Bothered Minds

Creator: Simon Nagel
Age rating: 17 and older
A timid motel owner gets caught in a wave of violence when his wife's lover orders a hit on him.
Project collaboration: Closed
Full synopsis
Synopsis: Shepherd Rhodes is a quiet man on the verge of disaster. The small motel he owns has more cockroaches than guests, he is in massive debt, and he'll do anything in the world to keep it a secret from his beautiful and personable wife Jericho, who would surely leave him if he can't keep it all together.

Jericho, however, has a secret of her own. She is sleeping with Bennie, a sleazy motel regular that will do anything to stop sharing her. One day Jericho muses about how she wishes her husband "just wasn't around sometimes." Bennie, unfortunately, takes this literally instead of a sad musing.

What follows is a wave of violence from a pitiful miscommunication walking the line between dark comedy and Greek tragedy as Shepherd Rhodes must face his greatest anxiety-- if he lost everything, would his wife still love him?

Latest Work

  • Test Movie 1 - Spec Trailer
    11/20/10
    Creative Notes:
    The awards mentioned are slightly dated. The script went on to take THIRD PLACE @ VISIONFEST 10's screenplay Competition.

    The trailer was shot for less than $200 by me and my crack crew of 3 other talented filmmakers.
    The piece stars Valary DiBenedetto as Jericho, Greg Beastrom as Satch, Ari Joffe as Bennie, and myself as Shepherd Rhodes.
  • Script 2 - Simon's 2nd Draft
    11/21/10
    Main1290385234._sx304_sy171_
    Creative Notes:
    This is in a format that you can actually read.
    PDF
    RTF

All Work

  • Script 1 - Simon's Original Draft
    11/17/10
    Main1290019745._sx304_sy171_
    Creative Notes:
    This version finished THIRD PLACE at the 2010 VISIONFEST Screenplay Competition. It was also a finalist at the 2009 Beverly Hills International Film Festival Screenplay Competition as well as a Quarter Finalist in the 2008 Writers on the Storm Screenplay Competition.
    RTF