GOING BAD

Also in Stage Play Format - With Alternative Endings.

"The Killers meets The Usual Suspects—a fatalistic neo-noir where broken men and seductive women spin conflicting truths around a botched heist, leaving a crippled med student waiting for the evil he knows will come."

One-Page Synopsis - A Detroit Neo-Noir Mob Thriller
In the sweltering heat of a Detroit summer five years ago, five thieves pulled off a heist that left blood on the floor, a med student crippled, and a depraved old killer shot in the chest. Now, on a cold, rainy fall night, the past comes roaring back in flashbacks and confessions—some true, most not.
Doc Mitchell was on the verge of finishing his residency when the job went bad. Now he limps through life, haunted by what they stole and what it cost. He plays both versions of himself—before and after the bullets—on a stage split between past and present. His former lover, Donna Connolly, bitter and broke, manages a rundown apartment complex and nurses the resentment of being left with Doc’s debt and a trucker roommate.
Jules Stimen, a washed-up New York fence hiding out in Detroit, lives part-time on someone else’s boat and clings to Corrine—a dangerously seductive young woman who’s using him for her own twisted climb. Jim Stock, a sucker with a face made for betrayal, works with Jules and may be the key to what went wrong. Meanwhile, East Coast gangsters Leon Poe and Chazz Colson circle like vultures, each believing half the score belongs to them.
At the center of it all is the Old Man—a delusional killer who claims he cleaned up the Kennedy and Hoffa murders. In a mushroom-fueled haze, he begs Doc to donate his blood money to a church in his mother’s maiden name. But redemption is a luxury no one in this world can afford.
Set across Detroit’s decaying apartments, the Henry Ford Hospital, a deadbeat bar, and a dark marina, Going Bad unfolds in stark, minimal staging. Flashbacks and present-day scenes play out simultaneously, lit like crime scene photos—harsh, fleeting, and unforgiving. The Coffee Can Café becomes a confessional booth where lies are traded like cigarettes, and every character tells their version of what happened, hoping it’ll keep them alive.
This is a story of desperation, sex, betrayal, and the corrosive power of bad money. In Going Bad, no one escapes clean. They just wait for the evil they know is coming.

  • Karl J Niemiec
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay, Stage Play
  • Number of Pages:
    94
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • L.A. Neo-Noir Novel, Film, & Script Online Festival - Going Bad - Best Screenplay
    Los Angeles
    January 15, 2023
    Best Screenplay
  • Los Angeles Crime and Horror Film Festival- GOING BAD
    Los Angeles
    October 28, 2025
    Finalist
Writer Biography - Karl J Niemiec

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.

WGA. SAG/Aftra eligible.

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Writer Statement

I 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.