Austin Film Festival 2002 (TV spec WEST WING)
International Screenwriting Competition, 2004 (film script DEAD RIGHT)
University of California Riverside Screenwriting Contest, 2003 (film script DEAD RIGHT)
I am contest-winning screenwriter who writes comedic dramas. I was trained at the UCLA Program in Screenwriting been mentored by Judy Burns (Star Trek, MacGyver), Stewart Stern (Rebel without a Cause) and Jack B. Soward (Star Trek: Wrath of Khan).
I have eight completed screenplays, including action, comedy, family, thrillers.
Recent rejections include: Aaron Sorkin (that was a great day), Sci Fi Channel (my Tsunami script was ahead of it�s time- and sadly just ahead of a real tsunami), and, New Yorker Magazine poetry editor (ah, well, that was a long shot I just couldn�t resist).
SEIJO
Opera for three singers, dancer, and nine instruments, 2002
Libretto by Melanie Grimes
An ancient coming-of-age tale based on a Zen koan
Video performance available
TRISTAN
Libretto and screenplay by Melanie Grimes
The classic Celtic love triangle reinvented, drawn from the same sources as Tokien, Camelot and Wagner. Tristan slays dragons and giants to claim his beloved, only to lose her to the King he champions.
Monkies have a special word they utter when an anaconda snake is spotted. They alert each other with this special word. The ones slowest to respond to the story are the ones that become lunch for the snake.
This is the beginning of story.
SCREENPLAY LOGLINES
LILY OF CAMELOT COURT Genre: Family Adventure
LOGLINE: An American teen in King Arthur's court. A bullied middle schooler employs her video gaming skills to save Camelot. Merlin the Magician mistakes Lily of Camelot Court, Seattle, for the boy Arthur and�oops--transports her to Camelot. She must use her inner warrior to restore the mythical kingdom before she can go home.
OPPOSITES DETRACT Genre: Romantic Comedy
LOGLINE: An antiquities professor and a techie futurist find love and lattes, not necessarily in that order.
Romance between a vegetarian antiquities professor and a futurist dotcom techie is tested when they are forced to rise above their differences to save the history of recorded literature, while incidentally demonstrating the effect that two immovable objects-or personalities - have on each other. (With homage to Desk Set.)
KNIGHTS OF CYBERIA Genre: Comedy
LOGLINE: Unlikely tech heroes use their friendship to save the day and the deal.
A commitment phobic, computer game designer and his gay, childhood friend/wedding dress designer become reluctant roommates, due to a large insurgence of cockroaches. When their video game is stolen right before the big launch, the unlikely duo and their cross-dressing Asian accountant, Ping, use their unique and quirky spin on life to save the accountant, Ping, use their unique and quirky spin on life to save the day, and the deal.
DEAD RIGHT Genre: Comedy
LOGLINE: Can a mom run a daughter's life after death? You bet!
Ruth should be resting in peace. But when she sees her daughter about to marry a swindler, she decides to break out of heaven. Even the objections of her guardian, the very exasperated Angel, can't keep her from returning to the land of the living to �help� one more time.
