Private Project

The Trencherman

A garage-dwelling glutton turns his bottomless appetite into global stardom as he rises to the top of the competitive eating food chain, but when corporate greed and a lawsuit threaten to destroy his career, he must attempt a lethal stunt—eating a Boeing 747—to redeem his soul and win back the heart of the filmmaker documenting his rise.

  • Ryan Clarke
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay
  • Genres:
    absurdist comedy, sports comedy, satire, mockumentary
  • Number of Pages:
    116
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Writer - Ryan Clarke
Writer Statement

My writing is fueled by a philosophy of "grounded absurdity." I believe the world is inherently chaotic, and the best response is to laugh at it. I value comedy that takes a ridiculous premise—like a man eating a Boeing 747—and treats it with absolute emotional seriousness. I approach every scene with the same question: "What is the emotional truth inside this madness?"

I draw heavily on my background in theater, where I wrote several short plays and won Best Playwright awards at Fusion Theatre in Albuquerque, NM. That experience taught me the rhythm of dialogue and the importance of landing a joke, but also that comedy fails if you don't care about the characters. My goal is always to make the audience laugh until their sides hurt, then sneak in a moment of genuine heart while they aren't looking.

I am committed to building a body of work that champions the weird, the loud, and the hilariously human. While I have a background in playwriting, The Trencherman is my debut feature screenplay. It represents the exact brand of high-energy, cinematic comedy I intend to bring to the industry.