Three Falling Stars is a technically well written faith-based family drama centering around a widow and her pre-teen daughter in rural Arkansas circa the 1940s. While it is an easy read and technically well written, in the current draft the stakes are not very high, making it feel nice but a bit underwhelming. If the stakes, and thus the drama and consequences from failure, are really ramped up, made make it or break it, the script has the potential to really draw in audiences, those faith-oriented and otherwise.

Under the Daffodils is a crime-drama that combines a decades-old unsolved disappearance with a true-crime podcaster after both truth and fame. Was the girl's adoptive father responsible for her death, and was there even a crime done at all? All interesting questions, and a worthwhile setup for a game of psychological cat and mouse. While the current draft has laid out a good foundation, from a lonely, broken foster-father to a young, aggressive podcaster willing to skirt the lines of ethics, right now it feels like the author has not made up his mind whether it is to be more of a whodunit, where facts and ultimately the truth form the backbone or more a mental game of accusations and decades-old guilt.

Hallmark of the Beast is a script that seems to want to be a tongue-in-cheek holiday movie with a side dish of horror, a Hallmark movie turned dark. That is an interesting strategy since many holiday-oriented movies these days add sprinkles of different genres to make them stand out. However, the current draft feels undercooked in a bunch of fundamental areas, from the underlying logic of the story itself to the unearned feeling of it's romantic subplots. The author needs to bolster the basic theater conflict, find a meaningful rationale for the sabotage, figure out an ending that feels like a real resolution and conclusion, and then layer the ill-fated romance and comedy on top of that solid structure.

Corey's Hero is a family action-drama that is an easy read but which, in the current draft, seems to be lacking foundational work to establish an effective emotional and structural arc that might get audiences invested and interested. The protagonist, Nick, is a good father, has a good job, loves his wife, just a regular Joe, so when he gets zapped and endowed with some minor superpowers, what problem in his life is that meant to solve, or to allow him to use to become a better man, and thus be a Hero in son Corey's eyes where perhaps he wasn't previously? Related to that, the use of superpowers to help Nick identify and overcome the bad guys (relating to a bomb plot at a theme park) is going to be seen by some as being more of a crutch than an essential, conveniently giving him info that otherwise he'd have to work to discover.

Jury of Her Pers is a very competently written contained mystery that has all the elements for an easily shot micro-budget film, although as it is based on a short story from the early 1900s, one has to wonder if the underlying setting and time period might have benefitted from being updated and modernized. In changing things up, my feeling is that the author made some smart choices as well as a few that don't seem to add new dimensions to a tale that is steeped in morals and perspectives from so long ago. I would just encourage the author to think a bit on what he intends as the core theme, from an emotional point of view, and if his interpretation of the short story keeps true to that of the original.

Bleeding Kansas is a dark drama that feels inherently informative and watchable and buoyed by descriptive writing, yet in its current draft it does not feel like it contains enough of an arc, for the protagonist or the overall story, to keep a viewer engaged. The framework and setting are fine, the character is suitably broken and downtrodden, but the script never really explores the underlying psychology, the rationales, the excuses, the shame and even the local animosity towards him in a nuanced way that would allow the subject matter to shine, from all sides of the issue. Writing a story where psychology inherently plays such a central role can be a tough task as the story then has to show those emotions, the scars, the PTSD even, in the actions of the characters. Whether based on a true story or not, facing what he has done, admitting his own failings yet coming to understand that he can find a way forward, that is what I feel readers and viewers will want and be attracted to in a finished film, if and when that side of the story is beefed up.

When She Doesn't Smile is a self-contained script about family dynamics and relationships, abuse and infidelity, alcohol dependency and recovery, topics that are all eminently worth exploring. While the story does a good job at contrasting two sisters and their relationships which are in very different phases, the script could use more depth and history to inform both what and why the characters do what they do. Hurt and anger digs deep, not easily given up, and excusing bad behavior and abuse can become a self-sustaining habit...the better we understand everyone's inner feelings the more we will become emotionally invested in the outcome.

Yashka is an ably-written script that tackles an admirable historical figure, a female Russian peasant who successfully lobbied for and subsequently commanded an entirely female battalion that fought for Russia near the end of World War I. With the rise of Me Too and increased focus on gender equality in modern times, it is refreshing to be made aware of stories of women who were years ahead of their time in their demands for rights and respect. The difficulty this script might have in getting made feels twofold: First, as currently structured, it tries to tell her whole life story instead of focusing more narrowly on the creation of the Womens’ Battalion, which we feel should be the overarching theme and through-line. Second, modern Western audiences likely won’t have a good handle on all the political players and factions that existed in Russia over 100 years ago, from the Tsar to the Bolsheviks, the February Revolution to the October Revolution, even the ebbs and flows of WWI around 1917, which can make it a bit difficult to follow at times.

Darlin's is a light, whimsical romance that combines a modern wild west setting with the ghosts of some notorious 19th century gunslingers. While the situation is cut and the writing proficient, underlying plot and story doesn't yet have a strong enough hook and journey/arc for the female protagonist to really grab the reader. Additionally, the worldbuilding is a tad confusing, without understandable rules about how these ghosts interact with the modern world, who can see and touch them and who cannot. If the author makes the story more personal, giving the heroine a clear starting point where we know what is lacking in her life, then making it clear how this cadre of ghosts is appearing to guide her to where she needs to be in life before they fade out themselves, job done, it is my belief that the emotional heart of the story will begin to emerge, which is where the story needs to be.

Bitter Beans is a script with its thematic heart in the right place, exploring the plight of poor coffee farmers in rural Mexico. While this equality and fairness theme can inherently find an audience, right now heroine Conchita’s adventure feels somewhat unrealistic, and the script’s reliance on a global coffee competition to reach a good ending seems to partly invalidate Conchita’s efforts and education.