Teen student/softball pitcher, Lori Lopane, 18, desperately needs a scholarship to escape her troubled home life and her mom’s abusive boyfriend.  She cares for her 14-year-old kid sister.  When a college coach convinces the budding athlete “with a rocket arm” that transforming her image from “tomboy” to “knockout” could attract scouts, Lori heeds this advice.  Now, armed with a winning softball record and good looks, Lori begins to lead her team up the ranks and to the forefront of the sports pages and social media.  But soon, Lori will face her biggest challenge yet --when she discovers her mentor is exploiting her for his own gain and putting her future in danger.

GLAM SLAM – Original feature screenplay

Two bumbling elves, named Hark & Harold, take Santa's new Super-Sonic sleigh for a joyride after their annual North Pole Christmas Party.  Trouble soon arises when they accidentally crash-land the sleigh in an Indiana cornfield twelve days before Christmas. When a secret US government agency get wind of it, the elves are on the run and must enlist the aid of a local geek-girl, Holly, to avoid capture and get the sleigh fixed in time to return it to the north pole before Christmas.

1. •2014 Finalist Page International Screenwriting Contest

HARK & HAROLD – Original feature screenplay

Genre: Family Film/Comedy/Animation

Genre: Sports/Comedy

Two NYPD detectives, Mike Daly & Maureen “Mo” Turner, deal with mounting personal troubles while taking on a high-profile case that is gripping New Yorkers and the media.  They hunt for a serial killer targeting pregnant women just months before the city’s next mayoral election.

BRUTAL PATTERN – Original feature screenplay

Genre: Crime/Suspense

Beakerville Heights is a tranquil bird community until one night when it comes under attack by large, evil birds.  A brave, young sparrow, GORDY, learns of his father’s death in this attack.  He soon becomes determined to train and become a soldier to serve in the military.  His chances improve when a gruff, tough hawk, named RED, trains Gordy and prepares the other small birds for another imminent attack on their land.

WAR BIRDS – Original feature screenplay

Genre: Family/Animation

A lapsed-Catholic detective’s faith is tested when he must return to his boyhood church to investigate the murder of a beloved parish priest.  Did the priest get what he had coming to him, or was he an innocent man who trusted the wrong people in the parish community and paid the ultimate price with his life?   The detective puts his own doubts aside to unravel a complicated case.

DEADLY SACRAMENTS – Original feature screenplay

Genre: Crime/Suspense for TV or Feature

Co-Writer Chris Keller

Story by Michael Collins

Co-Writer Peter Flores

© Janet J. Lawler, All Rights Reserved  |  contact@janetjlawler.com

To obtain a complete copy of the screenplays listed,  please contact me.

Story by Michael Collins

An urban suspense tale about a long-term tenant, NIKKOS VASCO, 60s, who fights back against his new landlord, DEAN KAVKOS, 30s, over a rent-controlled apartment in New York City. Nikkos is a widower living in Astoria, Queens.  He’s lived a quiet life in the same apartment for 41 years. That is all about to change when his landlord dies and the man’s brash son, Dean, takes over the building.  Dean decides he wants to convert the old pre-war building into luxury units to attract Manhattanites and increase the rents to market value. Nikkos is the only rent-regulated tenant in the building left. Dean decides he wants the old timer out so he can renovate and quadruple the rent.  The only problem is Nikkos has no intention of moving or even allowing an upgrade, or increase in rent. He’s on a limited income. Soon, it becomes a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse between landlord and tenant. Will the landlord intimidate the tenant out? Nikkos would rather give up his life than give up his apartment. This story gives new meaning to the term landlord-tenant dispute.

1. •2015 Quarter-Finalist in the Academy Nicholl Fellowships
   

2. •2015 Semi-Finalist in Drama at the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition
   

3. •2015 Finalist BlueCat Screenwriting Competition

THE TENANT – Original feature screenplay

Genre: Drama/Suspense

ABSOLUTION is a character-driven drama about redemption.  Brandon Briggs, 45, who once served prison time as a teen for  manslaughter, finds his adult life falling apart.  He's divorced, unable to hold a job, and knee-deep in financial troubles.  This all stems back from when Brandon was 17 when he chose to drive drunk on graduation night, crashing and killing four of his fellow classmates.  He's lived with crippling guilt ever since.  Fast forward twenty-five years later, Brandon is forced to return to his hometown when his mother dies and there is an inheritance to collect.  He also returns with the hopes of making amends for his past and rekindling with an old love.  Is this an act of courage or an act of suicide? Brandon Briggs is about to find out that forgiveness comes with a price.

1. •2017  Feature Finalist in the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards

ABSOLUTION – Original feature screenplay

Genre: Drama/Suspense