Comedy
SIBLINGS: A raunchy Dark Comedy
Produced, Written and Directed by James Ridgley
This production is a signatory of the SAG-AFTRA Micro-Budget Contract.
Kirk, the youngest of 5 siblings, has to navigate the minefields of grief and greed when all 5 of them attend a Thanksgiving dinner at his house, and their father dies of a heart attack while having sex with his “bouncy” girlfriend.
The Raunchy Comedy, SIBLINGS, goes deep, but only for a few seconds at a time. The hope is more for laughs and an enjoyable 90 minutes with some oddball characters who are only human and have enough history between them that they can forgive and forget the biggest betrayals - sometimes.
WHY ME?
This is based on having 4 siblings I grew up with, and has a basis in truth - exaggerated truth but still truth. My career as a comedy-juggler turned stand-up comic and screenwriter has paved the way to write the broad comedy aspects and the prop-related pieces in the story. A few years ago, I was set to direct a different script of mine with a Golden Globe winning actress, but it fell apart, and Covid has dashed my dreams of filming that for now. This compelled me to write a one-location, more intimate feature, which I can do on a minimal budget - despite Covid.
CAST MEMBERS:
Jeffrey Weissman from PALE RIDER and BTTF parts 2 and 3
Whitton Frank from Murder In The First
Elizabeth Lambert from Dark Skies and Class of Nuke ‘Em High
DAVIDS VS GOLIATHS: Sports-Comedy (Coming Of Age)
Logline: When an NFL Team’s flight is delayed, desperate NFL Corporate Bean Counters get the local High School Team who just won the State Final, to play in it's place! Will “David” beat “Goliath?” Will “David” even survive the first 10 minutes?
What is a High School Football Player’s dream? NFL baby!
David Baker, 17, star QB of his High School team, has it all: looks, charm and humbleness; all except a Dad who cares. When his Dad’s NFL team, stuck in a blizzard, can’t make their game, the CEO’S choose David’s State Final Championship Team to play against the Miami Dolphins instead.
A fun exhibition game turns brutal when suddenly the winner now gets the NFL wildcard playoff spot!
“Goliath” crushes David, carried off in a stretcher with an ankle injury. Now there’s no hope of a proxy win for his Dad, let alone the love and respect he needs.
All is lost until… Is that David hopping on one foot, back onto the field? The Crowd blows the roof off the place! Yes, it is!
PURPLE BALLOON: Action-Comedy (Female Driven)
Logline: A desperate Mother poses as FBI to bring, actually kidnap, a Female Pop Star, across country, to visit her biggest fan: her 17 yr old Daughter, in remission.
What causes an FBI agent to kidnap a famous Pop Singer?
Specially Marge, frumpy & middle-aged, she forces Zinnia to jump off a moving train! Just so they can drive 2,000 miles to NYC for Zinnia’s SNL appearance?! All with a fake FBI badge.
Yes, Marge has an ulterior motive - a stop in Brooklyn.
There she presents her #1 Fan, her cancer-stricken Daughter. On the way, chaotic action as Marge and Zinnia, as different from each other as can be, have to keep going East despite different people tracking them down.
Arriving at Marge’s in Brooklyn, usually empathetic toward suffering individuals, Zinnia can’t stand Marge’s betrayal and writes her off as a pathetic liar and crook.
Marge is shunned but her Daughter gets a front row seat to the SNL performance.
As Marge and Zinnia duke it out later, in a stretch Hummer, will they forgive one another? Can Marge forgive herself?
DRUNK AND DRUNKER: Buddy Comedy
Two Brothers, one seems Smart and the other seems Dumb, struggle through their family issues after accidentally locking themselves inside the distillery room at an isolated Brewery.
Query:
Stephen brings his socially-challenged brother, Joe, to his friend’s Beer Tasting Grand Opening.
Gary, the friend, clashes badly with Joe’s odd personality, while Steph grabs Gary’s wife to continue their illicit affair.
When the Beer Gary made shocks all his Guests with its vile taste, everyone is asked to come back when he hires new brew experts.
Steph and Joe end up getting locked inside the downstairs distillery. Bad because no-one will be around for 2 months, until the next tasting.
Joe, seems the dumb one, is the one who discovers what they need to do to survive! Until, in a drunken roar, they almost kill each other reconciling their retched family past.
Then Gary arrives and, instead of being saved - they are accidentally locked in again! Now there’s three bodies to feed! But maybe not as Joe accidentally lets out that Steph was fooling around with his wife.
Will Gary kill Steph? Will Steph kill Gary? Or will Joe be able to keep the peace? Even so can they survive until help arrives?