In the haunting shadow of a recent tragedy, “Mercy of Others” unfolds as a close-knit group of six friends reunite to mourn the loss of a friend. This gathering, meant for solace and reminiscence, swiftly uncovers buried tensions and unresolved conflicts within their circle, revealing a complex web of emotions and relationships.

Review by Andie Karvelis:

Sit down, buckle up and hang on. You are in for one hell of a ride. Mercy of Others is the brainchild of Damien Giglietta and it’s part mystery, part thriller with a little bit of drama and some horror all shaken together to form one sensational film!

Normally I would tell you a little about the plot to give you an idea of what to expect, but I’m not gonna. Why? Because I want you to have the same edge-of-your-seat experience that I did when I watched this You’ll thank me later.

So let’s talk about Damien instead. He not only wrote Mercy of Others but he directed and shot the film with Cinematographer George Davis. The mood that was set with lighting, camera angles and beautiful cinematography fit the storyline so seamlessly. You really feel like you are right there. Damien delivers a story that captures your attention and holds it for the duration of the film. The characters are all fully fleshed out and brought to life by a wonderfully talented cast of actors.

Now, I said I wasn’t going to reveal anything about the plot but I will give you this hint. I’ve always believed in Karma and for some reason I’ve always envisioned Karma to be personified as a woman. A very kick-ass, sarcastic and calculated woman. Damien has shown me how wrong I was. Karma personified is Jack Martin in his portrayal of Aiden. He is absolutely, fantastically terrifying but here’s the thing, you empathize with him. You find yourself rooting for him. Damien’s writing/directing and Jack’s acting has given us a (more talkative) John Wick.

If I had to face off with John Wick or Aiden? I’d take my chances with John Wick. Jack Martin’s wonderful performance is met by a cast that was equally amazing. Traccin Rameka will steal your heart and get you teary-eyed. Vanessa Madrid, Caitlin Lopez, Dominic DiPaolo, Daniele Clememts and every actor did such a superb job. Plus the make up artists, Krissy Idas and Isabella Cambria really were outstanding. The spfx makeup was realistic and not over the top.

The score for the film, provided by Jason Schmectig and Damien Greenwood tied everything together along with a couple of original songs by Richard Steighner. They all helped elevate the emotion of this piece with the music.

All in all, this is one film that you don’t want to miss. Congratulations to everyone involved. I absolutely loved this film.

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A rescue mission to a remote space station finds only one evasive crewman, an obstinate AI and the station cat still alive. With no explanation for the missing personnel and with members of the rescue crew beginning to die, suspicion grows that one of these three is responsible.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Hannah Ehman
Kocic: Steve Rizzo
Walter: Geoff Mays
Dave: Sean Ballantyne

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?
The logline is: A rescue mission to a remote space station finds only one evasive crewman, an obstinate AI and the station cat still alive. With no explanation for the missing personnel and with members of the rescue crew suddenly beginning to die, suspicion grows that one of these three is responsible.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
This is a SciFi/Horror script. Comps would be Event Horizon and, possibly, Triangle. There are nods to Groundhog day, Alien and A Space Odyssy

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
The twin genres of SciFi and Horror are among the most popular in the screening circuit at the moment. In addition, the story features the interplay between the central character and an AI, which borrows from the increasing social concerns about the rise of artificial intelligence.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?
Scarily claustrophobic

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
Lawrence of Arabia

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
Six weeks

7. How many stories have you written?
Fourteen

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
Hotel California

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
None really. I’ve been on a bit of a roll this year and this is my third script since January.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
Travel

11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?
The site has worked extremely well and interaction with the festival people has been really good and positive.

12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
Liked the promise of detailed feedback (any new script needs someone in the industry to take a good look at it). The option of a table read for key scenes was an added bonus.

When a private detective goes missing, his gun comes to life with the task of finding him.

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

A. I have a hard time answering this question deeper than the log line because I don’t want to give away the ending. At it’s most surface level, GUN is the story of a literal gun coming to life following the disappearance of the Private Investigator the firearm used to belong to. From a narrative perspective, GUN is both about obsession and reclamation. Both of these are explored between the absurdist character of Gun and his obsession with his own idea of Violet, the stereotypical femme fatale, and Violet’s quest to escape her past and ultimately reclaim herself.

The film should feel like it starts deeply rooted in the narrative tropes of noir and neo-noir, but quickly escape from them.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?
A. Noir, neo-noir, neon-noir.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?
A. Noir films have always been written to reflect cultural anxieties of a given time, and as a trans woman, the major cultural anxieties of our current day often tend to be targeting our community’s existence. I started writing GUN last year during one of the heights of anti-lgbt laws being introduced. The story is both a fun absurdist way for me to process my own emotions and anxiety on the receiving end of such laws, but also a way to flip the narrative on the old world tropes. I think this makes my script a very earnest and honest example of storytelling. Trans stories by trans people are necessary for our liberation, and I have yet to see anyone from our community write a script quite like mine let alone in a neon-noir styling. Additionally, this is a feature I plan to seek funding for as the first feature I direct, and so I believe that honesty will translate even more given the visual storytelling I plan on using.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?
A. Noir absurdity.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?
A. I believe it’s a tie between the 2008 Wachowskis’ masterpiece ‘Speed Racer,’ and Casablanca.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?
A. I started writing GUN in March of 2023. I don’t think it’ll be finished until we picture lock.

7. How many stories have you written?
A. I’ve written dozens of short films, and even more short stories. GUN is the third feature I’ve written, but importantly, it’s the first good one.

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)
A. This is honestly the hardest question to answer. My music taste changes based on my mood, or other focuses in my life.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?
A. I have never been paid for any of my writing. I work primarily on Non-union productions here in LA. For the bulk of the time I was writing GUN, film work was completely dried up with the strikes, so focusing on completing a creative piece was often on the back burner in favor of supporting myself.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
A. Blacksmithing and the history of metal work, particularly in the 13th and 14th century. I’ve been a blacksmith for 10 years, mostly for fun, but I’ve demonstrated for the last two years at the LA County Fair and a handful of historic sites around LA.

11. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?
A. I originally submitted to the LA arm of this festival in my initial submission run. As my focus right now is on improving the story, I was pleased with the detailed feedback I received back.

Will two chimps type Shakespeare? A pot smoking visionary enlists a struggling book shop owner in a screw-loose plan to jumpstart Evolution. Against long odds and a couple of Mob loan sharks, the rewards are higher consciousness, human speech, and a Nobel Prize for Literature.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Geoff Mays
Mushroom: Hannah Ehman
Mitchell: Steve Rizzo
Abbey: Val Cole

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

It’s a comedy about a hare-brained plan to jump-start Evolution. I began with that old probability teaser, How long would it take one hundred monkeys to type Shakespeare? The answer? Exactly two chimpanzees, in a surprisingly short time! Heaven has a vested interest here in correcting our course of planetary and self-destruction, too. A crazy, maybe dark, premise. But the comedy comes from the characters involved: a hapless bookseller and a pot-smoking visionary, their more stable, sensible wives, two Mob loan sharks, and two chimpanzees, Dick and TOOP.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Comedy, maybe even sci-fi. And throw in some hard-boiled Chandler-esque crime fiction.for flavor.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Because Speak Monkey Speak both entertains and challenges the audience, a rare two-fer, I think. Through some hilarious and outragous scenarios it tackles heavier themes: Our place and purpose on this Planet; Progress, Inspiration, Race. By the end you look back and say, Holy shit we covered some ground! And, laughed all the way, I hope.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

Jump-starting Evolution. Two and a half words?

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

Probably a toss-up between Doctor Strangelove, Pulp Fiction, No Country for Old Men, and Pineapple Express. Many times the movie ends and you hit Play, again.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

The earliest version was a novel I wrote about ten years ago. It was painful to fill 225 blank pages. But then I saw a friend’s screenplay and I thought, Hell, I can carve out the best parts and ideas and paste them together! That editing job was the best education I ever had.. I love great literature, but when I write my goal is fast, smart and funny.

7. How many stories have you written?

I’ve got a scrap pile of stories I’ve started and discarded the last few years, along with comedy sketches and standup. It even includes a bi-racial romance about a man and a woman finding solace and each other, called The Bubble. Of course it gets popped. But I kept coming back to Speak Monkey Speak. I realized I had something here, and I could learn just as much from reworking this one as starting a new one. It’s gone through many versions and character and plot changes. It was originally called Man Seeking Monkey. In that version it won the comedy genre at the first LA Film and Script Festival in 2016. They sent me an award certificate that read Man Seeking Money. I wrote back, asked for a corrected certificate. They said, Sure, no problem. They sent me another: Man Seeking Money. I keep them both on my wall, side by side.

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

Probably the Ramones’ She’s the One.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

Mostly self-inflicted ones, like getting lazy and thinking, Okay, it’s done. It never really is. I read somewhere that the same work would be different at different points in your life, because you are different. Sounds about right.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

The environment. I lived for years in dramatic, remote, radically beautiful places in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. You experience Nature in an intense, very personal way: a snowstorm, a Spring shower, sunrise and sunset on the horizon, the stars at night, an owl hooting, elk herds and bears, a mountain lion’s paw prints on the creek bank, a neon green meteor flashing and landing nearby. But mostly, that incredible Silence.

11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?

It works! I’m always searching for a useful festival. I found this Toronto festival, and years ago the festival in Oaxaca, Mexico. They gave me strong advice: Your story doesn’t really have an ending. They were right. It didn’t. It does now!

12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

The biggest draw for me was the coverage, being able to choose a professional. I was very pleased with the help Leon Masters gave me. His focus was, What do YOU need from this? The table read was gravy!! I have a friend who is a big fan of audiobooks, and she was delighted by it. She said, It sounds just like a comedy! That was a relief. You live in your head and on paper. It was totally worth it to hear other interpretations. And I swear the actress riffed on something and improved it! I added it immediately. And I felt, THAT’S what filming must feel like, a team effort. So it was nice to get a taste of that.

With the exception of Grace Hart, students of Lexington Academy perform tunes at a fall concert. When she’s suspended, her divorced parents, Adam and Emma, squabble over the cause of her mutism. The Harts have attempted to put their divorce behind them, each with younger lovers, Emma with hunky Owen, Adam with law school student Dennis. However, Emma’s depression over the divorce persists, while Adam, committed to Dennis, has difficulty expressing affection for him in public.

CAST LIST:

Narrator: Sean Ballantyne
Emma: Hannah Ehman
Owen: Steve Rizzo

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?
The screenplay is about a troubled family with a lot of gritty modern conflicts.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Drama, LGBT, Family

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

The characters are very realistic and the conflicts are modern-day concerns of many people.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

No Words! 🙂

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

The Star Wars trilogy

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

I wrote this screenplay in just a few weeks in 2018, and have revised it several times since.

7. How many stories have you written?

I have published 5 novels and 5 screenplays. In addition, I have published a Christmas coloring book and am working on my second coloring book, about a dog and cat who travel the country.

8. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

So many to choose from…probably In Dreams by Roy Orbison. My favorite right now, though, is Billy Joel’s Turn the Lights Back On. It really hits home right now.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

The central character changed; originally it was the mystery surrounding the girl, but the father’s anxiety and challenges took over the story.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

My work at the clerk of court’s office where I’ve made my career; making government work for people. Making people happy. Drawing.

11. You entered your screenplay via FilmFreeway. What has been your experiences working with the submission platform site?

It’s very user-friendly and seems to be the best comprehensive source for contests, etc.

12. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I think the cost was very reasonable for the entry and great feedback that I received. Jessica was a pleasure to work with as well.