The Salt Box

Biography - Mr. Robert J. Rogers

Robert J. Rogers was born on November 21st, 1953 in Toledo, Ohio. With his two older brothers, he grew up in a small farm town in northwestern Ohio. In 1963, Bob and his family; his mother was a fourth grade teacher, his father was an accountant, moved to Sandusky, Ohio. While at Sandusky High School, Bob sang in the choir, and played in the marching, dance, and concert band. He also threw discus on the track team.

Each summer he played Dixieland trombone at the Cedar Point Amusement Park in the world-famous Hobo Band. The bands fame culminated by appearing as one of the dance teams on the Miss Teenage America Pageant in Fort Worth, Texas. But when Bob was a senior, his life completely changed. He had an extraordinary English teacher who taught him how to write. And write he did.

After Bob's freshman year at Ohio State University, he traveled to Europe -- ten countries in twenty-eight days -- with a national orchestra and choir out of Pittsburgh. One of the more memorable venues was singing in an eight hundred year old church north of Amsterdam. The music just exploded off the earthen walls. And for the finale, the choir surrounded the audience and sang a cappella -- "I'd Like to teach the world to sing" -- bringing everyone to tears. What a moment! What a memory!

While at Ohio State, Bob was an active member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity. He also tried out for, and made, the prestigious Ohio State University Marching Band. And during those four years, he marched in three Rose Bowl Parades in Pasadena. Bob also threw discus on the track team competing at many NCAA meets including the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. And on the side, Bob wrote term papers for other students. Fifty bucks. A thousand words. Any subject except the sciences. And he could do it in under an hour. It paid for a lot of beer, and a lot of dates. One of his papers won an award, and another helped a student graduate.

After college Bob took a catering job with a hotel company outside of Chicago. Several years later as Vice President of Marketing, he wrote and taught from a manual on hotel sales and marketing. His meteoric rise was well deserved. But there was a price to pay for climbing the ladder so quickly. And that price, was his life!

In November 1990, Bob received a double kidney/ pancreas transplant at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. That surgery saved his life. Another life-saving moment came when they rolled him out of intensive care onto the transplant floor. A nurse walked into his room, and into his life, and Bob and Virginia have been together ever since. In May 1999, they were married on the shores of Lake Keowee.

As if destiny knew what was needed, Bob discovered the Duke surgeons had made a catastrophic mistake that killed his transplanted kidney. And had it not been for Virginia's skills to counter the mistakes, Bob would have died.

While enduring over fifteen years of corrective surgery, blood transfusions, hemodialysis, and a second kidney transplant at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Bob bought a book at Barnes & Noble on screenwriting. When his research was complete, he finished his first play titled, 'Patient Friendly'. Turns out the mistake was made for all the wrong reasons.

Since then he's written five more plays: ‘The Salt Box’- an unlikely romance between a Union soldier and a southern belle.; ‘Hell on Neptune’- a teen builds a ray gun forcing the family to flee; ‘Dakota Caves - 2 Miles' - a short horror screenplay involving a horrible alien invader with three things on their mind, and they're all deadly. The feature version of "Dakota Caves - 2 Miles". It's framed similar to "War of the Worlds", but without the divorce crap. And finally "Strappado". Millennials awaken souls that were accused, tortured, and hung for witchcraft centuries ago. What happens next makes blood running down the gutter seem docile.

Currently Bob and Virginia reside in Simpsonville, South Carolina with their four-legged son, Duncan. And yes, he watches and barks at the TV!

(The moral of my story is, no matter what you've endured in the past, you're one keystroke away from changing your future.)

CREDITS/AWARDS

1. WINNER - December - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2016/17 Calcutta International Cult Film Festival - Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

2. Finalist - Best Feature Script - February - 2017 Mindfield Film Fest - Los Angeles, California.

3. Finalist - Best Feature Script - 2017 Global Independent Film Awards

4. Semi-finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 The Westfield Screenwriting Awards - New York.

5. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 Twister Alley International Film Festival - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

6. Finalist - Military Screenplay Competition - 2017 Military Script Showcase

7. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 London Golden Scout International Film Festival - London, England.

8. Semi-Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 Los Angeles Cinefest - Los Angeles, California.

9. REMI - WINNER - Historical Feature Screenplay - Bronze Award - 2017 WorldFest-Houston - Houston, Texas.

10. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 Fantasy, SciiFi, Film & Screenplay Festival - Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

11. Finalist - Best Feature Script - 2017 Top Indie Film Awards - Los Angeles, California.

12. WINNER - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 Mexico International Film Festival

13. Finalist - Best Feature Screenplay - 2017 Genre Celebration Festival - Shanghai, Shanghai China.

14. WINNER - Best Original Screenplay - 2017 (MAY) London Independent Film Awards - London, England.

15. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Long Form - 2017 INFLUX Magazine Film Awards - Huntington Beach, California.

16. WINNER - Fantasy Feature Script Competition - 2017 The Indie Gathering International Film Festival - Cleveland, Ohio.

17. Finalist - Feature Length Script Competition - 2017 Massachusetts Indie Film Festival - Brookline, Massachusetts.

18. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 INFLUX Magazine Film Awards - Huntington Beach, California.

19. Finalist - Historical/Period Feature Screenplay - 2017 Las Vegas International Screenwriting Competition - Las Vegas, Nevada.

20. WINNER - Romance Feature Screenplay - 2017 Las Vegas International Screenwriting Competition - Las Vegas, Nevada.

21. Finalist - Best Screenplay Competition - Jefferson State FLIXX FEST - Ft. Jones, California

22. Semi-Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 21st Annual Fade-In Awards - Beverly Hills, California.

23. Semi-Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - Southeastern International Film Festival - Nashville, Tennessee.

24. WINNER - Feature Drama Competition - Poe Films Burning Love Screenplay Competition - Richmond, Virginia.

25. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - Twin Falls SANDWICHES Film Festival - Twin Falls, Idaho.

26. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - New York Screenplay Contest.

27. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 South Carolina Underground Film Festival - Charleston, South Carolina.

28. Semi-Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 WIND International Film Festival - Hollywood, California.

29. Semi-Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival - Buffalo, New York.

30. Finalist - Best Feature Screenplay - 2017 Birmingham Film Festival - Birmingham, United Kingdom.

31. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 US Hollywood International Golden Film Awards - Hollywood, California.

32. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - Platinum Award - 2017 Oregon International Film Awards.

33. WINNER - The Richard Vetere Screenplay Competition Winner - 2017 Long Island Film Festival ~ Bay Shore, New York.

34. Finalist - 3rd Place - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 Nevada International Film Festival - Las Vegas, Nevada..

35. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - Historical/Biographical - 2017 World Series of Screenwriting - Los Angeles, California

36. Finalist - 2nd place - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 5* Special Screenplay/Writing Contest - Firenze, Tuscany, Italy.

37. Merit Award Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - Headline International Film Festival - Canada.

38. Bronze Award Winner - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 North American Film Awards - Canada.

39. WINNER - Best Feature Screenplay - 2017 The Film Awards - Adirondack Mountains - New York.

40. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - Historical - Los Angeles Screenplay Competition, Los Angeles, California.

41. WINNER - Festure Screenplay Competition - CARE Awards - Cairo, West Virginia.

42. Finalist - Festure Screenplay Competition - 100 Screenplays Competition - Sherman Oaks, California.

43. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2017 London Film Awards, London, England.

44. WINNER - Diamond Award - Best Feature Screenplay - 2017 California Film Awards, San Diego, California.

45. Finalist - Best Historical Feature Screenplay - 2017/18 Beverly Hills Screenplay Competition - Beverly Hills, California.

46. WINNER - Best Feature Screenplay Competition - 2018 Rome-Elephant Film Awards, Rome, Italy.

47. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2018 Mountain Film Festival

48. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2018 Hill Country Film Festival - Fredericksburg, Texas.

49. Finalist - 3rd place - Historical Screenplay Competition - 2018 Las Vegas Screenplay Competition - Las Vegas, Nevada.

50. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2018 ReelHeart International Screenplay & TV Pilot Competition

51. Finalist - 3rd Place - Best Feature Screenplay Competition- 2018 Honolulu Film Awatds - Honolulu, Hawaii.

52. Semi-Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2018 Page Turner Screenplay GENRE Competition - Los Angeles, California.

53. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2018 'Best of the Best' Screenplay Competition - Los Angeles, California.

54. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2018 Lionshead Film Festival - Dallas, Texas.

55. Semi-Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2018 Austin Revolution Film Festival, Austin, Texas.

56. WINNER - Gold Winner- August Edition - Best Dialogue Competition - 2018 Queen Palm International Film Festival, Palm Springs, California.

57. Finalist - Feature Screenplay Competition - 2019 Electric City Screenplay Contest - Schenectady, New York.
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QUOTES:

We are pleased to announce that you are the recipient of the Best Script Award for your work, “ The Salt Box”.

You have every reason to celebrate your hard work and achievement, and we wish only the best for you. Thank you again for your dedication to the promotion of Independent film.

Doc Benson
Director
Culdee Arts Initiative
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"The Salt Box" has won first runner-up for this years Best Screenplay Competition. Although it didn't win overall, I wanted you to know that the judges found the script to be a refreshing romance and statement on family, love, and relationship.

I also personally want to thank you as I too have very much enjoyed your writing and imagination these last two years between "the Salt Box" and "Hell on Neptune". I hope you will continue to consider our festival for your next script. Great work!

Megan Peterson
Executive Director
Jefferson State FLIXX FEST

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We received close to 200 scripts this quarter and our judges felt that your play, "The Salt Box", stood out as impeccable story-telling. You should be very proud of your excellent work.

Tom Rico
Festival Director
Northern Lights Screenplay Competition

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in the "The Salt Box", we are introduced to Grandpa, an elderly man counting down the days 'til his birthday while growing increasingly ill. As he gets sicker, he tells his grandson a story about a Union soldier and southern woman falling in love after the woman keeps him as a prisoner and slave.

A local reporter has suspicions about Grandpa being immensely old, and the stories he tells suggest that he was indeed a soldier in the Civil War. He eats a mysterious crystal to sustain his long life, as he waits for his beloved to return.

Intersecting the "story" and the present is an intriguing device in which to tell the story. Keeping the fact that the story may or may not be true, is compelling. And as Grandpa/Thomas grows more ill, the idea that he might be dying, or might be reunited with his true love, makes the story an engaging one. The reveal at the end that Grandpa/Thomas is not really related to his family, but Is regarded as family by so many is a great and heart warming end of the script.

Gordy Hoffman
BlueCat Screenplays
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