BOSS TWEED
NYC politician William M. “Boss” Tweed loots the city treasury for millions until exposed by the upstart New York Times and immigrant cartoonist Thomas Nast. Political drama/strong contemporary relevance. Heavy non-comic animation and graphics. Professional Coverage: “RECOMMEND” – Dave Trottier (Author, “The Screenwriter’s Bible”) Multiple contest wins and placements.
SUPER: "Most of this stuff actually happened."
SUPER: "A lot of it is still happening today."
William M. “Boss” Tweed is a dynamic Tammany Hall politician who controls most of NYC’s expenditures. Tweed – 50s, 6’0”, 300 lbs. – is assisted in his thievery by the “Tweed Ring” – a group of chummy “film character” politicians who operate on a grand scale: • Tweed “owns” the judiciary, police, all elected officials. • He controls the printing and counting of all election ballots. • Tweed initiates grandiose building projects but marks up estimates 35 to 50 percent • He supervises the infamous “Tweed Courthouse” construction -- $7 million dollars over budget. • He demands bribes to arrange financing for the Brooklyn Bridge. • Tweed buys a hotel, put his son in charge, makes suppliers stay there. Tweed’s thievery is illustrated in delightful non-comic animated sequences which… • Depict how bearded men vote, trim their beard, vote again, shave completely, vote a third time, etc. • Describe how the Tweed Ring “buys” New York City’s Home Rule legislation, • Illustrate Tweed’s “Money Machine” which processes fraudulent invoices.
Things are going well for Tweed until the fledgling New York Times investigates city corruption. They expose the city’s bogus expenditures and fraudulent bond sales to foreign investors. Meanwhile, Harper’s Weekly unleashes Thomas Nast – a wickedly gifted German immigrant cartoonist who produces devastating caricatures of Tweed and his organization. Tweed fights back; he appoints a Blue Ribbon commission headed by financier John Jacob Astor. The committee’s report is equally fraudulent; it generates more derision and ridicule of the Tweed ring.
Adding to Tweed’s troubles is the July 12, 1871 “Orange Day Riot” in New York City which kills 68 citizens and state militiamen. Tweed, unable to control his Tammany Irish supporters is largely blamed for the riot. The riot is depicted in animation.
Then, the Times publishes “The Secret Accounts” – a complete dossier of Tweed’s corruption obtained from a disgruntled Sheriff and an honest accountant. The Times article – reprinted in a pamphlet “How New York City Is Governed” – sells 500,000 copies! An additional version is printed in “auf Deutsch” for NYC’s then dominant German population.
The Tweed Ring collapses. Tweed is arrested; the others flee to Europe. Tweed agrees to “tell all” in exchange for immunity and freedom. After his testimony the government reneges on its promise; Tweed is sent back to prison.
In an elaborate maneuver (animated), Tweed escapes to Spain via Cuba. There he is recognized by a Thomas Nast cartoon; arrested and shipped back to the USA. He dies in prison during a hallucinatory sequence where he sees future New York benefiting from the many improvements and institutions he created, albeit by corruption.
Screenplays
Jim specializes in screenplays based on historical true events (including musicals), bio/pics and/or disasters. In alphabetical order:
“BOJANGLES, EUBIE AND BERT!” Three Black musical legends of the past – Bert Williams, Eubie Blake and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson – relive their show business success in spite of racism and theatrical bigotry.
ScriptLinks
Post Your Script Here!AT THE MERCY OF FAITH
A former preacher, haunted by the tragic rape/murder of his twin sister, spirals into darkness as supernatural forces, both angelic and demonic, wage war for his soul.
ALTA CALIFORNIA
A young mixed blood, determined to avenge his mother’s brutal death, is thrust into a battle of survival and identity as he navigates through the oppressive and inhumane colonizers of California's “Mission Era.
ENDLESS COURAGE ( formerly Drop In Squad)
There’s the family you’re born into and the one you choose: Aging out of foster care meets elder aging in place when a sharp-witted teen and a feisty elder activist team up to conquer the housing crisis in a world stacked against them.
THE QUISLING
A young lawyer defends a wanted terrorist from international extradition.
MIRACLE BOY
After dying from meningitis and glimpsing Paradise, a troubled seven-year-old mountain boy is sent back to Earth with a promise of eighty more years—but when he wakens with no memory of his past, he must struggle through a lifetime of doubt, hardship, and temptation to rediscover his purpose and fulfill a divine mission that could save not only his family, but his soul.
Dark Latitude
When a young woman discovers a hidden photograph in the family album of a murdered WWII survivor, she becomes the target of a decades-old conspiracy linking Nazi fugitives, a secret escape flight from Germany, and a deadly cover-up that kills to protect its secrets.
Knock on Wood
To survive a week against a vengeful universe, a legendary hitman must trade his "Celestial Mathematics" for genuine morality after a botched job fractures his luck and begins to liquefy reality.
Ilium Ridge
To brothers Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, the First World War is but a game to stave off the boredom of immortality.
Christmas Island
Sissy and Kenneth return to their home in the northern woods for their mother's funeral, to find that their parents plan to snatch their bodies.
Tam Lin
In a modern romantic fantasy based on an ancient Scottish fairy tale, a strong young woman risks everything to save her mysterious lover from the evil Fairy Queen, and bring him back to a world he's never known.
