Writer’s Statement
Winner of 92 AWARDS, 9 HONORABLE MENTIONS, and with an additional 109 Nominations, Finalist, and Official Selection accolades — and counting (On FilmFreeway), the unproduced feature film screenplay ‘Donavan Emery, The Android & Himself’ is a contemporary retelling of ‘The Picture Of Dorian Gray’ by Oscar Wilde (or better yet, "Oscar Wilde Goes Sci-Fi”), while at the same time, being far enough removed from the original source material to validate its own identity.
Set in the not-too-distant dystopian future — an enormous industrial landscape of deteriorating cities, where an unprecedented gap has formed between the poor and the super-rich, ‘Donavan Emery’ is in and of itself, completely original.
Before revising ‘Donavan Emery’ into the draft that it is today, I completed writing the story structure of the entire 3rd Act while at the beginning of a manic episode (at the time yet-to-be diagnosed Bipolar I), hence the purposely dramatic shift in spectacle 2/3rd's through the story. To me, it made sense back then. And somehow, it makes even more sense now.
The frequent monologues and long conversations between characters (most notably in Act I) are intentional, and also a conscious effort to pay respects to -- and capture the spirit of -- Oscar Wilde’s original story. With the correct casting, it wouldn't be considered “talky,” nor “excessive.”
It's probably the closest we'll ever get to Shakespearean Blade Runner -- if the final act was unapologetically hijacked by ‘Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.’
— Jesse Dorian
‘Donavan Emery, The Android & Himself’ is Copyright Registered
Jesse Dorian
ADD/bipolar screenwriter/actor/editor/film director/songwriter/composer/musician, ex-drug dealer, community college dropout, with dumb little gothpop music project on the side; also (as of 2022) newly a small e-commerce business owner, and apparel designer (LostScorpion/LostScorpion Apparel).
Had one full-on manic episode/nervous breakdown in 2012… years later, came out on the other end with an unfinished, 95% completed feature film/directorial effort that never saw the light of day-- plus, 5 separate story ideas that in 2021, would be revised competently into 5 different, coherently-readable documents... er, better yet-- 5 professionally-organized feature-length film screenplays.
Endgame is to station in Los Angeles and focus on acting and music. Would also excel as a writer/actor, and would ideally fit in writing/producing/directing independent projects for distributors A24, NEON... with long-time mainstream prospects including creation of/writing/producing/directing franchise and world-building feature film projects for Universal Studios.
Has 2 rescue cats named Fred and Caramels.