The Court Martial of Admiral Montojo

THE COURT MARTIAL OF ADMIRAL MONTOJO
The Court Martial of Admiral Montojo is a historical drama screenplay about the Madrid courtmartial of Admiral Patricio Montojo, commander of Spanish naval forces during the Battle of Manila Bay. The Battle of Manila Bay happened on 1 May 1898 and was a part of the Spanish American War.

It has a feel good ending, and I wrote it similar to Aaron Sorkin's A FEW GOOD MEN. Admiral Montojo is based on the true story (based on Admiral George Dewey's 1913 Scribner autobiography) about how Dewey came to the aid of his defeated Spanish foe, Admiral Patricio Montojo, during the latter's court martial in Madrid, Spain in 1899 (after the 1898 Battle of Manila Bay). The exchange of letters between Dewey and Montojo actually forms the main basis of the screenplay.

The plot is somewhat similar to that of the film USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (starring Nicholas Cage) where the Japanese submarine commander Hashimoto came to the aid of USN Captain Charles McVay III, whose ship he also torpedoed, but without the sharks.

ADMIRAL MONTOJO won 1st Place (Historical) at the 2017 LA Screenplay Contest last Dec 2017. It was also given a Special Jury Prize at the Barcelona International Film Festival last June 2017 and was an Official Finalist at both the 2017 New York and Hollywood Screenplay Contests. It was also mentioned in the author's San Francisco Chronicle opinion piece last May 30, 2017. It was also performed to a full house off-Broadway last December 8, 2018 at the Manhattan Rep Theatre.

Admiral Montojo is registered with the US Library of Congress Copyright Office (Case 1-5577410341).

When facts were available (e.g. some of the dialogue between Montojo-Dewey was taken from Admiral Dewey's 1913 autobiography), these were used. However the Work is historical drama.

  • Dennis Posadas
    Writer
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Almirante Montojo
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay, Stage Play
  • Number of Pages:
    103
  • Country of Origin:
    Philippines
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Barcelona International Film Festival
    Barcelona, Spain
    June 20, 2017
    Special Jury Prize
  • New York Screenplay Contest
    New York City
    September 30, 2017
    Official Finalist - Biographical/Historical category
  • Hollywood Screenplay Contest
    Hollywood, CA
    October 24, 2017
    Official Finalist - Historical/Biography
  • Los Angeles Screenplay Contest
    Los Angeles, CA
    December 1, 2017
    1st Place (Historical)
Writer Biography - Dennis Posadas

About the Author

Dennis Posadas is the author of Leap: A Sustainability Fable (Singapore: Pearson, 2015), Greenergized: A business fable on clean energy (UK: Greenleaf, 2013), Jump Start: A Technopreneurship Fable (Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009), and Rice & Chips: Technopreneurship and Innovation in Asia (Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2007).

His opinion pieces have been featured in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Forbes, YaleGlobal, The Guardian, San Francisco Chronicle, South China Morning Post, Straits Times, Japan Today and other publications.

He lives with his wife and children in the Philippines.

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Writer Statement

What caught my attention about the ADMIRAL MONTOJO story was the unusual fact that his opponent, US Admiral George Dewey, came to his defense during his courtmartial. This is a very heartwarming display of honor and brotherhood among warriors, even though they were enemies prior to this.

I rarely see this type of behavior these days, especially with headlines from ISIS and other types of modern treachery in terrorist warfare.

When facts were available (e.g. some of the dialogue between Montojo-Dewey was taken from Dewey's autobiography), these were used. However the Work is historical drama.