Private Project

Mourning Meal (Short Screenplay)

After the tragic loss of her son, Cheryl, a grieving mother, adopts a new philosophy, one that changes her outlook on life and grief. One where suffering has become a dear friend... that must be shared.

  • Jamal Hodge
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Short Script
  • Number of Pages:
    12
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • 13HORROR.COM FILM & SCREENPLAY CONTEST

    May 1, 2018
    Award Winner
  • Los Angeles Film Awards
    Los Angeles
    May 2, 2018
  • NEW YORK CITY HORROR FILM FESTIVAL
    NYC, 23rd street and 8th avenue
    December 2, 2018
    Best unscripted Short screenplay
  • BIG APPLE FILM FESTIVAL, HORROFEST AND SCRIPT COMPETITION

    Runner up best Short Screenplay Competition
  • BOOBS and BLOOD Film Festival

    Best Adapted Short Screenplay
Writer Biography - Jamal Hodge

Dreamer and doer Jamal Hodge is a multi-award winning filmmaker. Showing at the illustrious Cannes Film Festival for two consecutive ears, as well as screening at the Urban World Film Festival, the New York City Horror Film Festival and over 54 others since 2016, Hodge is continuing to make his mark on the independent film industry. However, his talents transcend just the indie space, as he has worked n the network level as well, editing content for HBO and Discovery. As producer Jamal has worked on several indie films including JAKE which has been shown at Cannes, the Pan African Film Festival, Bronze ens, and others and he recently supported female director Sharice Chasi on her film I love You Forever, starring Ernie Hudson. Hodge functioned as a cinematographer on the EMMY award winning Bullets In he Hood. This June he will make his network-directing debut on the ID Channel’s reenactment series Primal Instinct. His inspirational dramatic pilot A Happy Divorce, which he directed, is presently in post, as he completes the script for the feature film version of his award winning short The Kind Ones.
Hodge’s experience extends beyond just film and scripted television. He as done both international and local commercials and has served as a jury Member for the Albanian Film Week. He gives back by teaching the craft of film making to children through Big Brothers – Big Sisters, he Pro-TV Program, TRUCE, DREAM!, Mythic Bridge, as well as Japan’s Keio Academy.
With all of his accomplishments and philanthropy, Hodge is ready to plant his talents and grow roots with the right agency. His work is a melding of genres that include horror, psychological thrillers and drama, to create what he has coined as “inspirational darkness.” Hodge feels with this unique brand of cinema and stellar representation, he can obtain the guidance and access needed to garner the levels of success he sees for himself and continue to create incredible and impactful cinematic experiences for audiences the world over.

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Writer Statement

Long has pain whispered its secrets, demanding I try to make sense of the one unflinching truth-- that to live is to suffer. Mourning Meal is an exploration of sorts into the choices we make when confronted by this harshest of truths. Some of us make pain our enemy, we spend the rest of our lives in open war against it, a war we lose again and again.
Others accept the reality of it and incorporate the inevitable into their lives.
In Mourning Meal, Cheryl decides to make pain her teacher, and like all good knowledge, once the lesson is given... it must be shared.
This short film is the first act in a feature film (planned for 2019). We feel the script has importance beyond simple entertainment, and hope it leaves readers and viewers traumatized enough to question their own relationship with pain.