Stories by @sofly

Hayakawa

Sessue Hayakawa was a Japanese Actor who was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s. He was Hollywood's first sex symbol as woman flocked to the theaters to see his broodingly handsome good looks. However due to Anti-Miscegenation laws he was always cast as either a sexually dominant villain or a forbidden love. In one of his first movies The Cheat he rapes the protagonist after branding her with a cattle iron. He hated always being typecast as a villain saying once "My one ambition is to play a hero". He briefly founded his own production company but it ended after his business partner called him a racial slur. He eventually became so frustrated with the racism of early Hollywood that he left in 1922 to act in Japanese and European Cinema. He returned in 1949 and in 1957 he stared in his most famous role as Colonel Saito in Bridge on the River Kwai for which he was nominated for an Oscar. He died in 1973.

Carmen Sandiego

The series follows the adventures of Carmen Sandiego, a globe-hopping master thief.

A Change Is Gonna Come: The Sam Cooke Story

Samuel Cook (January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964), known professionally as Sam Cooke, was an American singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. Influential as both a singer and composer, he is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocals and importance within popular music. He began singing as a child and joined The Soul Stirrers before moving to a solo career where he scored a string of hit songs like "You Send Me", "A Change Is Gonna Come", "Wonderful World", "Chain Gang", "Twistin' the Night Away", and "Bring it on Home to Me". His pioneering contributions to soul music contributed to the rise of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Billy Preston, and popularized the likes of Otis Redding and James Brown. AllMusic biographer Bruce Eder wrote that Cooke was "the inventor of soul music", and possessed "an incredible natural singing voice and a smooth, effortless delivery that has never been surpassed". On December 11, 1964, at the age of 33, Cooke was shot and killed by Bertha Franklin, the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California. After an inquest, the courts ruled Cooke's death to be a justifiable homicide. Since that time, the circumstances of his death have been called into question by Cooke's family.

Oz: Dorothy's Return

A spin-off of Hook but instead of Peter Pan it's the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy Gaines is a successful big-city businesswoman with a loving husband and two beautiful children. But one night while Dorothy and her husband are at a party and their children are at home alone, a tornado warning goes off for their neighborhood. Dorothy and her husband race home to find there house intact but ransacked and their children missing. All that's left behind is a note saying that if Dorothy wants her children back she needs to travel to the Land of Oz. The note is signed by "The Wicked Witch of the West". Dorothy demands answers from her Aunt Em and she reveals that Dorothy is really Dorothy Gale from The Wizard of Oz. L. Frank Baum's tales were inspired by her story but her Aunt and Uncle had her memory wiped to protect her from the Land of Oz. Now she's back and Dorothy's only choice is to return to the Land of Oz to rescue her children from her.

American Crime Story: Harvard Educated Killer

In 2003 the Biology Department at University of Alabama in Huntsville welcomed a new instructor. Professor Amy Bishop seemed to have everything they were looking for. She had a PH.D. in genetics from Harvard University and had been an instructor at Harvard Medical School. Not to mention a loving husband and four children. She seemed like she would be a great fit for the school. However once they hired her they saw another side. Professor Bishop was an extreme narcissist who constantly bragged about her Harvard Education and family ties. She soon proved to be a terrible teacher described by her students as ineffective in the classroom and frequently angry and argumentative. Because of this several students lodged complaints with the biology department asking for her termination. At the same time the university found out about Amy´s temper when they learned about an incident that happened at an IHOP back when she and her family were living in Massachusetts. When she found at another woman had gotten the last booster seat, she walked over to the woman´s table where she was eating with her children and launched into a profanity laced rant demanding the booster seat. When the woman refused Amy attacked her and punched her in the head all while yelling ¨I am Dr. Amy Bishop¨ When the university found out about this incident it was the last straw and they proceeded to denied her tenure in 2009. Amy knew that she would not have her teaching contract renewed in 2010 but she wouldn´t let that happen. It was time for who to get revenge on all the people who were (in her mind) holding her down because she was smarter than them. On February 12, 2010 she attended a routine faculty meeting of the biology department. The meeting went completely normally for the first have and Amy said nothing. Halfway through the meeting, Amy pulled out a handgun and opened fire and the biology faculty killing three and wounding another three. She would´ve killed more but before she could her gun jammed. She was arrested by police (who she demanded call her Dr. Amy Bishop) and was sentenced to Life in Prison without parole in 2012. It may not be her first time killing as in 1986 she shot and killed her brother in what was ruled an accident (her parents connections may´ve influenced that ruling.)

The Organizer: The Life of Bayard Rustin

A movie about the life of Civil Rights organizer Bayard Rustin. Bayard Rustin was an american Civil Rights and Gay Rights activist. Born in 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania Bayard was heavily influenced by his Grandmother's Quaker Beliefs which included Civil Rights and Pacifism. He became an activist from an early age even joining the Communist Party as a youth but soon left over there support for World War II. He traveled to India where he studied non-violent protest and civil disobedience from Mahatma Gandhi himself. Later when he returned to America he continued his fight for Civil Rights. He met Martin Luther King Jr. and taught him the non-violent philosophy he learned from Gandhi. The two soon became allies and close friends in the struggle for civil rights as Bayard organized several important civil rights demonstrations. But their partnership and friendship suddenly ended in 1960 when Adam Clayton Powell Jr. a black minister and congressman from New York threatened that if King didn't cut all ties with Rustin he would reveal Rustin's 1953 arrest in Pasadena for having sex with another man in a parked car. It was an open secret in civil rights circles that Rustin was gay but this had been the first time a fellow civil rights activist had used that against him. He also threatened to tell the press that King and Rustin were gay lovers. King reluctantly agreed and distanced himself from Rustin who would later resign from the SCLC the organization he and King had founded. But Rustin was far from done with civil rights activism. Three years later Black Activists planned to March on Washington to protest segregation and there was only one logical choice over who should organize it. Bayard Rustin. Although Senator Strom Thurmond tried to discredit the march by calling Rustin a communist and a homosexual it didn't change anything. Thanks to his help the March on Washington went off without a hitch and became one of the most important moments in American History. Bayard would continue to fight for civil rights and eventually gay rights until his death in 1987.

Little Girl Blue: The Janis Joplin Story

Born on January 19, 1943, in Port Arthur, Texas, Janis Joplin developed a love of music at an early age, but her career didn't take off until she joined the band Big Brother and the Holding Company in 1966. Their 1968 album, Cheap Thrills, was a huge hit. However, friction between Joplin and the band prompted her to part ways with Big Brother soon after. Known for her powerful, blues-inspired vocals, Joplin released her first solo effort, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!, in 1969. The album received mixed reviews, but her second project, Pearl (1971), released after Joplin's death, was a huge success. The singer died of an accidental overdose on October 4, 1970, at age 27.

Peanuts: All Grown Back

Years after they all moved away and eventually lost contact with one another the Peanuts gang now adults come back to there hometown for a school reunion. Charlie Brown is apprehensive about seeing his old group of friends again. But when he finally meets back up with Linus, Lucy, Sally, Peppermint Patty, Marcy, Pigpen, Schroder, and Franklin he realizes what he left behind and forms new connections with some old friends.

Coming to America

Prince Akeem is the prince of a wealthy African country and wants for nothing, except a wife who will love him in spite of his title. To escape an arranged marriage, Akeem flees to America accompanied by his persnickety sidekick, Semmi, to find his queen. Disguised as a foreign student working in fast food, he romances Lisa, but struggles with revealing his true identity to her and his marital intentions to his king father.

Take Me Home: The John Denver Story

A biopic of the life of singer John Denver. John Denver was born on December 31, 1943, in Roswell, New Mexico. After dropping out of college, he traveled to New York City and began his music career. Peter, Paul and Mary recorded his "Leaving on a Jet Plane" in 1967 and his, "Rocky Mountain High," became an official song of the state of Colorado. He later recorded such songs as "Take Me Home, Country Roads" and "Sunshine on my Shoulders". Denver was an activist for environmental causes and founded the World Hunger Project. A longtime aviator, he died in a plane crash in 1997.

Night of the Living Dead

There is panic throughout the nation as the dead suddenly come back to life. The film follows a group of characters who barricade themselves in an old farmhouse in an attempt to remain safe from these bloodthirsty, flesh-eating monsters.

The Futurama Movie

A 90 minute theatrically released animated film (similar to 2007's The Simpsons Movie) that will serve as a series finale. Picking up where the last episode of Futurama left off Leela accepts Fry's marriage proposal and the two of them start planning for their future. But as they do they start to wonder if they want to spend their whole lives working at Planet Express and if it might be time to move on. Meanwhile Professor Farnsworth's latest experiment goes horribly awry and now the whole universe is in danger of being completely erased. So it's up to Fry, Leela, Bender, Farnsworth, Amy, Hermes, and Zoidberg to save the universe in what might be the Planet Express crew's final adventure.

Good People

Welcome to Southie, a Boston neighborhood where a night on the town means a few rounds of bingo, where this month's paycheck covers last month’s bills, and where Margie Walsh has just been let go from yet another job. Facing eviction and scrambling to catch a break, Margie thinks an old fling who's made it out of Southie might be her ticket to a fresh new start. But is this apparently self-made man secure enough to face his humble beginnings? Margie is about to risk what little she has left to find out. With his signature humorous glow, Lindsay-Abaire explores the struggles, shifting loyalties and unshakable hopes that come with having next to nothing in America.

Drunk History (Season 6)

Historical reenactments by A-list talent are presented by inebriated storytellers.

Run Like the Wind: The Florence Griffith Joyner Story

Biopic of Olympic Sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner and her relationship with husband and coach Al Joyner

Feud: Paulette Cooper and the Scandal of Scientology

The story of Paulette Cooper's battle against the church of Scientology. In the late 1960s and Early 1970s Paulette Cooper was a smart beautiful young freelance journalist who was always on the lookout for a story. And in 1969 she found one when a friend of her's told her he was Jesus Christ. Her friend had just joined the controversial new religious movement known as The Church of Scientology. Paulette decided to investigate Scientology and it's founder L. Ron Hubbard for an article that was published in the British magazine Queen and which was eventually expanded in to a book called The Scandal of Scientology. However she didn't realize what she had gotten herself in to. The Church of Scientology was not pleased with the book and (following L. Ron Hubbard's fair game policy) made a decision to silence Paulette Cooper at any cost. These plans ordered by L. Ron Hubbard himself and carried out by the church's Guardian's Office were named Operation Daniel, Operation Dynamite, and Operation Freakout. The goal of Operation Daniel was to expose PC's (their code for Paulette Cooper) sex life. This involved anonymously subscribing her to pornographic mailing lists and sending letters to her neighbors claiming she had a venereal disease and was a prostitute. There also found out she suffered depression and then proceeded to rob her psychiatrist's office and mail her records to all her neighbors. But that was just the beginning. Operation Dynamite had church spies steal copy's of Cooper's stationary and fingerprints so that they could mail the bomb threats to themselves claiming she sent them. Paulette was arrested and was charged with mailing the letters. These attacks took their toll on Paulette as she started drinking more, abusing prescription drugs, and even contemplated suicide. But the church wasn't done with her yet. Their final plan Operation Freakout was their most nefarious yet. It's goal was to either have Paulette incarcerated in a mental institution or jail. The plan required having a woman impersonating PC to make threats to the Arab consulate in New York City and then to threaten both Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger. However this plan never went in to affect as before it could Scientology's offices were raided by the FBI and they found documents which exposed the whole plan. Cooper was released and her name was cleared. In 1985 the church settled out of court with her for an undisclosed settlement. She still works as an author and journalist to this day.

The Kings of Maine

On the 2016 Hollywood Black List (a list of the most popular unproduced screenplays in Hollywood.) Living with his wife and child in a trailer while working as a janitor, Stephen King struggles with alcoholism and his own dark history as he attempts to complete Carrie. You can find the complete script here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B99OA3s2AACOdDU2bXJIT0FfblU

Charles and Emma

Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, his revolutionary tract on evolution and the fundamental ideas involved, in 1859. Nearly 150 years later, the theory of evolution continues to create tension between the scientific and religious communities. Challenges about teaching the theory of evolution in schools occur annually all over the country. This same debate raged within Darwin himself, and played an important part in his marriage. Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma, were deeply in love and very supportive of each other, but their opinions often clashed. Emma was extremely religious, and Charles questioned God's very existence. But despite this the two shared a loving bond that lasted over 40 years. Here is their story.

Funny Women

Biopic following three of the earliest and most influential female stand up comedians Moms Mabley, Phyllis Diller, and Joan Rivers who proved comedy is not just a male game.

Donny the Punk

A biopic of Bisexual Activist and Prison Reform Advocate Stephen Donaldson or Donny the Punk. In the late 60s and Early 70s Stephen Donaldson (born Robert Anthony Martin Jr.) was a prominent gay rights activist. While attending Columbia University he founded the Student Homophile League (SHL) the first student gay rights group in the country. He was also a call boy who claimed to have Roy Cohn and Rock Hudson as clients. But everything changed in 1966 when he met and fell in love with Judith “JD Rabbit” Jones who would become his lifetime companion. Shocked at the overt biphobia held by the gay rights and liberation movement at the time he left the gay liberation movement and started to become a bisexual activist. In 1973 he was arrested and thrown into a D.C. prison for leading an anti-war march. There he was raped dozens of times by 45 men so severely that he had to have surgery and be hospitalized for a week. This led him on a new crusade against prison rape and he became president of the organization Stop Prisoner Rape Inc. He continued to fight for those two causes and write about Punk and Subculture until his death from AIDS in 1996 at the age of 49.