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1979

In the heat of California’s Central Valley in 1979, a stoic high school gearhead navigates a volatile romance with a sophisticated L.A. art student and the expectations of a strict father, eventually spiraling into a crisis that forces him to choose between the dangerous allure of the big city and the enduring strength of his hometown roots.

Written by:
Format:
Screenplay
Genres:
Starring Roles For:
Rudy Pankow as Jim Turner
Sadie Sink as Denise Miller
Isabela Merced as Carol Medina
In the Vein Of:
American Graffiti (1973)
Licorice Pizza (2021)
Almost Famous (2000)
Posted:
01/03/2026
Updated:
01/03/2026
Author Bio:
Mark Carpenter writes the American experience through a lens of nostalgia, history, and the resilience of the human spirit. A storyteller with a sharp ear for dialogue and a deep appreciation for the past, Mark’s scripts often function as time machines—transporting readers from the dusty, sun-bleached roads of 1979 to the barbed wire of WWII internment camps and the Italian front lines on December 8th.

Mark’s work is characterized by a

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