What if they made a sequel to Stand By Me? That was the idea that inspired The Missing Years.
When I grew up, the only neighborhood kids within walking distance lived in a large apartment complex next to my house. A few of them stayed for a long time, but for the most part, kids would come and go, sometimes disappearing overnight. It was difficult to make friends when they moved away so quickly.
The Missing Years is inspired by those friends from my childhood. What ever happened to the kids that passed through my neighborhood? Some of them were very good friends of mine, similar to the main characters in Stand By Me. What if they were reunited many years later?
This is another script I didn’t finish, but the story had a lot of potential.
I started writing it after Tony and Pete passed away. Tony's brother, Jamie, agreed to co-write it with me. I was capable of finding my own time to write, but when you add another person into the mix, it becomes much more difficult. A huge positive you get from writing with someone is that it gives you instant feedback and the ability to bounce ideas around in a way you can’t do when alone. This script is far more descriptive than my others, most likely from having a writing partner.
CLICK HERE to read this script excerpt.