3 posts tagged I think my facebook friend is dead

Princesses, zombies, Facebook friends, superheroes, a butt-kicking founding father … the most popular projects at Amazon Studios are some of our most colorful. And you’ll find a lot of them on the Amazon Studios Development Slate, announced in May, and expanded throughout the rest of the year.

Of all the projects that have come through Amazon Studios’ open door, these are the 10 that drew the biggest crowds last year:

1. I Think My Facebook Friend is Dead
   By Donnie and CT Clark
   When a computer nerd’s Facebook crush goes AWOL, his misfit friends help him put aside his fear of the outside world and journey across the country to save her.
   Development Slate
2. 12 Princesses
   By Rob Gardner
   A young farmboy tries to discover the secret of how 12 beautiful princesses escape each night from the imprisonment of their mad father.
   Development Slate
3. ZvG: Zombies vs. Gladiators
   By Michael Weiss and Gregg Ostrin
   A gladiator must save Rome from the outbreak of the world’s first zombie plague.
   Development Slate
4. The Alchemist Agenda
   By Marty Weiss
   When a famed treasure hunter discovers a sunken U-Boat filled with Nazi gold, he teams with a beautiful ex-agent to uncover the secrets of alchemy. Only they aren’t the only ones searching for it.
   Development Slate
5. For Sale By Superhero
   By James Nash and Pete Barnstrom
   An unemployed father discovers that his new house is really the former secret headquarters of a deceased superhero and decides to assume the hero’s identity in order to win back the respect of his family.
   Development Slate

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I Think My Facebook Friend is Dead.

When you hear the name of that movie script, there’s an immediate attraction, a sense that there’s a wild ride ahead. At least it was like that for Bradley Jackson, the screenwriter who will execute his vision of the Amazon Studios development slate project — the story of a shy nerd who finds himself on a quest to save the woman he loves. (Learn more about the project, created by CT and Donnie Clark.)

“Once I got past that, the main thing that excited me is the idea of the journey these characters will take in the name of love, friendship and Facebook,” Jackson said. “It felt real, relevant and rife with comedic potential.”

Jackson was selected from hundreds of writers who submitted proposals via Amazon Studios’ open-door process. The word from the Amazon Studios development team: “Bradley’s sample was very strong and showed a real ability to balance comedy with just the right amount of heart. His take added some depth of character where we needed it and came up with some really fun ways to use the social networking/video gaming aspect, without allowing it to overpower the story.”

Here’s more from Jackson:

Tell us about your screenwriting experience; where you went to school, your experience in film.

Jackson: I went to film school at the University of Texas in Austin.  Since graduation I’ve optioned two of my comedic features (one teen comedy and one Bucket-List type film) and wrote and directed a short film called The Man Who Never Cried – starring Keir O’Donnell (Wedding Crashers, Lost) and Jess Weixler (Teeth) – that has won several awards on the film festival circuit.  You could actually watch it HERE if you wanted to!

Last year I started a film production company in Austin, Texas called Ralph Smyth Entertainment with three other talented film makers and we’re going into production on an intramural sports comedy I wrote in the spring of next year.  

Where do you see the Facebook Friend story going?

Jackson: I want to put these characters through the comedic wringer and see them on the other side as bruised and battered but better off than where they were before.  The story will hopefully take some unpredictable turns on the road leading to a crazy finale where each of our heroes gets a moment to shine.    

What do you think of Amazon Studios so far?  

Jackson: Amazon Studios has been excellent thus far.  They’re passionate about telling the best story possible and are also open to collaboration and new ideas.  It’s been a pleasure.