STAGING ACCIDENTS

STAGING ACCIDENTS by Chuck Parello

Was it an accident, or was it murder?

Two young women end up dead when an automobile "fender bender" that was set up accidentally on purpose for the insurance proceeds goes disastrously wrong. The sleazy con man who arranged the bogus accident is named OLIVER KINGSTON. To save his skin, Kingston rats to the Feds about a well-liked insurance executive named NICO TODD who had accepted payola from him in the past.

Nico is enraged when he is falsely named as a conspirator in Oliver Kingston's lethal faked accident, and fired by his long-time employer. The divorcee faces multiple charges which could put him behind bars for years, so he hires a lawyer and attempts to put his shattered life back together.

Then something happens to Oliver Kingston that Nico hopes will help his plight in court. But Nico’s troubles go from bad to worse when the disgraced insurance man becomes the focus of another criminal investigation.

  • CHARLES PARELLO
    Writer
    Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 2, Ed Gein, The Hillside Strangler, Dr. 420
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay
  • Number of Pages:
    95
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Sitges International Film Festival
    Sitges Spain
    Best Picture - Ed Gein
Writer Biography - CHARLES PARELLO

Writer/Director/Producer Chuck Parello is a Chicago native and graduate of the city's Columbia College. After working at director John McNaughton's development company, Parello was hired to write and direct Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 2, a sequel to McNaughton's chilling cult classic Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.

The resulting sequel earned kudos during its theatrical release from critics who said it was a genuinely creepy and entirely worthy follow-up to McNaughton's film. The production company Tartan Films then asked Parello to write and direct Ed Gein.

Ed Gein chronicles the true-life exploits of a killer from the 1950s whose grave robbing and other odd behaviors influenced landmark pictures like Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs. Ed Gein, which stars Steve Railsback, was praised by critics for its subtle and restrained direction. And the film scooped up Best Picture and Best Actor Awards at the prestigious Sitges International Film Festival. After Parello completed Ed Gein, he was next asked to write and direct The Hillside Strangler.

Based on the actual 1977-79 Los Angeles serial killer case, the film stars C. Thomas Howell and Nicholas Turturro as two cousins who went on a sex-crazed killing spree together. Praised by critics as subversive, stylish and blackly comic, the mesmerizing performances by Howell and Turturro were also singled out.

Parello is next scheduled to direct City Gas, which concerns a ruthless businessman who hires a career criminal to commit a string of contract murders for him. Naveen Andrews is attached to star.

Add Writer Biography
Writer Statement

A corrupt insurance executive with ties to an auto insurance fraud ring. A sleazy con man who rats out others to save his skin. FBI agents on the hunt for incriminating evidence. I have always loved hard-boiled crime thrillers and cynical murder dramas, and that love is on display in my screenplay STAGING ACCIDENTS.

My protagonist in STAGING ACCIDENTS is an insurance executive named Nico Todd. Nico is a decent guy, a church-going divorcee with a young son. But for some reason, he can’t help but engage in risky, self-destructive behavior.

I find this type of character duality fascinating, and it is what drives the off-kilter events in this script. Nearly everything that happens in STAGING ACCIDENTS is because of the decisions Nico makes. And boy do some of his choices come back to bite him on the butt!

I had a blast dreaming up all the plot twists and turns in STAGING ACCIDENTS. And I hope you will find the experience of reading this crazy tale of an insurance man who finds himself fighting for his very survival a memorable one.