About

Unity in Love

feature screenplay

Winner, Finalist Award, 2006 Illinois Arts Council

 

“(The) writing is beautiful. (Falzone has) done an impressive job with the script. We can

only imagine that with such a dense and complex subject matter it must have been very

difficult to narrow down the exact story to tell…we were all very intrigued by the project.”

 

• Mark Mallorca, CASM Films

 

“The script is sad and moving. Against all expectations, we do feel compassion for Unity

- particularly her desolation when the Fuhrer dumps her. (Falzone) skillfully

interweaves past and present, fantasy and reality, into the fabric of the screenplay.”

 

• Charles Robert Carner, director, Who is Killing Atlanta’s Children?

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Coriander and a Penny’s Worth of Lonesome

feature screenplay

Produced by Grant Guignol Films and Squeakin’ Yojimbo Pictures, 2019

Gold Award winner, International Independent Film Awards

Honorable Mention, Santa Monica International Film Festival

 

“It’s the real thing: a wonderful story with great feeling.”

 

• John D. Hancock, Academy Award-nominated director, Sticky My Fingers…Fleet

My Feet, Bang the Drum Slowly, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death

 

“Amazing!  A fascinating and bizarre silent era gothic tale.  The story is so unusual.  Dark, twisted and romantic.  Bravo!”

 

• Pablo Berger, Academy Award nominated producer/director for Robot Dreams;

Goya-winning director, Blancanieves

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“It’s a great script, possibly the best I’ve ever been sent.  A sad, beautiful and brilliant story and one that needs to be told.”

 

• Julian Grant, director, Coriander and a Penny’s Worth of Lonesome

 

“Brilliantly realized… (a) chilling, haunting, even tragic tale.”

 

• Victoria Riskin, Emmy nominated screenwriter, The Last Best Year,

A Town Torn Apart, My Antonia

 

"Coriander evokes Nathaniel West’s Hollywood, in this compelling, film noir tale of the fleeting price of fame, and the lives destroyed in its wake. Falzone gives voice to the silent film era of Rudolph Valentino.”

 

• Dan Castellaneta & Deb Lacusta, The Simpsons

 

“Poignant and richly textured.”

 

• John McNaughton, director and Independent Spirit Award nominee,

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Mad Dog and Glory, Wild Things

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“Quite an achievement.  I’m blown away. I rarely get lost in a story, and almost never in animation. Remarkable. Truly remarkable!” 

Andrew Huebner

Emmy-winning Vice President of Animation Production, Nickelodeon

 

“The complexities and sophistication of the relationships at the heart of the story are a huge achievement.  They illuminate so much about the human spirit of each of the central characters as they pick their way through life, trying to make something of themselves”

 

• Michael Rabiger, filmmaker and author of “Developing Story Ideas:

The Power and Purpose of Storytelling”

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“I love so many details…and I feel haunted by it. This is a sharp script with real characters set on the edge of an event (relatable) to contemporary culture.”

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• Dan Andries, senior producer, WTTW Chicago

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Close Quarters

feature screenplay

Produced by Nefarious Productions, 2011

Nominated, Best Screenplay, Best Picture at the 2011 Midwest Film Awards

 

“Newell and his 24-member cast largely improvised their scenes around Falzone’s scenarios in this slice-of-life Chicago story that allows us to sit back and revel in the nuances of everyday life. (Together, they) create what can be considered a breakthrough film.

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• Reel Chicago Magazine

 

“An endearing and insightful collection of parallel vignettes set in a Chicago coffee shop. The ensemble features 24 improv artists whose dialogue was deftly arranged and condensed by writer Falzone.”

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• Matt Fagerholm, Hollywoodchicago.com

 

“The best local indie I have seen in a long time. Honest.”

 

• Bill Stamets, freelance writer and film critic

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Typing

short screenplay

Produced by Zaxie Films, 2010

 

“(One) of the standouts (at the 2010 Chicago International Film Festival). This short has shades of Barton Fink mixed with sharp humorous dialogue on race, prejudices and stereotypes.”

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• Nelson Carvajal, cinefile.com

 

“Inspired by (the works of) Billy Wilder and Preston Sturges, Falzone weaves a tale centering on the madness and futility of the creative process.”

 

• Jordan Poast, DIYFilm.com

 

“(The) machine-gun dialogue crackled with classic energy.”

 

• Kathy Churay, essayist and novelist

 

“Typing is excellent!”

 

• Sheldon Patinkin, improvisation pioneer and educator

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The History of Her Future

feature screenplay and graphic novel

 

“A wonderful new work. I enjoyed the screenplay tremendously. The story is fascinating, and both the unusual structure of the piece and (the) use of dark humor are absolutely marvelous.”

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• Bob Falls, Tony Award-winning director, Death of a Salesman, Aida

 

“As the quirky title may suggest, Falzone writes the story in reverse chronological order from Lizzie’s death backwards in time to the murder of her father and stepmother. It’s a challenging way to tell a story and yet keep the tension high, but Falzone succeeds.  I am grateful for this new and different look at Lizzie Borden. History of Her Future is…fantastic.”

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• Priscilla Bettis, author, "Witch of the Manor House"

 

“Witty, wry and wholly original. History of Her Future is a perfect alchemy of arresting images and razor sharp dialogue providing an incisive commentary on our never-ending addiction to celebrity. Absorbing, challenging and timely!”

 

• Gary Eldon Peter, Many Voices Project Award-winning author, “Oranges,"

"The Complicated Calculus (and Cows) of Carl Paulsen”

 

“A powerful and moving story beautifully executed.”

 

• Wojciech Lorenc, director, The Drone

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The Virgin Knot

feature screenplay

Winner, Best Unproduced Screenplay:  2021 LA Sun Film Festival

Winner, Best Comedy Feature Screenplay: 2023 Houston Comedy Film Festival

Nominee, Best Comedy Feature Screenplay: 2022 Austin Comedy Film Festival

Nominee, Best Comedy Feature Screenplay: 2022 Georgia Comedy Film Festival

Semi-Finalist, Best Comedy  Screenplay: 2022 Filmmatic Comedy Screenplay Awards

Nominee, Best Unproduced Screenplay: 2021 Montreal Independent Film Festival

Honorable Mention:  2022 Big Apple Film Festival Screenplay Competition

Monthly Pick, Screenplay:  2022 Rome Prisma Film Awards

Official Selections:: 2021 Chicago Indie Film Awards, 2021 LA Independent Film Channel Festival, 2021 Boston Independent Film Awards, 2021 Toronto Film and Script Awards, 2021 New York Independent Cinema Awards

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"I laughed out loud!  It was funny and cool.  And yes, crazy.  I'm glad I read it."

Julia Sweeney, performer and writer, Saturday Night Live, God Said "Ha!"

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"A wonderful script.  Being the Catholic guy I am, it was like reading a biography about a friend.  Very funny.  Charming.  And ornery in just the way a script like this should be!  Thumbs up!"

Kevin Cooper, producer, Second Hand Lions, Good Guy With a Gun

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"It's so much fun, and so…insightful, hilariously so.  (The Virgin Knot) is just so damn brilliant."

Kat O'Brien, screenwriter, producer and educator

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Hope's Dash

feature screenplay

Winner, Finalist Award, 2005 Illinois Arts Council

"(Like) something written by a reincarnated Preston Sturges.  It had the feel of a fifties madcap comedy - done in the sixties - with a third millennium retrospective eye.  Really nice.  Really love that ending."

Tim Kazurinsky, SNL writer/performer and screenwriter, About Last Night,

Strange Relations

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Through a Door Like Anna

feature screenplay

Under option, Zaxie LLC

 

“So wonderful, so moving...so hopeful and full of faith. Amazing, truly amazing.”

 

• Christina Chiu, 2040 Award-winning author, “Beauty,”

"Troublemaker and Other Saints"

 

“Weaves a scenic amusing sequence of events with witty, spare dialogue that touches the

heart. A wonderful story, beautifully rendered.”

 

• Joan Arnold, poet and essayist

 

“The beauty of the work is in its energy. It’s simply lovely; that’s the only word I can

find to adequately describe it. I loved reading every single word and wanted more when I

reached the end. Everything about it is great. So much about it made me laugh out loud,

and yes, some of it made me cry, too.”

 

• Bridget Boland, bestselling author, “The Doula”

 

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Rosie and the Fine Art of Politics

feature screenplay

 

“A fanciful romantic comedy about politics, art and the role of commerce in both...it’s a

surprising sort of mongrel cross-breed of Frank Capra’s poli-sci fairy tales and Bruce

Dold’s newspaper editorials.”

 

• Darryl Cater, “Chicago Journal” newspaper

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Santorello’s Pig

feature screenplay

Semi-Finalist, Illinois/Chicago Screenwriting Competition

Official Selection, Film Bureau 606

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“(Falzone’s) knack for getting into the characters’ heads, motivations and feelings is

wonderful. The dialogue is quite impressive - funny, intelligent and real sounding to the

ear - a skill that hasn’t shown itself in many recent movies.”

 

• 1998 Illinois/Chicago Screenwriting Competition