Bonjour, America
A Romantic Neo-Noir Thriller.
Think Timothée Chalamet lost in America in 1960.
“Alphaville meets In Cold Blood—a romantic neo‑noir thriller."
Logline: Small town, big crime, 1960 - French suit Salesman, Vincent Boyer holds the money a bad cop killed for, when all he wants is to get home in time to save his American family, but first must overcome his greatest fears by outwitting corruption and violence to stay alive.
Screenplay and Published Stage Play.
Synopsis: Bonjour, America — In the scorched summer of 1960, Vincent Boyet—a clean-cut French suit salesman with a deathly fear of heights and water—finds himself stranded in Driftwood Crossing, Colorado, a near-ghost town where time has expired into dust, pig farming, and corruption. After a tire blowout sends his rented car and precious suit samples plunging into a river, Vincent emerges bloodied and desperate, hitchhiking his way back to Salt Lake City to reach his pregnant wife. But fate has other plans.
Vincent unknowingly ends up holding two bags of money a crooked sheriff killed for. Sheriff Dane Morgan, a fourth-generation pig farmer turned mob money launderer, rules the town with a greasy fist and a badge that means nothing. As Vincent stumbles into the Spoon Café—its flickering neon sign barely spelling its name—he’s pulled into a web of deceit, lust, and violence. Quinnly Sullivan, a sultry waitress abandoned there by her lover who Dane murdered so he could have her, sees Vincent as her next escape. Meanwhile, grifter cousins Travis and Leonardo Hightower circle the town’s bank like buzzards, and local lawyer Jeremiad Johnstone plays pool and politics with equal sleaze.
The town’s population—34½—includes a one-eyed bartender, a ghostly stationmaster, a smelly chicken rancher, and a deputy sheriff named Tomcat Reilly, a cruel drunk cheating on his wife with the rail-thin Brooke from the poolhall. Everyone’s got secrets. Everyone’s got a price.
While Vincent navigates the decaying Driftwood Whistle Inn, Spoon Café, the poolhall, and the bank across the street, he must confront his deepest fears—water, heights, and the crushing weight of moral compromise. With each scene lit like a dying bulb, the screenplay moves through concurrent sets and shadowy transitions, revealing the town’s rotting soul.
Vincent’s journey is not just survival—it’s redemption. To save his family, he must outwit the sheriff, resist temptation, and rise above the town’s filth. In a place where even the population sign warns “Don’t bother,” Vincent must dare to fight back or die.
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Karl J. NiemiecWriterLaw of Average
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Project Type:Screenplay
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Genres:Thriller, Crime, Romantic, Neo-Noir, Mobster
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Number of Pages:97
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Language:English
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First-time Screenwriter:No
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Student Project:No
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Digital Cinema Package:Unavailable
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Golden State Film FestivalHollywood, CA
February 26, 2026
Accepted into Festival
Former IUPUI adjunct professor Karl J. Niemiec is the grandson of Detroit Polish mobsters portrayed in his book and screenplay, The Polish Gang – 1929. Raised in the small country town of Jonesville, Michigan, near the Ohio border, Karl grew up working on farms, playing sports, shooting guns, and riding horses. He now lives in Carmel, Indiana, with his wife and four children, where he writes love stories that blend heart, humor, and grit across multiple genres using The Inside Pitch-recommended How to Be a Prolific Screenwriter, originally developed at UCLA Extension, and taught at IUPUI.
SAG/Aftra/WGA Eligible
Can attend your festival.
Love stories because the world needs more.
I believe who I’m looking for is one person away.
And I’m ready to be put to work. From a full outline it takes me about 10 days to reach a workable first draft. Even wrote a book on how I do it and taught it at IUPUI after developing it at UCLA.
Amazon: https://a.co/d/gBofQTd
More about the Author:
Karl J. Niemiec writes heartfelt love stories across multiple genres and lives with his wife and four children in Carmel, Indiana.
A former Los Angeles resident, Karl relocated to Indiana in 2006 and began teaching at IUPUI as an Adjunct Professor. There, he taught courses based on his bestselling books Write to Be Published and The Inside Pitch-recommended How to Be a Prolific Screenwriter, originally developed at UCLA Extension.
Two documentary projects he and his family produced when they first arrived were:
“This Is Why - Why Do Six Garbage Trucks Go By My House In One Day?” Karl gifted the project to the city of Carmel and Mayor Brainard to help him implement his plan to get all of Carmel on one garbage and recycling service. After it passed, the Niemiecs were given a Carmel Green Environment Award by the Carmel City Council.
And "Special - Give Us A Game", an 8 year study of The Michigan Far Flyers, a Special Needs Hockey team created and coached by Karl’s brother Ben Niemiec and the team's quest to find other teams like them to play. The 60 minute documentary on Amazon inspired "The Indy Twisters" to form right here in Carmel, Indiana.
https://www.facebook.com/indytwisters/
Karl's Written, Acted, Directed Film Festival Projects Include:
Law of Average - In the Endless City - a proof of concept Neo-Noir Series Pilot - Won the LA Film and Script Neo-Noir Film Fest.
Out of the Coffin - Short premiered at Haunted Newport, Rhode Island, also screened at The Santa Monica Film Fest and The Indianapolis Gen Con.
To Answer Your Question - Short Screened at the Great Lakes International Film Festival.
Don't Tell Mom - Family Covid Short - Screened at the International Mobile Film Festival
His teaching journey continued as he directed nine parent acclaimed hit children's musicals, which opened the door to instructing students of all ages at the YMCA, Monon Center, and KjN Studio. The Studio’s signature on-camera technique, The Hero Face, stems from Karl’s private training in ABC’s film library—an experience that saw him move from the mailroom to on-screen roles on General Hospital and Welcome Back, Kotter.
Karl’s passion for performance and storytelling is showcased in his book Audition Monologues That Work, five scenes from which earned IMDb credits. Two of these scenes were selected for film festivals—three of which premiered locally at The Box Film Studio, home to the Indiana Film Network's monthly gatherings.
His expertise in screenwriting and directing led to national opportunities, including a recurring role directing Agent/Manager audition scenes at showcases back in Los Angeles. These biannual events also involved directing and editing actor reels while shooting a day-and-the-life production of the actors and their families from across the country.
Today, Karl continues to write and adapt his screenplays into stage plays, novels, audiobooks, and even game boards to broaden his projects' marketability using the same simple five reformatting techniques that spawned The Game of Halloween inside How to Be a Prolific Screenwriter.
