SCREENWRITING 'UNDER A FUNKY MOON'

Thoughts and a sample from an okay career in movies

Though I’ve been working in film and television since 1990, I’ve only had a few full screenwriting credits and many of those are for documentary or variety programs. As far as produced screenplays there were two in the early ‘90s (‘Strictly Business,’’CB4’), one on an HBO film I directed (‘Life Support’) in 2007, and a credit on a ‘The Get Down’ episode on Netflix. Which, considering when I entered the business, is not bad since black screenwriters were a relatively new entry into Hollywood circa ‘90s. Aside from writer-directors like Spike Lee and John Singleton, most of the black scribes who worked regularly in Hollywood were on staff at sit-coms like ‘The Cosby Show’ or ‘Living Single.’ My ex-Village Voice colleague Barry Michael Cooper (‘New Jack City’) had some major dramatic credits, but it wasn’t until the advent of streaming that African-American writers were able to move into a variety of spaces outside of comedy. Akela Cooper, for example, has made a mark in horror, co-writing the hit ‘M3gan,’ as well as ‘Malignant’ and ‘The Nun II.’

But just because I have skimpy list of credits it doesn’t mean I haven’t tried. Sitting on my desk this holiday weekend are twelve unproduced screenplays. Of that bunch of paper a few were commissioned - one by HBO, one by Universal, one by Amazon. Most were scripts I wrote on spec and though they didn’t sell, a script I penned about the early days of hip-hop helped get me hired for ‘The Get Down’ writers room. That experience was rich in friendship and light on creative satisfaction, but it was also the most money I’d been paid to write anything, so there’s that. Elements of these unproduced scripts have found their way into my novels, especially the D Hunter series I published with Akashic Books. One of them, a script based on a day in the life of Miles Davis in the ‘80s, was performed at a reading at Joe’s Pub in NYC, in 2019.

So that’s not a lot of love for work I put a lot of heart and soul into these past few decades. Most of them, not surprising given my journalistic background, are based in the world or music or inspired by music in some way. One is highly autobiographical, tracing my early years running the streets of the disco era with a notebook in my hand. The majorityf attempt to capture the blend of magic and cynicism that being close to the music business exposed me to. My favorite of my non-noir novels, ‘Seduced: Life and Times of a One Hit Wonder,’ was a test run for these stories. I keep coming back to them even as the record business world I wrote about becomes farther and farther removed from today’s streaming reality.

As I figure out what to do with all these stories, I’ll drop bits and pieces of few of them here on Substack just to have the satisfaction of seeing them in print and read by my followers here. The bit I’ll post today actually has a Substack connection. When producer turned Substacker Ted Hope was running the then new film division at Amazon, he gave me a chance to pen a funk music inspired sci-fi screenplay, which went by either ‘Timeless Funk’ or ‘Under a Funky Moon,’ depending on my mood. It was just after the release of Childish Gambino’s funk influenced ‘Awaken, My Love’ in 2016, which was attracting critical attention, so that gave funk some contemporary relevance. I did several drafts resulting in a super expensive film that took place in three time periods, used tons of funk classic songs, and partially took place on the Moon. Even at that time, when Hope backed some worthy auteur efforts, it was a big swing. So thanks Ted for letting me in the Amazin playground!

Below is the opening of ‘Under A Funky Moon.

THE MOON, JULY 20, 1969

In grainy documentary footage ASTRONAUT NEIL ARMSTRONG steps down from the LUNAR MODULE onto the surface of the Moon.

The Astronaut takes a few steps and then speaks the immortal words: “One small step for man. One giant step for mankind.”

He plants an AMERICAN FLAG in the lunar surface. BUZZ ALDRIN joins him and the two space pioneers begin gathering rocks.

This is where the official story ends. Now the FUNKY TRUTH can be told!

Doc footage ends. Movie photography begins.

As Armstrong collects rocks he FEELS A VIBRATION. Armstrong and Aldrin trade surprised looks. They turn.

FLASHING LIGHTS EMANATE from a crater. The Astronaut’s move towards the lights and the VIBRATION GROWS STRONGER with each step.

As they climb to the side of the crater the vibration becomes recognizable: it is a RUMP SHAKING BASS LINE. It makes their helmets quiver. Now they hear other INSTRUMENTS and VOICES performing Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Jupiter.”

EARTH, WIND & FIRE

(singing) Searching in the sky one night/ while looking for the Moon/I viewed a mighty light approaching in a zoom.

The Astronauts reach the crater’s edge and LOOK DOWN.

REFLECTED IN THEIR VISORS is a FULL ON SOUL TRAIN styled dance party. HUMANOID FIGURES get down to a FUNK BAND.

EARTH, WIND & FIRE

(singing) Need was there to tell someone of my discovery/ Fifteen seconds later a light appeared in front of me.

WHOA! An SPACE WOMAN with an AFRO blocks their view. She smiles. Her eyes glow -- ALL THREE OF THEM.

Armstrong and Aldrin’s grow wide. The Space Woman leans in close.

SPACE WOMAN

You boys wanna boogie?

Enjoy you holiday weekend.