Zachary Quinto, Noah Bean cast in the Columbia University Faculty Selects reading of my screenplay 'Bright Side'

My screenplay 'Bright Side' was chosen as a 'Faculty Select' at this year's Columbia Film Festival. There will be a reading on May 4th of a selection from the screenplay. The reading will star Zachary Quinto ('Star Trek' and 'Heroes') and Noah Bean ('Damages'). A live webcast of the reading will also be available online if you go to www.cufilmfest.com

To give you a rundown on what the film is about:

 'Bright Side' is a dark comedy about Bill, a would-be intellectual slumming his way through the underbelly of New York nightlife reporting. Glitzy parties, coked up celebrities, late night interviews with Brazilian models, it’s all just part of his job at Trend Magazine. Covering stories like the latest celebrity ping pong trend isn’t exactly the ‘New Yorker’ level of writing that Bill aspired to coming out of journalism school, but with a hangover every day, a relationship failing its’ way towards marriage and a tenuous job in an industry where magazines are folding left and right, Bill is just trying to get through life one hectic New York day at a time.

Everything takes a severe turn however when Bill finds himself with a gun to his head during a robbery in an underground poker club. Facing certain death, Bill tries to come up with just one meaningful last thought to justify his life. Racing through the last twenty-four hours leading up to the robbery, Bill takes us on a tour through the decadent and depraved world of twenty-something life in New York. Lying about a story he doesn’t have, trying to figure out if his girlfriend is cheating on him with his arch nemesis, getting ensnared by the sexy enticements of Brazilian model, Gabby, risking all of his money in a high stakes poker game against a guy who looks like Seal and ultimately risking way more than he bargained for, it’s a wild dive through all of the absurdity of life in the city that never sleeps. 

I'm currently casting the other actors for the reading with my casting director, Todd Thaler, and getting everything together for the reading. It should be a lot of fun. It will be a 10 minute section of the script followed by short selections from the other 4 Faculty Select screenplays. Then Simon Kinberg (Mr. and Mrs. Smith) gets an alumni award and then it's cocktail time. Details about the Faculty Select Screenwriting Night are all on www.cufilmfest.com