Feature Screenplay: The Charlottetown Jackhammer Imbroglio by Marc Lalonde

Watch the July 2016 Winning Feature Screenplay Reading. 

The Charlottetown Jackhammer Imbroglio by Marc Lalonde

Genre: Farce (Screwball Comedy)

Synopsis: A former nun, a pornographer, a brain surgeon and a quadriplegic must band together in a common cause with a wannabe serial killer who really, really, really, REALLY likes his brother to foil an international conspiracy to take over the world.

CAST LIST:

NARRATOR – Val Cole
MAN – Michael Gaty
NATASHA – Kiran Friesen
BORIS – David Occhipinti
MISS WINDIG – Judy Thrush
TALL LANKY GUY – Dan Cristofori
CLERK – Mark Boutros
ROYLA – Sean Ballantyne
CAROL – Viktoria Napolenova

Get to know the winning writer:

1. What is your screenplay about?

Nothing. It’s a Swiss watch: sophisticated movements meshing in an intricate mechanism.

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

Actors would enjoy making it and audiences would enjoy watching it.

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

Uproariously unpredictable.

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

I’m not one of those people who watches a movie over and over and over again. If I’ve watched a movie over a half-dozen times, it’s taken me decades to do so. Among them (in alphabetical order): Babette’s Feast; Eating Raoul; North By Northwest; Seven Samurai; and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. An eclectic list, to say the least.

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

I wrote it between October, 2013 and April, 2014 and I’ve been tinkering with it ever since.

6. How many stories have you written?

I wrote a number of stories years ago, but they went nowhere, so, I hunkered down and became a translator.

7. What motivated you to write this screenplay?

I wanted to see whether or not I could. And I was bored witless with translation. But now I’m kind of back to being OK with it. It pays the bills.

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

This screenplay isn’t finished and I doubt it ever will be. I’ll always find something that needs fixing.

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

Passions are something you have when you’re young. At this point in my life, I’m just relieved to wake up in the morning.

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

The WILDsound Festival is Canadian, I’m Canadian and as such I figured the WILDsound Festival would be a great launch pad for a screenplay with a title like The Charlottetown Jackhammer Imbroglio. The initial feedback made me tighten the screenplay. As a result, I pared it down to 97 fearsomely efficient pages. Lean and mean is good.

11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Read. Read. Read.

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Go to http://www.wildsound.ca and submit your screenplay to the festival today. Full Feedback on all entries. Get your script performed by professional actors at the festival.
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Director/Producer: Matthew Toffolo
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: John Johnson