like Dereck, although maybe not on a first date. There is much humor to be found in this dissonance. I believe there are deep issues that both generations find themselves in, but I know the film can only scrape the surface. These issues include a reckoning with the pervasiveness of social media, a worsening housing market, social isolation of a pandemic, and a rapidly changing climate. I hope that my film can start these conversations between generations to reach some common ground.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1114 - Screenwriter Debbi Mack (GREEN SCREAM)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emEm78WV3yE

A woman senses serious trouble connected to a discarded plastic bottle leaking an eerie green substance in her neighborhood.


https://www.debbimack.com/

https://facebook.com/debbimackwriter/
https://instagram.com/debbimacktoo

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1081 - Screenwriter Melissa Skirboll (7 YEARS AFTER)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://youtu.be/tJB-5ePkaXE

Seven years after a religious-nationalist sect has taken over most of the country, as the last of the sanctuary cities begin to fall, a poet and her friends fight the forces of oppression.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1051 - Screenwriter André Meira (A Dangerous Gamble)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZL_415N30eg

A woman with mental health issues, pressured by the insults of her own mother, attempts to stage the kidnapping of her daughter to prove she can make money… but the stunt goes wrong.

Get to know the writer:

– “A Dangerous Gamble” is the story of a woman who tries to circumvent her sensitive monetary situation and family peer pressure in risky or illegal ways, and it all goes drastically wrong. It is, ultimately, a reflection of the sinister influence of capitalism in mental health. The concept had been gestating on me for a long time, and it morphed into what it is today as I started becoming more politically aware. Often I would think to myself about people who may not have a choice other than try to survive and yet, their own attempts for survival represent the further deterioration of their health, but they can’t do anything about it because, well, you’re just expected to eat it up and move on. I kept going back to this old “conspiracy theory” elevator pitch of sorts that I came up with as a child, of a mother who faked her child’s kidnapping to earn money from donations. Think I came up with that during the early years of the Madeleine McCann disappearance case (I am Portuguese haha).

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1031 - Writer Claudia Dato (THE WHITE FENCE)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqBN0uGKVkA

It’s 1953 and Helen Parker’s husband has been MIA in Korea for 18 months. When a local bully graffiti’s her white fence, handy woman Lou Taylor shows up to paint the fence and steal her heart. In the end Helen must decide on which side of the fence to live.


Get to know the writer:

The White Fence is a period drama set in the early 1950s during the Korean War. Helen Parker’s husband George is an Air Force Captain who’s been MIA for 18 months. Forced to move off base and into her father’s home, Helen has a run-in with a piano mover who graffitis her white fence. When local handywoman Lou Taylor offers to paint the fence, it sets the women down a path from friendship to passion. Eventually Helen has to navigate dealing with the local bully, the fate of her husband, and the love of her life while navigating the homophobic scrutiny of the time.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

EP. 1027 - Writer Alexander James Dingeman (UNCHOSEN)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHnJ6IoYEig

When the Chosen One abandons their quest, the world turns to… someone.


Get to know the screenwriter:

I worked on it off and on for about 6 months. The first draft was done in a week or two but I needed to do research to get the dialogue just right and experiment with the characters’ personalities.


You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

Ep. 1026 - Writer/Producer Portia A. Cosby (ON DEAF EARS)

ON DEAF EARS, 13min., US
Directed by Ty Hunt
A mother’s worst fear comes true when her special needs daughter’s actions are misunderstood during a routine traffic stop.

https://www.facebook.com/phyllgoodent
https://www.instagram.com/phyllgoodent/

Get to know Portia A. Cosby:
I have a daughter with special needs, and the scenario in the film has always been a concern. What happens if her processing time and level of understanding lags in an intense or critical situation? I decided to finally write about it in 2020 after the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor killings occurred.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

Ep. 1022 - Screenwriter Sandon Yahn (PATHS WE LEAD)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVZUTousLAA

An aspiring screenwriter who struggles to support his family becomes successful after he uses a mysterious writing software that alters reality. But, with that comes a price that he never imagined he’d have to pay.


Get to know the screenwriter:

Every one can identify with the struggle of finding your calling and living it out. This story shows what happens when we decide to do things based on our own wisdom (which can be flawed) and not relying on God’s wisdom. It asks that question, “If you had the power to do what you wanted, how would you wield that power and at what cost?” It shows what the love of a family can do to heal the wrongs of one’s actions. What is more important, family or career? Can it be both or do we tend to put one over the other for the wrong reasons.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

Ep. 1019 - Writer/Actor Paul Darrigo (SUMMERVILLE)

SUMMERVILLE, 26min., USA
Directed by Anthony Di Pietro
After an Alien invasion, the invaders decide to convert humans to a work force… An underground resistor, the Ghost, has some special skills that helps in the fight.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9805310/reference/

Get to know writer/producer/actor Paul Darrigo:

This started out with “Let’s shoot a quick scene” Then the passion got the best of us and here we are. (It took) At least 3 years to make this film. Multiple editors, re-shoots and script/story changes. Evidently, I took over editing and really had to make this happen. We went over budget a bit but I found 3 key people to finish the film.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

Ep. #1012 - Screenwriter Jimmy Sanders (JUST THE SIX OF US)

Watch the Comedy Festival TV Pilot best scene reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-3S46hX1YE

Four sisters, suddenly reunited, try to make a better future for themselves by reconnecting to their past.


http://www.thelostepisodes.com/https://instagram.com/the_lost_episodes

Get to know the writer:

The four Lubbock sisters, from the late-80s cult classic “Just the Ten of Us”, are suddenly together again after a rapid succession of reunions. The youngest, Connie, is stuck in a dead-end job at a dead-end television station in Tampa. She’s stuck in a rut; but sees some welcome change when her father, Graham, comes to live with her for a little while. Little does she know that her younger brother, the outrageous Harvey, is in tow. Before long, her other sisters; the manic Marie, the gold digging Wendy, and the spacey Cindy, all come to Connie looking for refuge from the consequences of their own personal failures.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

Ep. #1011 - Writer Adam Jay Ung (DELULU)

Watch the Screenplay Reading: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1RVbBl-98w

A Korean-born, American-raised K-pop idol working on the release of her solo debut track in Seoul, struggles with the language and cultural differences while dealing with a crazed stalker who’s dangerously obsessed with her.

http://www.adamjayung.com/

Get to know the writer:

On the surface, the screenplay is about a young K-pop idol who’s in the process of debuting her first track as a solo artist while dealing with a crazed stalker. Underneath the surface, it’s really about a girl who’s in search of her place in the world.

The title, “Delulu,” is a term that the K-pop fan community began using to label people they considered to be delusional for believing that they’d be lucky enough to date or befriend their favorite K-pop idols.

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.

Sept. 16, 2023 - Writer Pamela PerryGoulardt

Pamela PerryGoulardt has had multiple scripts performed at the WILDsound Festival, with 5 scripts being turned into “Script Movies”. Those films have gone onto winning multiple awards at various festivals.

You can watch Pamela’s script movies and screenplay readings here:

https://www.wildsound.ca/search?q=Pamela%20PerryGoulardt

You can sign up for the 7 day free trial at www.wildsound.ca (available on your streaming services and APPS). There is a DAILY film festival to watch, plus a selection of award winning films on the platform. Then it’s only $3.99 per month.