Film & Writing Projects

At the moment, there are three screenplays in development, as well as an essay for the New York Times, and a memoir. Here are three upcoming projects...

Rusty Barnacle's Comedy Review

Come join Rusty as he shaves his balls on stage. He's a proud bowler, so don't worry, he won't let go of them into the audience. He also loves to golf at 4:20 in the mahnin' out on the Pirate's Cove in Bah Habah befoah goin' out on the trawlah. He's a fan of big booty. Who isn't?

Help him work through things on the put-put @ 7 pm every Monday night @ QUEEN CITY CINEMA CLUB IN BANGOR @ 128B Main St, Bangor, ME 04401 ACROSS FROM THE PENOBSCOT THEATRE COMPANY.

All performance start promptly at 7 and is first come, first serve. Appropriate for ages 13+

Meet Rusty Barnacle, the most miserable, crusty,
lobstahman you'll evah love...

He'll break yah haht, deah, so
don't ev'n tryah...

He

Only costs $10 for Maine residents, and $20 for out-a-statahs!*

(Valid ID required)
*One drink minimum + appetizer

"Rust

"As funny as it is fawgy
out this mornin."

That man is pea soup up the bum funny!"

"...Man needs his head
examined..."

Elegant Title

Writing Projects

A Muse of Fire: A Memoir of Mania, Madness, & Art

In this searing memoir, Ferreira tells the story of being diagnosed at 35 with Bipolar Disorder and ADD after an acute psychotic break in Chicago, and the 12 years of recovery and resiliency that followed. Throughout the book, Jon weaves a compelling narrative about a storyteller afflicted with serious and profound bouts of depression, interspersed with exhilarating creative episodes of mania, and how this crucible forged the artist he is today, and the kind of work that comes out of such a precarious alchemy. This Faustian bargain begs the question, must an artist be tortured to produce great art, and what price is simply too high?

The Dark

Six teenagers hike into the dark woods of an abandoned ghost town in rural Massachusetts called Dogtown. They are led by a good-natured guide who senses more than he reveals. Along the way, they explore more than just woods, but the very nature of what it means to be an American in these perilous and divisive times. What it means to be human in an often cruel and inhumane world of racism, sexism, homophobia, and the crushing reality of climate change. Sometimes our dreams for this planet come true, but sometimes our nightmares do too. There is more than just legend and lore in these woods, but something sinister. Who will make it out of Dogtown alive? The Dark is The Blair Witch Project for this moment in time. A generation of youth who weren't even alive for 9/11, but have lived through a war on terror that has terrorized us since. What if evil were real and the earth remembers the footprints of its past horrors? Is the earth scarred with the memory of the sins of our fathers? And are you brave enough to enter...The Dark?

Autumn Landscape, Dogtown (1934) by Marsden Hartley

The Passion of Bobby

In this five-part fictionalized teleseries called 'The Passion of Bobby,' we tell the story of Bobby Kennedy, and his transcendent love, and how he almost magically altered everyone he touched. Literally and figuratively.

In 1968, third Kennedy son Robert Fitzgerald entered the Campaign for President of the United States of America late, but running on a platform of ending the Vietnam War, advancing Civil Right legislation, providing universal health care, and a bucket list of other VERY progressive and liberal causes.

History would suggest that RFK would have no traction. He had entered the race in the eleventh hour, and already had multiple Primary competitors to contend with. And his older brother Jack had been viciously killed as President nearly four years earlier. That was a national tragedy, and who would ever want to put the country through all of that again?

That's not even mentioning his appeal. Who would vote for this bucktooth rich Kennedy scion anyway? Turns out. EVERYONE. Anyone in America who believed in The American Dream, but just felt a little (or a lot) left out of making that dream a reality.

By May of 1968, Bobby was gaining momentum across the country, and his campaign seemed unstoppable. And he only had Super Tuesday to look forward to. California was more than in reach. It was almost sewn up.

Once again, good old "Tricky Dick" was sweating. After all, who could possibly stop Bobby Kennedy from becoming President at this point? THE MAN WAS INCREDIBLE.

And then, almost as quickly as he had entered, Robert F. Kennedy exited the national stage. But this time, it was in a casket with only one more Kennedy boy slowly walking behind it, with poor Ethel leaning on him for support.

Bobby was dead.

Did that also mean that the dream was dead? The dream of all great men and women in the history of recorded time, but especially in this nation, where we were still struggling to attempt something new...and different...and lasting. "A MORE Perfect Union."

Bobby Kennedy was taken from us as a result of random gun violence by a mentally unstable man with a handgun. If that sounds familiar at all, it is because we are STILL living this national tragedy EVERY DAY in this country. It was happening THEN like it's happening NOW. ALL OF IT.

Was Bobby Kennedy our last chance to make good on the American promise? Could EVERYONE truly achieve 'The American Dream'' if they simply "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, and got to work?' Were we finished as a country in less than 200 years? Are we today???

With this film, we simply end by asking our audience, has the next Bobby been born yet? Is it YOU?

Alfred Pilsmore, an 84-year-old Oglala Sioux Indian, discussing Indian needs with Robert F. Kennedy at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota on April 16, 1968. (Credit: AP)

Meet The Team

Jon Ferreira & Jeremiah Poope

Jeremiah and Jon have been friends for almost 30 years, having met their freshman year at Emerson College in Boston. When the Covid pandemic hit in early 2020, the two grew closer than ever, and out of their discussions the seeds were planted for important stories they'd both like to share with the world. They began to craft narratives of screenplays focusing on lesser known and marginalized figures from history, whether it be people of color, or the surprising and forgotten stories behind the people we thought we knew. Jeremiah and Jon brainstorm and collaborate on visualizing the narrative, and then Jon takes those notes and writes the screenplays. Interestingly, the two are not wedded to a specific genre, but rather an exploration of the human condition in any form. Jeremiah and Jon's first documentary short will shoot in the spring of 2022, and their first feature length film, The Dark, will go into production in the summer of 2022.