Mark Violi | Actor, Playwright, Screenwriter in New Jersey

Mark Violi Writer

SCREENWRITING

Mark’s scripts are available for production & sale. He is available for adaptations and writing assignments.

From Bedside

By Mark Violi & Fred Goldstein

Logline
When a jaded teacher tutors a teenager stricken with cancer, they forge a unique bedside bond forcing him to reevaluate his capabilities while helping the dying student achieve some extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime goals. Based on the true story.

Status & Details
From Bedside is adapted from Fred Goldstein’s book of the same name. The film is currently in development. Gap financing and production opportunities may be available.

Accolades
• Austin Film Festival Top 15%
• Nicholl Fellowship Top 20%
• Coverfly All-Time Top 25%

"This script was almost perfect, the concept is great, the story is great. The characters exhibited change and they were not one dimensional. "

Austin Film Festival Comments

"This script is very unique, the concept is great and perfect for a drama. It’s even more interesting because it’s based on a true story. "

Austin Film Festival Comments

"The dialogue was spot on and well thought out, just a great script overall. "

Austin Film Festival Comments

Christmas 2.0

By Mark Violi

Logline
Following a Christmas Eve blunder, Santa’s most trusted elf, Seren, orchestrates a high-tech takeover of the North Pole, but when corporate greed and failed technology threaten to ruin Christmas, she rallies the elves to retake the holiday, restore Santa’s mojo and prove Christmas Magic is still alive.

Status & Details
Christmas 2.0 can be an animated or live action feature.

Accolades
• Earned a Recommend from Stage 32 Coverage. Accounting for the Top 5% of all scripts.
• Austin Film Festival Top 20%
• 2nd Place Overall, InkTip Holiday Screenplay Competition
• Semi-Finalist, ISA Family & Holiday Script Competition
• Coverfly All-Time Top 25%

"This script offers a premise and story that is engaging, entertaining and touching as well."

Stage 32 Coverage

"The writing is of an advanced level and indicative of a writer very well-versed in their craft. "

Stage 32 Coverage

"A movie such as this almost entirely depends on the feelings it manages to elicit and the fact that the writer almost instinctively seems to understand this and capture every emotion from grief and loss and fear to exuberance and love is a testament to their writing ability."

Stage 32 Coverage

Pregnant Pause

By Mark Violi

Logline
Rebecca is a hard-boiled career woman focused solely on making partner at her firm. When her brazen assistant sets her up with Midtown’s hottest young chef, an unplanned pregnancy threatens her career goals–worse, she may be falling for the father.

Status & Details
Pregnant Pause is available.

Accolades
• Austin Film Festival Top 20%
• BlueCat Top 10%

"Pregnant Pause is a moving and touching story. It is a funny comedy with a strong female lead. Rebecca is funny, assertive and spiritual. "

BlueCat Comments

"The script is well-structured. The dialogue is very funny and witty. The story moves quickly and the pacing is really good. The characters are lovable and hilarious."

BlueCat Comments

"This is a really talented writer…the dialogue is top of the line stuff, and the rest of the script is of a high quality."

Acedemy Nicholl Fellowships Comments

Test Drive

By Mark Violi

Logline
Straight-laced Jim and his brash buddy broker a deal for a free Aston Martin weekend test drive and shift into a high-speed adventure when the car is mistaken for one involved in a Mob drop.

Status & Details
Test Drive is available.

Accolades
• Austin Film Festival Top 20%
• Nicholl Fellowship Top 20%
• Scriptapalooza Top 10%
• Coverfly All-Time Top 25%

"This is an amusing comedy, with lots of good action sequences, and it moves at a snappy pace."

Acedemy Nicholl Fellowships Comments

"Test Drive" is a fun, funny premise which is drawn out into an engaging story."

Acedemy Nicholl Fellowships Comments

What are they saying?

"This is a really talented writer…the dialogue is top of the line stuff, and the rest of the script is of a high quality."

Nicholl Fellowships

Pregnant Pause

"The writing is of an advanced level and indicative of a writer very well-versed in their craft."

Stage 32 Script Coverage

Christmas 2.0

"This script was almost perfect, the concept is great, the story is great. The characters exhibited change and they were not one dimensional."

Austin Film Festival

From Bedside

The Pines

By Mark Violi

Logline
Friends traveling from Maryland to the Woodstock Festival have their plans diverted when they uncover a top secret military operation that has them confronting New Jersey’s oldest and deadliest resident—the Jersey Devil.

Status & Details
The Pines is based on the legend of The Jersey Devil. This script is available.

"The narrative flows very well. Following the teens on a road trip as they approach an inevitable confrontation with the Jersey Devil builds a natural tension and sense of foreboding…the pacing is quick and snappy."

Script Savvy Comments

The Jersey Devil is an underused cryptid/monster. What’s more, setting the movie in 1969 makes the story even more memorable and unique."

Script Savvy Comments

"A horror movie involving real folklore, the military, and some wayward teens is a winning combination."

Script Savvy Comments

This Next Year

By Mark Violi

Logline
A school shooting survivor now suffering with PTSD, Kate takes employment at a new high school. In crisis herself, Kate fixates on a student suicide but the truth she exposes threatens to put more students at risk.

Status & Details
This Next Year was developed with Dr. Steven Dranoff, a career adolescent psychologist who has developed learning modules educating on trauma in young people and has been instrumental in forming youth mental health interest groups across the country. This script is available.

Accolades
• Winner–Wildsound TV Festival Competition
• Earned Consider rating from WeScreenplay TV Coverage

“This is a good pilot, particularly in terms of the ideas and themes at stake. It’s relevant, important, and entertaining.”

We Screenplay Comments

"This is a strong opening for a drama series, a sort of mix between high-school drama and something more serious. The opening sequence setting up Kate’s character and backstory is absolutely mind-blowing and one of the best openings I’ve ever read, setting the stage perfectly for the series as a whole"

WildSound Comments

"It’s very well-written and audiences will be eager to see how Kate’s story develops."

WildSound Comments

Did you know?

Mark was hired by Pendulum Pictures to rewrite the comedy feature Pet Project for presentation to Millennium Films.

The script is available for review as a writing sample.

The Treasure of Tucker's Island

By Mark Violi

Logline
A teen lifeguard uncovers a perilous legend and leads a brazen adventure to claim a lost treasure hidden on a mysterious sunken island whose secrets are guarded by a nefarious local known as the “Mooncusser.”

Status & Details
The Treasure of Tucker’s Island is based on the book series Adventures Along the Jersey Shore by Dave Hart & John Calu published by Plexus Publishing (Boardwalk Empire). Great opportunity to establish a franchise based on all the published stories. The script is available.

Wiff

By Mark Violi

Logline
Two ex-Major Leaguers reignite a World Series grudge when they meet years later in a high-stakes Wiffle Ball tournament.

Status & Details
Wiff has been previously optioned on two different occasions. Rights are currently with the author, the script is available.

Accolades
• 2 previous option deals
• Austin Film Festival Top 10%

"Very witty. Overall the writer demonstrates great potential for dialogue and structure…the script is in a very solid position. "

Slamdance Comments

"You easily cultivated an audience investment in Carter’s success as an empathetic down and out, yet willful protagonist, with a clear object of desire."

Script Savvy Comments

"You easily cultivated an audience investment in Carter’s success as an empathetic down and out, yet willful protagonist, with a clear object of desire."

Slamdance Comments

Mobbed Up

By Mark Violi

Logline
Financial straits force brother and sister owners of a beach side ice cream shop to rent their back room to the local Mafia for a gambling parlor.

Status & Details
Mobbed Up is available. It has also previously been known as Boardwalk Nights.

Accolades
• Previously in development

"This is a superb premise and promising treatment with excellent prospects for sale."

Slamdance Comments

"Lots of potential in this concept and the writer."

Script Savvy Comments

"Jeanie’s transformation was brilliant and inspiring."

Blue Cat Comments

John Hart: Portrait of a Patroit

By Dave Hart & Mark Violi

Logline
John Hart was leading a comfortable life as a modest New Jersey farmer and respected local judge. When war broke out with England, he was cast upon the world stage to defend our liberty as a signer of the Declaration of Independence and became a key player in the American Revolution. But unlike his luminous contemporaries, Hart’s legacy as an American hero has eluded him; without so much as an accurate likeness to remember him.

Status & Details
John Hart: Portrait of a Patriot has had several screenings and is available for broadcast.

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