*****************************The REVIEWS are in on DESCENDANCY**********************************
"A great premise, hook, and a terrific central character make for a compelling reading experience in this high-octane, international adventure. I really enjoyed this screenplay... Strong opening scene. Excellent writing. The sharp detail and powerful visuals bring the words on the page to life. Really like how you tied in the teaser to the introduction of our protagonist, Morgan Turner. That such a high-profile individual (Orson) would be blamed for a heinous act committed by one of his employees, (triggering riots) is totally believable given the media's thirst for blood, circuses, distractions, and click-bait... It was a sincere privilege to read your work. You’re a terrific writer, and I really hope you achieve success with this screenplay, and in your future work.”
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“All the scenes in Nigeria are fantastic. From the point we arrive there, the script is excellent. The pacing is great, the action is really fun and your villains are excellent. It has everything a good movie needs.. Special shoutouts to Whitlock and Tatiana. Both of them are just really well-crafted characters. I like that they're both competent. It just makes everything feel more believable... This is a good movie. There's so much to like here that it seems obvious to me.”
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“Your narration is very rich, descriptive, and detailed. Does a great job of setting the mood and develops a distinctive voice. It has a wealth of good word choices and often makes the scenes very easy to visualize. Often uses poetic and very satisfying phrases. You often have good instincts when it comes to showing something visually rather than 'telling' it. Especially in examples like Morgan hugging his son at the end. That wraps their conflict up nicely, and it does it with a simple visual image, rather than a bunch of hackneyed dialogue. There are good twists and turns to the plot... The themes explored are relevant and important. Coming to terms with African heritage, racism and infiltration of white supremacists in police/security, resource extraction in the 3rd world ... all handled pretty well. Nothing strikes me as an "uh-oh, *that's* going to be problematic" kind of way, all while dealing with pretty heavy, difficult, political themes. And, of course, the theme of father/son relationships, while not like the others, is a classic and was also handled quite well, with Orson's sons providing a good counterpoint to Morgan's son. Also, of course, it's going to have some *great* roles for black actors, which is always nice to see. It did have its moments of really intense tension and thrill, even reading it in script form. Especially the lead-up to the Jacob vs. Nate fight. Maybe sometimes too much endless tension, such that we'd need some relief between? But that's a matter of taste more than anything. And if you were going for steadily ramping tension that doesn't ease up, you did a pretty good job of it. Despite a lot of complicated things going on at multiple times and in different locations, I was generally quite clear on what was going on, who was doing it, where and why it was being done. A script like this could easily lead to a lot of confusion, but... I found it quite clear and easy to understand what's going on.”
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BREFNI O'ROURKE is a New York based screenwriter actively marketing all of his materials for possible sale or option. He is the author of more than 50 original feature-length spec screenplays, primarily within the action, suspense-thriller, and horror genres. The "cinematic Brefniverse" includes:
"The Awning", a supernatural thriller, was a quarterfinalist in the 2023 WeScreenplay Feature contests. It was named a finalist in the 2022 Story Pros International Screenplay Contest and has been awarded a Coverfly badge of - Top 6% of discoverable projects. In March of 2023 it made the Red List as the # 8 ranked thriller screenplay.
"Wake", a psychological thriller, was recognized as a semifinalist in the 2022 Creative World Awards. It was recognized as a quarterfinalist in the Final Draft/Big Break Contest (top 10% of entries) and the American Zoetrope contest. It has been awarded a Coverfly badge of being among the top 22% of discoverable projects.
"Descendancy", an action-thriller, was recognized as a Quarterfinalist in the Script Lab - TSL Free Screenplay Contest 2022 and has been awarded a Coverfly badge of - Top 18% of discoverable projects.
"Moving Day", a supernatural thriller, was recognized as a quarterfinalist in the 2015 Final Draft/Big Break Contest. It has been awarded a Coverfly badge of being among the top 34% of discoverable projects.
"Panopticon", an action-thriller, was selected as a "Notable Project" by Amazon Studios (one of only 50 projects recognized as such).
"God's Work", a supernatural action thriller was optioned by The Ferla Consulting Group.
"Threshold", a horror-thriller (cowritten with Elizabeth Rowin and Greg DeRochie) was optioned by Contribution Films. (http://www.contributionfilms.com/threshold.html).
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