What are your expectations for 2026?
Thank you for the opportunity to interview again with WILD FILMMAKER. As with my first interview in September, I’m going to be completely transparent with you. The year 2026 is my 70th year on this planet. Reflecting on what I’ve learned in the previous 69 years, and at the risk of appearing flippant, I have no expectations. Expectations, I’ve learned, are a killer of joy. I like what a wise Roman Catholic grandfather once told me, “Trust in God. God is kind. God has a sense of humor. You want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans!” In January 2022, nearly four years ago. I decided to go for the gusto and be a screenwriter. I looked back at my life up until then – a retired mechanical engineer standing tall after two romances failed miserably. I declared victory for making it to my 66th year, surrendered the future to The Holy Trinity, and in a sense took my entire “wager” off life’s blackjack table. That means I’m “playing with house money.” Everything that happened from that day forward was either a win or a lesson leading to the next win.
What projects are you currently working on?
I’m excited. Today Monday November 10th I begin the 6th and penultimate rewrite of Padre Guns, the screen adaptation of Wise Fools, my first novel. The film script is the story of corruption and faith battling in a game of American college football that becomes a morality play. After working with my long-time script advisor Tammy Gross (TammyGross.com), I’ll begin offering Padre Guns to producers on New Year’s Day 2026. The year will be filled with two film scripts I’ve decided to write concurrently. Peace Of Mind is a prequel to Soaring Dove. Peace Of Mind delves into the 1990 true-life story of my personal experience of betrayal by my wife (I divorced her in 2019) and my boss (he died in autumn 2021) that led to my happy exit from a Wall Street career as a stockbroker. Dual betrayal sounds like I caught them in bed together; that would have been much easier to handle. I’ll discuss it in more detail in my answer to your fourth question. Soaring Dove is based on the events that surrounded me in the year 1992. Those events were driven by the most fascinating woman I have ever known. If the elections of political leaders in the United States were conducted through counting paper ballots instead of rigging ballot machines, Charlotte Pritt would have been a great two-term governor in my home state of West Virginia and the world would have been a better place. I was honored to be the caregiver for the 76 year old Charlotte from mid-2024 through mid-2025, hanging on her every word as she shared with me the stories of her life of benevolent service. No one knew I was Charlotte’s secret admirer for 32 years; she resonates with me in such a beautiful way. I text Charlotte from my home a hundred miles south of her home twice a day with prayers for her healing and peace. We will never be together again. We had our time. That, my friends, is a recipe for a good movie. 2026 is going to be a year to remember.
What would you ask event organizers in the film industry to do in order to support the creativity of highly talented independent artists like yourself?
Please keep doing what you’re doing! Event organizers have presented me with a forum to get my message across while I pursue production opportunities for my film scripts. I’m thrilled. Thank you very much!
What vision or desire currently guides your artistic choices?
My artistic choices are fired by personal experience. I am a facet, to some degree, of each of my four screenplays. American Money began in January 1983 when I was laid off by the multinational petrochemical company that hired me as a mechanical engineer 19 months earlier. The economy was bad for the basic manufacturing industries, but good for Wall Street. I landed a job as a stockbroker. The stock market was hot for four years, then crashed in October 1987. A few brave renegade souls saw the crash coming; one of them was my friend and colleague. So, the film script addresses Reaganomics’ effect on the workers left behind, which included me, and asked the question of the brave souls: What if renegade investors bet against the stock market on Black Monday, not for greed, but for justice? The third act was well-received by film festival judges. Padre Guns employs American football to discuss racial corruption in the mid-1970s. I played high school football at that time in history well enough to receive some offers to play college ball, most notably the United States Naval Academy. With 260 days until my 70th birthday, the sport of bone-jarring collisions is still in my blood. Peace Of Mind tells the true tale of my stockbroker boss in April 1990 illegally & unethically going behind my back to sell my clients out of significant holdings in the stock of Kay Jewelers because he thought it was too risky while my wife responded by falsely accusing me of embezzling $50,000. My measured response in a lawyers’ meeting contrasted with my boss absolutely losing his mind screaming; the attorneys’ common sense prevailed. I was exonerated as my wife sought an annulment of our marriage. It was a crazy time in my life. I happily landed a job as a mechanical engineer in sales, then was vindicated just two months later when Kay Jewelers was bought out as I had predicted. My clients would have made 70% in two months had my stockbroker boss not lost his nerve. I stayed married for another 28 years so I could be the father of my daughters. That brings me to Soaring Dove, which I’ve discussed. May the peace your higher power gives you be as wonderful as the peace The Holy Trinity provides me. Thank you for the interview.
