Beyond Storyville

ANTHRACITE

A contemporary crime drama/thriller. High-dollar call girl Donna Santorello and low-rent car thief Ray Pizulski cross reluctant paths when they witness a crime and then escape the mean streets of Philadelphia with stone killer Floyd Cowley on their trail. For the first time in fifteen years, they're back in the dead-end, opioid-ravaged hometown where ghosts of their pasts linger. Like so many sex workers, Donna is a product of childhood abuse, and yet doesn’t let it define her. Though as goofy as they come and possessing a good heart, Ray is still dangerous when cornered.  Script version completed.

 

WILL YOU MEET ME IN HEAVEN?

Best on the true tale of a romance, a murder, and the blues. Just before Christmas of 1921, Frank Dupre, adrift on the cold streets of Atlanta, encounters Betty Andrews, a young dancer in a vaudeville show. Their romance sparks a violent, haphazard crime and wild escape and chase that becomes a tabloid sensation and is later immortalized in the iconic blues ballad “Betty and Dupree.” Set against the backdrop of a city both vibrant and corrupt in the midst of a fast-moving decade.

 

THE BLUE DOOR

Shamus Award for Best Novel nominee. A character-driven, multi-racial historical mystery set in 1962. After losing a fight and wandering out onto the streets of South Philly, welterweight boxer Eddie Cero comes to the rescue of sad-sack gumshoe Sal Giambroni. He lands a job working for the detective and what follows is a dive into the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a rising R&B star.

 

THE DYING CRAPSHOOTER’S BLUES

Set in a rowdy, crime-ridden 1920s Atlanta, former policeman and now master thief Joe Rose, along with his sometime-paramour Pearl Spencer, a fair felon in her own right, find themselves running up against a corrupt police chief as they untangle the facts around the strange murder of gambler Little Jesse Williams. With a title borrowed from an iconic blues song, the eccentric cast of characters also includes music legend Blind Willie McTell.

 

THE NIGHT BEFORE aka BETHLEHEM

A very adult, multi-racial, non-religious, character driven holiday drama.  The stories of three characters entwine on the night before Christmas and after an eccentric journey, arrive at a morning of quiet redemption. Script version completed.