SETTLING THE BOOKS
Lured by the reading of a billionaire rare book dealer’s will, an investigator and four other heirs are sealed in an airtight panic room, and with only four hours air, must solve the centuries-old mystery contained in the book ‘The Castilian Cypher’ in order to escape.
Impatient lawyer JADE CAMDEN (late 20s) fills in for her father who wrote the will. Jade reads off her father’s laptop. The heirs: unshakable private investigator SHANK FIELDS (40s), a hefty, less than couth newspaper tycoon #CORNELIUS PRESCOTT (late 40s), a middle-aged, multi-lingual, know-it-all rare book authenticator LUCINDA BRETMORE, the butler who wears a tie-dye t-shirt ANTON HALL (19), and Jade, all receive a preliminary gift, each one more bizarre.
Jade reads on: “Jade Camden having fulfilled her duties, is to receive --” Jade pages to the next computer screen. “-- receive a rest.” “I will take over now” booms the voice of the unseen Dalton over the intercom. The computer goes black. “This is not some hokey tape after death. I’m very much alive.” Several stand to flee. “Sit down!!” They comply. “You came here greedily after my books. Well, you will not be disappointed. I have ‘thee’ book. I’ve found The Castillian Cypher!”
Bam! The pillar slides into the ceiling, revealing a book display stand on a thin floor pedestal holding an ancient book. “The only copy, and it goes… to the last one living.” Some gasp. Several rush for the door. Bam! A steel sleeve slams down, seals the door. Their eyes dart around like the trapped rats that they are.
“People, pay attention. You’ve a limited amount of oxygen and time to figure a way out of the room. I will only tell you once.” Dalton wheezes, then speaks rapidly. “The book is the key. Both from day one and today, it contains the answer. You need only decipher the Cypher. Don’t let the fact that never has it been done in a thousand years discourage you. After all, you are motivated.” Dalton laughs, bringing on another coughing fit. Dalton’s mike goes quiet.
The heirs scramble to find a weak spot in the wall. Try their cell phones. No service. Try the computer. No electricity. Try slamming shoulders into the sealed door. No use. Dalton laughs, reveals what perceived great wrong each one has done him. Then silence from Dalton. The heirs work together. Can any survive long enough to solve the Cypher, and gain their release before they run out of light, air, and time?
If that wasn’t enough of a ticking clock, the bookseller’s voice returns at intervals to extract a confession from an heir before causing that heir’s death.
The twist: Shank was hired years before to track down MEGAN, a woman the billionaire Dalton wanted. Shank has hid her for years in plain sight. So much in plain sight that Megan is impersonating an heir, and so Shank must also keep her identity secret as he attempts to free everyone from the room.
Panic Room
Buried
The holiday comedy short that I wrote, ALL CHOKED UP, premiered in Minneapolis, MN.
My comedic cautionary tale short script, JUST A TIC, was both nominated for Best Lead Actor in a short film, and won a Script To Screen Award at the Barebones Film Festival. Won 4th place Micro Comedy at The Indie Gathering. Runner Up for Best Comedy Scene at The Action On Film Film Festival.
Stage 32 Microbudget Horror (Semifinalist) [2020]
Your Script Produced! (Quarterfinalist) [2021]
Show More
ScriptLinks
Post Your Script Here!Fingertips
A Psychological Horror With a twist of a psychotic individual suffering from psychosocial issues has an imaginary friend that’s part of his hallucinations his Imaginary friend is his British father a young proud to be American, forgets his medication after collecting it from a Pharmacy he causes a lot of mayhem around his area he thinks the worlds in his fingertips he chases down social media Influencers and artists by hacking and tracking their location constantly talking to himself as he hallucinates thinking He can see his British Father is around him, Kevin ends up with a chainsaw and gets a few round kills with his Chainsaw he stole from an old granny.
A Cracker in East Harlem
JIMMY J is 50 and has lived in the same East Harlem building for more than half of his life.
Free Sports Radio
Two Filipino-American brothers purchase a radio station in a small city, dreaming of commercial free sports talk, but their ambitious, younger sister has bigger plans for herself and the station.
Desert Quarry
Two mercenaries rob a former colleague's New York jewelry shop to even a score, but after the shop’s employees are found murdered, a deadly bank heist in Iraq begins to haunt them.
Perfect Contrition
A traumatized priest haunted by visions of his violent past obligingly serves a rural parish while indulging in a long distance affair, but his vindictive compulsion is sparked when he’s wrongly blamed for the deaths of two troubled altar boys.
LA Nights
It is 1973, and Quick operates an upscale after-hours establishment in West Los Angeles alongside his socialite son, Dizzy.
The Coventry Deception
After a crisis thrusts him into the presidency, Robert Gorley confronts the challenges of leadership as he deals with a power struggle, an assassination attempt, and a ruthless terrorist plot to launch multiple attacks on US soil.
Untouchable!
A blonde bombshell in stainless steel becomes a femme fatale - a relentless tiger with razor-sharp-toothed-pen spilling blood across the pages leaving nowhere, for the perpetrators - to turn - to hide - no 'out'! .
Burning Old Man
A group of grade school friends reconnect to throw a communal sixty-fifth birthday party for one another - leading to a Burning Man type celebration.
Attachment In (Pilot)
An ancient being is summoned to fight an evil entity but first both have to attach within a human body at birth, grow up and navigate life before meeting in an epic battle where winner takes all.