Phoenix Empire!
(Feature Film - screenplay)
"In PHOENIX EMPIRE, Jade Shames shows he has an extraordinary level of daring and imagination. It is a piece of total originality that defies convention or formula. Of all the great new writers this contest introduced me to, Jade is an original voice that must be encouraged."
— Joel Schumacher
“Phoenix Empire! is a wholly original script, and Jade Shames is the epitome of a Fresh Voice. He’s created a very compelling character in Fern Harmon, and placed her in a truly unique story. I’m excited to see what Jade does next.”
— Evan Cavic, literary manager at Artists First
“It is so rewarding to undergo a yearlong process to discover new writers, to come away with something as special and unique as this. Phoenix Empire! is a fantastic tale of one woman’s life told in so much detail, with so much empathy, and such rich emotion, it is utterly amazing that this is a mere product of someone’s imagination. It feels so real and so lived, I had to constantly remind myself that this was not a true story, no matter how fantastic it became. Jade’s use of traditional and non-traditional narrative mechanisms weave seamlessly. Jade takes a lot of risks, but never did I lose confidence. There were constant reminders along the way that you were in good hands; that the writer was always in control of the story no matter how far the boundaries were pushed.”
— Joel Mendoza, Chairman of the Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition
http://www.fresh-voices.com/the-phoenix-rises-phoenix-empire-wins-grand-prize-award.html
REPRESENTATION
Evan Cavic
Artists First
(310) 432-5964
FILM
Phoenix Empire! won the grand prize for the 2013 Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition.
The Backward Astronomer (starring Todd Field and directed & animated by Jake Nelson) had its theatrical premiere in the US at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the summer of 2018, and it has gone on to play at the Austin Film Festival, Flickerfest International Short Film Festival, Glas Animation Festival, and many others. A short list of awards:
Vimeo Staff Pick
Winner: Palm Springs International Animation Festival
Best animation: Victoria Film Festival
Best 2D animation: Florida Film Festival
Best Illustrative animation: Los Angeles Animation Festival
Best Animation: Highway 61 Film Festival
I co-created and currently write for Human Resources, a web series.
FICTION
The Backward Astronomer published in HOW art and literary journal #9.
One Trick (a drabble) published in Microsites #7
Weird Blood appears in V-Wars: Shockwaves published by IDW Publishing.
Give Up the Ghost appears in X-Files: Secret Agendas published by IDW Publishing.
POETRY
Arse Poetica published in The Best American Poetry blog.
The Saddle Maker won the University of Pittsburgh Writer's Cafe award. I was featured on an episode of Prosody with Jan Beatty.
INTERVIEWS
Interviewing Tao Lin for The LA Weekly.
Interviewing Mark Farina for ClubPlanet.
RADIO PLAYS
Staff writer on The Kat Thek Radio Hour (WBCR)
Great Castles (radio play) published in GIVING Magazine.
THEATER
Flushed (two-act) was performed as a reading at the University of Pittsburgh.
Monster Balls (10 min play) was performed at Powerhouse Theater in Vassar College.
If I Had A Boat (10 min play) was performed at the Red Eve Theater Project in Pittsburgh.
Movement (one-act) was performed at The Calhoun School in New York City.