Okay, I may just be self-centered, but I believe when one talks about their own accomplishments, it can help build up self-esteem. Well, for me anyways.

But this is my five favorite baits that I wrote, you as well can tell your own five.


05. THE HAND OF MAINE
Directed by Mike Nichols
Starring: Salma Hayek, Ryan Gosling, and Paul Giamatti.
**Oscar Nominee: Best Actress – Salma Hayek**
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With the major theme of loneliness and the pains caused thereof, my goal with “The Hand of Maine” was to express a female character rising above her own troubles with her husband, and fighting her way through it, only to fail. It’s not the happiest of all the baits I’ve written, (Yet again, what “happy” bait have I written, lol) but it is, without a doubt, a bait that still rings emotionally with me. Maybe many didn’t understand its symbolic meanings? But I still do, and that’s all that matters.



04. ONLY THE WEAK SURVIVE
Directed by Tony Gilroy
Starring: Casey Affleck and Keri Russell
**Oscar Nominee: Best Actor – Casey Affleck**
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Touching many of the same themes as “The Hand of Maine”, only more physical in its telling, “Only the Weak Survive” still gets to me because I feel like when I told the story, my character was being pushed into all of his own personal horrors over the sick pleasures of an underground society of rapists. Sounds awful, it is awful, but the character rises above it, and it is left unsaid whether he made it free, or failed. To me, it is a major metaphor of how society treats those who commit adultery, even if those wrong-doers are regretful of their actions.



03. THE JUKE
Directed by Tamara Jenkins
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Jena Malone, and Alan Arkin.
**No Oscar Nominations**
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Okay, it can be debated whether choosing the most recent bait I have written as one of the personal greatest I have written. But “The Juke” I treasure more that any other comedy bait I have written. In so many ways, it echoes the kind of films I would like to make in the future, and also shows the true vibes of my soul. As corny as that sounds, the story I told still gets to me on so many key levels of my own personal emotions and wonders. It was not until I was alone one night thinking of where me and my ex-girlfriend would be years from now that I thought of telling a heartfelt dramedy fueled by that subplot and featuring the themes of how it is not easy to get through life on your own. I still feel highly for this bait most of all because the two characters I had created, I care for more than any of the others! Down the road, this bait I will still treasure!



02. NIKIDA AND BULL
Directed by Stephen Daldry
Starring: Susan Sarandon, Dan Hedaya, and Missy Crider
**Oscar Nominee: Best Actress – Susan Sarandon**
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There is a lot that would be apart of “Nikida and Bull” that I didn’t tell. Its an autobiography of many things, and many people, all of whom are close to me in my life. It’s a study of my childhood struggles with my big move away from my grandparents and my two dogs I loved so much. It’s also a study of my grandmother’s unfaithfulness to my grandmother and her dominant parenting of me. It’s about my grandfather (who passed away just last year) and his struggles with knowing of the affairs and trying to keep his home and farmland that he has had for 45 years in which he shared the many memories with his daughters. And of my mother whom escaped a bad life filled of drugs and poverty in order to take me in and raise me up to the person I am today. It is quite understandable why this bait is so close to me.


01. BRUISED BOYS : THE FINAL CUT
Directed by Todd Field
Starring: Zac Efron, Haley Joel Osment, Cate Blanchett, Thomas Haden Church, Frances McDormand, Evan Rachel Wood, Kevin Zegers, Jack Nicholson.
**No Oscar Nominations**
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A very heartbreaking tale for me, only since both characters of Nathan and Lance are both inspired by actual personalities and actions that my late best friend had endured. He died when he was only fifteen, killed because of his sexual orientation and it is a strong moment in my life that deeply scarred me, and still haunts me. With “Bruised Boys” in 2006, I tried, but failed, to tell some of his story. This was when Charlie had been alive. After his death, I rewrote it, and now more painfully told, I feel like I had given Charlie’s story a new meaning and understanding. He was a bruised boy himself, and had he not had come out, he may still be here today. But why did he NOT have to come out. Why keep yourself locked away your whole life for the benefit of a brain-washed society? This is one of the many heartbreaking meanings and symbolisms I fueled into this bait.

5. Tabula Rasa
4. Dominion
3. Reminiscence
2. A Call for Blood
1. Flashes

5. The Abstinence Teacher
4. Behind Closed Doors
3. Switching Time
2. End of the Alphabet
1. The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher

For Your Consideration this JUNE
THE WISHBONES
Best Picture (Comedy / Musical)
Best Director – Terry Zwigoff
Best Actor – Mark Ruffalo
Best Supporting Actor – Jack Black
Best Supporting Actor – Hugh Laurie
Best Supporting Actress – Mary Louise Parker
Best Supporting Actress – Marisa Tomei
Best Adapted Screenplay – Tom Perrotta

5. Dark Blue
4. Cut
3. Acoustic
2. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
1. A Corner Of The Universe

an angel got his wings and we'll hold our heads up knowing that he's fine.
"Acoustic"
June 2008

5. From the Ritz to the Rubble
4. Killer Queen
3. Dementia Ascending
2. Death of a Salesman
1. Here We Are Now

5) Native Son
4) The Secret Identity of the Heart
3) Fire of the Sun
2) Under Fire
1) Crimes Against a City

Ah narcissism. It certainly makes me feel better about myself. It's always good to reminisce on good times. However, I don't consider these my favorite baits because of how good I think they are, but because of how much I enjoyed the making of the bait and how satisfied I felt with the finished product.

5. Criminal Origins- This bait was one I personally felt had everything come together so well and so easily. Funny enough, I never actually played the game all the way through, but I loved the story so much that I had to give it a shot. It was a chance to try and do one more liked VG bait (I know people are tired of them, but I they're just so much fun) and a chance to create a new character for an actor who I consider very underused (Dennis Haysbert). Plus, it was a chance to write for a director I really enjoy, David Fincher.

4. A Faith of One/Metal Gear Solid- These two hold a special place in my heart because they were the first two I ever wrote. I couldn't pick between them because each one really pleased me with how much I enjoyed them. Metal Gear Solid was the first time I put a video game in a story and I really just wanted to try and see if people could take it seriously. A Faith of One, however, had a more personal impact on me. It was a chance for me to express my feelings on religion and bias that I felt I couldn't do on other sites. Of course, it was a while after this I realized how bloated the cast was (still love the Gyllenhaal casting though).

3. The Valley of Ashes- The funny thing about this bait is that it kind of just came to me by chance. We were watching We Were Soldiers in history class one day and I sat there thinking to myself "Why can't there be a good Vietnam movie these days?" Then the gears started turning in my head and I began brewing this little piece. After pondering on a few core ideas, I decided to try and do something I hadn't seen in previous in the contest: using only one actor. And who better to do a war film like that than Barry Pepper, a veteran actor who's usually typecasted? It was writing these ideas that made this so memorable.

2. Jackrabbit- Again, another history class inspired bait. We were watching a documentary on John Dillenger and I was completely mesmorized by it. His history, personality and relevance in history just sucked me in and after I watched it, I just had to adapt it. However, this was also the bait where I had to rewrite the most to make sure everything worked. It took me a good two months or so just to get the right format for the plot and Dillenger remained uncasted until the last minute before I sent it to the Festival. And that's when everything went well.

1. Wackos- This remains my favorite bait that I wrote because of the process I took to write it. Having only shortly won a few awards for A Faith of One (my first month), I felt upset that I had to go on a camping trip that would take up most of my writing time. However, during that time, I suddenly had inspiration. I was listening to my adult leaders while hiking and one of them began talking about all of his experiences while being a psychiatrist. Then the old gears began working again. I ran through a few core ideas, picked a cast off the top of my head, went straight to my computer when I got home and wrote the final version up in a few hours. And it is that experience and the tremendous response to it that make it my personal favorite bait.

Let's Have Some Fun This Summer

5. Good Morning, Ladies
4. Broken Pieces
3. Buzzed
2. The Bluest Eye
1. Gone Since November - Dedicated to the loving memory of Jackie Kennedy and my grandmother, Vallorie Perkins.

The Bait Spot

R.I.P. Vallorie "Grandma" Perkins

5. Good Morning, Ladies
4. Broken Pieces
3. Buzzed
2. The Bluest Eye
1. Gone Since November - Dedicated to the loving memory of Jackie Kennedy and my grandmother, Vallorie Perkins.

The Bait Spot

R.I.P. Vallorie "Grandma" Perkins

5. Good Morning, Ladies
4. Broken Pieces
3. Buzzed
2. The Bluest Eye
1. Gone Since November - Dedicated to the loving memory of Jackie Kennedy and my grandmother, Vallorie Perkins.

The Bait Spot

R.I.P. Vallorie "Grandma" Perkins

Oops, didn't mean to post my list that many times. Sorry.

The Bait Spot

R.I.P. Vallorie "Grandma" Perkins

Honorable Mention: The Hot Zone

5. Flowers for Algernon

4. The Job Search

3. The Breadwinner

2. Fred & Ethel

1. Book


Coming Soon-
The House on Mango Street
Winner of the Igloo Festival Award for
Future Best Actress- Ivana Baquero

Here's my explanation

Honorable Mention: The Hot Zone- This is a book that the entire time I read it, I imagined it playing out as a film, always with Ridley Scott directing. It took me almost a year to write it and upon finishing it, I was so satisfied with it.

5. Flowers for Algernon- after almost a year of doing pretty much only female driven baits, I decided it was about time to Bait a male driven bait. This seemed like my best bet and it gave me a chance to bait Christian Clemenson, one of my favorite actors.

4. The Job Search- My first really good bait. My Guest/Levy baits are always so much fun to write and this was no exception. It was the first time I was truly satisfied with a bait upon finishing it.

3. The Breadwinner- I wrote this bait in 20 minutes before the deadline for submitting baits. The story was quite baity and I knew it would work brilliantly as a bait. Oddly enough, I had never seen Keisha Castle Hughes act or, gulp, Milos Forman direct a film before finishing this bait. But upon seeing “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Whale Rider” I knew this was one of the best baits I had ever put on paper.

2. Fred & Ethel- This started out as a Lucille Ball biopic and upon researching it I stumbled upon the hatred that William Frawley and Vivian Vance had for each other. I knew that this was what I needed to write about. It isn’t often that you see two people share a biopic, let alone two people who hate each other.

1. Book- After finishing The Hot Zone, which I was so proud of and didn’t do so well, people calling it too depressing, I decided two things. 1- I officially write the best when my bait is segmented into thirds, and 2- I figured that when I love a bait, that is more than enough and who cares what everyone else thinks about it. So I slowly pieced together this odd mix of Adaptation, The Hours (the book, not the movie), and The Truman Show and it morphed into “Book”. Original stories rarely had brought me success in the past, often times fumbling the cast and director choice so I didn’t expect much from it, although I loved it. The success it received was just a plus.


Coming Soon-
The House on Mango Street
Winner of the Igloo Festival Award for
Future Best Actress- Ivana Baquero

5. Gone With a Dream
This is what I really consider my break through in the contest. I was/am so proud of it.

4. A Life of Death
While I think it could have been a bigger success, I was extremely surprised and proud of my first ever Best Picture nomination that came from this bait.

3. Mame
As I look back, it was actually more successful than I thought it was. Having won both the Golden Globe and the SAG, Peters was a favorite to win the Oscar, but also I was extremely surprised by the Ensemble win seeing as Realm of the Bird had such a strong one.

2. Pygmalion
Emily Blunt won all 3 precursors leading up to the Oscars in February, and I was extremely proud of the writing of what I consider my first stabalizing success. It really established me as the author I am now.

1. Into the Woods
This is by FAR my favorite bait that I have ever written, and I can't tell you how disappointed I was when I didn't make the Top 5 of the month. I was so mad in fact, that I fueled all my anger into writing my next bait, A Life of Death, for which I did get a nomination. I think it is one of my strongest written baits ever, and I really believe in the cast I assembled.

And depending on the success... Spring Awakening could easily take one of these spots.

This June...
Spring Awakening

5. Dark Blue
i really loved writing this because i basicly just wrote it as a picture that Kelly Macdonald could carry. i was very happy that she recieved an oscar nomination.

4. Cut
although i wish it had been more widely enjoyed and successful in the precursors, i am proud of this bait because i feel like it was a little bit more out of my comfot zone of feel good family baits. the dark themes are something i hadn't really dived into before, and it was great to get a chance here.

3. Acoustic
i have no idea how it will be recieved, but this bait has been a delight to write. i love Bayside and writing about their pain is very close to me. i really hope it does well because i think if it were actualy made that it would be something i would definetly want to see.

2. The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time
My only bait to break the top 5. it was really fun to write a bait of my favorite book, and i was REALLY surprised at how much praise it recieved. i feel like my adapttions tend to do better than my original baits.

1. A Corner Of The Universe
My second bait, and what i consider to be my best and the one that really put me out there, was great. i was surprised at how well it did at the festival (future forum favorite nod) and at all the precurors, garnering a sag nod, 7th at the NBR, and a gg nod. my cast also did well at all the precursors. sadly, i didn't do as well at the oscars. but it is still the closest bait to my heart, and the best i think i have written.

an angel got his wings and we'll hold our heads up knowing that he's fine.
"Acoustic"
June 2008

5. COBRA
I'd been paying attention to this story for so long, and had even made a failed attempt at baiting it before with "Edge of my Atmosphere" (unreleased). Everyone basically told me the same thing about this bait before releasing it; "Its a bad idea and isn't baity at all." So I'm proud to say that it was nominated for 8 Academy awards, including Best Picture, and won 3 of them. And I'm proud of myself for having the guys to bait Zac Efron in a serious roll, now thats balls haha.

4. SPRINGWOOD
Speaking of having balls. I was called the bravest baiter in history by a few when I seriously baited a film about Freddy Kruger. This wasn't a slasher movies about Freddy though, this was an honest to god horror movie that aimed to scare you by what you didn't see. Maia said that she got scared while reading it, and no one could ever give it a better review than that. Although it didn't receive any Big 8 nominations, the people who liked it REALLY liked it, and were vocal about it. I'm proud to say that I almost got Freddy to the Oscars.

3. THE VAMPIRE LESTAT
This contest is called "Bait an Oscar", which I always took to mean "Convince us that your story could win an oscar". Now by all conventions of the Academy Awards, a movie about a bisexual vampire who thinks he's God's gift, should not be nominated for any major awards. But I managed to convince people otherwise. The Vampire Lestat landed 7 nominations, including Best Picture. It won 3 of the awards, after not being nominated for a single precursor. Thats what I call really baiting an oscar!

2. SILENCE
In November 2006 I won Bait of the Month with my bait "The Wall". But it seems to be the other bait I released that month, "Silence", that continues to resonate with people. Based on an event that took place in my life when I was younger, this bait was extremely personal to me. I almost didn't release it. At the time the so called "gay baits" were getting a lot of flack for making it about gay characters just to make it baity (Brokeback Mountain was still big in people's minds). So "Silence", with it's message of tolerance, wasn't accepted right away but it quickly gained a big fallowing. It won a ton of precursors, including the Golden Globe for Best Picture - Drama. But, when the nominations were announced, Silence only had one nomination, Best Plot Synopsis. It went on to win this award but the bait has had a much longer life than most award winners. And it has won over some people who originally dismissed it. It means the world to me to see people enjoy this bait.

1. MIDNIGHT MASS
I had been in the contest a few months in September 2006 when I released Midnight Mass. It was my first BOTM nominee and the first, and last bait I believe, to pull something off. I am credited in the bait as the screenwriter, and Midnight Mass was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. I dont think any baiter, before or since, has baited themselves to an Oscar nominations. Thats not why this is my favorite of all my baits though. I love the story, the characters, the cast, everything. I think, out of all my baits, this movie would work the best as I wrote it, with all the same cast and crew. It might be the movie that could bring Robin Williams out of his slump? lol. I think this might be the best bait I've ever written.

-SPECIAL BECAUSE THEY WERE MY FIRSTS-
7. SHUTTERLAND-I hate this bait but it was my first so oh well, felt like it should be added.

6. THE 7000-MILE SCREWDRIVER
-Who thought a bait would be inspired by the word of the die on urban-dictionary? This is my first team bait with Harry who really focused the story better with some amazing ideas. It isn't one of my favorite baits but it is special.

-TOP 5-
5. THE MUNSTERS WITH YVONNE DE CARLO
-This was one of my first comedies that really hit and was shcoked win Zeta-Jones won Best Actress at the SAGs. It was just fun and funny and really hit a chord with everyone and I was glad that it did so.


4. REHAB!: A CONTEMPORARY MUSICAL
-Thank-you ZGamer! This was an amazing bait to work on and so much fun. It was up against some tough competition but it is still remembered. I love how it went and the story and every aspect about it. Thanks Z!

3. FRUIT OF THE POISON TREE
-I would like to thank my history teacher so much for teaching us this legal term! I loved this bait and it has one of my favorite casts. I think it is perfect and wouldn't change a thing. This was so hard to write and make it plausible but it worked so well.

2. SHAMUS/SHAMUS II: THE MYSTERY OF THE GYPSY'S GARDENIA/SHAMUS III: THE MULTIPLE CASES OF THE LONELY CABARET SINGER
-I would like to say that I did the most ballsy move in the contest by releasing SHAMUS I and II in THE SAME MONTH with Gwen Stefani as THE LEAD! Who would have thought a noir mystery starring Guy Pearce and Gwen Stefani would become a notable trilogy? I am so happy how ALL THREE were liked (some liked the second the most actually). I was worried if I was pushing my luck like I did with the um...you know-trilogy but this worked out for the better. I would love to do SHAMUS IV but I am happy where it is left off. Spin-off with either Crowe's or Farrell's or maybe even Stefani's character. The first two more likely but I think this franchise should be put to rest because I love it how it is now. Maybe in two years like INDY .

1. THE GIFT OF LIFE
-This is one of the most personal and well-liked baits I have ever written. The cause is something I beileve in. Though I only know the stories by one or two degrees of seperation, it really does make me happy that I can bring such a terrific message to this community. The cast is my dream team and loved that I could find a role for everyone. This was so hard to write because I didn't want to disappoint something I believed so much in and was so happy that you liked it too.

Here are some upcoming baits that hopefully will make my Top 5 too!
-NOTHING OF IMPORTANCE HAPPENED HERE- COMES OUT THIS MONTH!
-PIRATE BONES
-UNTITLED CONOLLEY WATER SCI-FI
-ON THE TEQUILA
-EVEN THE DEVIL WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE YOU
-UNTITLED CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH PROJECT
-TICK-TOCK