“LIMPING TOWARDS BABYLON” 2024 coverage (reader feedback)

Here’s some recent feedback I’ve received on my screenplay “LIMPING TOWARDS BABYLON”:

Slamdance Screenplay Competition short feedback:
“The script has really clever dialogue, and the relationships between these characters are incredibly well-thought-out and dimensional.

ScreenCraft Feature Competition short coverage:
“One of the things that really elevates “Limping Towards Babylon” is the layering of the characterization. The group all have distinct motivations and each acts with consistent agency. These are all smart and highly educated characters and yet we also see their more lizard brain impulses that sit below the surface. The contrast between what is verbalised and the subtext beneath it lends the character dynamics a great tension that sustains reader interest across the narrative.”

The Golden Script Competition Coverage
“The beginning of the story hooks you right in with a strong setup, introducing Marcus and Thomas right off the bat. It hints at their comedic tone through their dialogue and actions, making it easy for audiences to relate to them. As the plot unfolds, it skillfully delves into their individual journeys, blending their career ambitions with personal obstacles.
The screenplay is packed with vibrant character dynamics and hilarious exchanges. It really captures the essence of living together, highlighting all the quirks and complexities that come with it. Each housemate, from Marcus and Thomas to E and Adam, brings something unique to the table, drawing audiences in with a blend of novelty and familiarity. Following their lives, from initial interviews to everyday interactions in shared spaces, adds layers to the story and keeps viewers hooked. It’s like reliving those college days in a whole new light….”

Comedy, Film Festival, Limping Towards Babylon, Screenplay Competitions, Uncategorized

“LIMPING TOWARDS BABYLON” – 2024 Successes so far

I revised “Limping Towards Babylon.” Because, I never made a concerted effort to submit to Screenplay competitions when I first finished script, I have been sending it off – not to as many places as “Don’t Eat Paper!” but a somewhat parallel effort. (I was more concentrated on the difficult process of trying to raise money to produce and direct the film – a process that involved an enormous effort that on one level I was quite proud of (a “Limping Towards Babylon” website which I designed and populated, an excellent Look Book, accepted into Fiscal Sponsorship with the Gotham, etc.), but I was never able to raise the requisite funds. But I’ve never given up on getting it off the ground and thus why I thought maybe some screenplay competition successes would show investors it’s a worthwhile project:

– 2024 – Semi-Finalist, ScreenCraft Comedy Competition 2024

– 2024 – Semi-Finalist – 29th Annual Fade In Awards Drama Competition

– 2024 – Semi-Finalist – Dallas International Film Festival’s Screenwriting Competition


Above, a story board of the opening scene provided by Dallas International Film Festival – an excellent drawing though it’s missing one character who is in the scene

– 2024 – Semi-Finalist – Ojai Film Festival’s Screenplay Competition

– 2024 – Quarter Finalist – ScreenCraft Feature Competition 2024


– 2024 – Quarter Finalist – Final Draft – Big Break 2024

– 2024 – Official Selection – Berlin International Screenplay Festival

Comedy, Film Festival, Limping Towards Babylon, Screenplay Competitions, Uncategorized

“Limping Towards Babylon” Look Book done – Seeking Qualified Investors now

I’m just days away from being able to approach investors to fund my movie with just a few more technical tasks however the Line Producer has completed the preliminary budget, one liner and DOOD; the LLC is registered and the Look Book is done. (I know it’s the proverbial needle in a haystack, but if anyone has any “qualified investor” leads for me, PLEASE private message me.) Here’s the cover design for the Look Book, designed by Brian Grondahl brother of Jennifer Grondahl Wozniak. I think he did a fabulous job making my content sing. Look Book Cover design by Brian Grondahl

Limping Towards Babylon video for it’s successful Kickstarter (pre-production funding)

Comedy, Film, Limping Towards Babylon, Music, Uncategorized, Yale School of Drama

the Music of LIMPING TOWARDS BABYLON

3 days to go in the LIMPING TOWARDS BABYLON kickstarter (Nov. 20)

Therefore, please, please spread the word to your friends directly and on social media.

So, today’s creative update is about the music in the video and what I envision for the film as a whole. So, exactly how did I meet a Grammy Award winning composer?

Grammy Award winning Partch Ensemble. Alex Wand seated lower left
Grammy Award winning Partch Ensemble. Alex Wand seated lower left

Los Angeles has a reputation for being a shallow, glitzy, materialistic, non-intellectual place. And there are certainly are many examples where the truth of that is as good as gold. But equally true is that LA is a complex city, with veins and pockets of other under-appreciated precious metals and gems.

So on May 5, 2015, at the rather unlikely location of Western and 2nd Street, I went to see a concert of “micro-tuned” guitars at Monk’s Place – from the outside, it looks like a small warehouse amongst, fairly downscale retail shops, and inside, likewise, industrial with exposed brick walls and uncomfortable, plastic white chairs for seating.

Monk's Space exterior

Monk’s Space exterior

It reminded me of the funky little venues I would go to in the East Village and Brooklyn when I lived in NYC.
Exactly, what is “micro-tuning”? As I understand it, it’s an alternate tuning system of in-between notes rather than the standard system used in Western music, and thus sometimes the notes sound unusual and interesting and sometimes, to my ears at least, flat and unpleasantly “out-of-tune”. So, most of the concert was interesting, but too alienating, and for over an hour, just an intellectual curiosity to me.

And then at the very end, Alex Wand came out with a large ensemble of musicians to perform his song cycle “The Great Hunt” using Carl Sandburg poems as lyrics.

Immediately it was a different experience. I was hearing something both tuneful AND unconventionally micro-tuned, with rhythms that sometimes were smooth and sometimes deliberately jerky and syncopated.

I literally felt the excitement coursing through my body and brain. It was new classical music with inflections of folk, blues and rock lurking in the background that suddenly thrusting forward. I was having the rare experience of a true musical discovery, where I wasn’t just hearing a new song, but a new sound… familiar yet utterly unfamiliar.

Alex Wand (right) composer of Sandburg song cycle at Monk's Place 5-5-15 photo by Erin Barnes
Alex Wand (right) composer of Sandburg song cycle at Monk’s Place 5-5-15 photo by Erin Barnes

(Here’s the link to Alex’s full piece performed at Monk’s Place https://youtu.be/cRzDB_KciHM)

And also, what I was hearing was so, so close to what I imagined the music major character, Marcus (played by Matt Mercer) in my script would be composing, In the screenplay, I have him performing Bach for Amandine, but also later composing a new classical concerto for marimba, violin and guitar, as a way of expressing his feelings for her.

Matt Mercer as Marcus and Karen Sours as Amandine

Matt Mercer as Marcus and Karen Sours as Amandine

So after the Monk’s Space concert, I bee-lined over to Alex. My enthusiasm and praise must have made enough of a positive impact that when I invited him about a month and half later to sit in on the first full reading of the LIMPING TOWARDS BABYLON script, he not only came by on a Sunday summer afternoon but also was impressed enough by the actors and the script to get on board with the project.

Comedy, Film, Limping Towards Babylon, Music, Uncategorized