Thursday, March 5, 2009

Carole Parker is cool

One of the great things about Facebook is the networking. I met Carole Parker, a screenwriter there and we quickly became fast friends.  Not only is she hilariously funny and smart, but it turns out we frequented the same NYC haunts in our heydays--from Danceteria to the Kiev to four in the morning 8th Avenue walks home when 8th Avenue was really, really hold-your-breath dangerous.  But the even greater thing is she is knock-your-socks off talented.  A New Tomorrow (poster on the left) is her savvy, sharp mockumentary that takes place around an election, poking fun at the Christian Right, reenactors (my fave), would be rockers, and more.  Her newest script, a pilot, set in 1980s NYC , is  groundbreaking.  Called La Femme Accident, it follows Candy (think Voltaire's Candide) a boy who leaves a bleak existence back home to come to NYC and make it with a makeshift family of friends...as a woman.

What I loved about the script was all the highbrow references (smartypants like me will love the subtle Voltaire and Wizard of Oz references.) Carole gets  all the club details achingly right, with a few famous characters (think Billy Idol) thrown in for good measure. If this gets picked up, (and it should--it's that good) I am going to nag Carole to let me write an episode or twelve. Or at least a few lines.

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