Violent Behavior

“Darkman meets Sons of Anarchy.”

Violent Behavior fuses the tragic, disfigured antihero of Darkman with the gritty outlaw world of Sons of Anarchy. It signals a story that is both mythic and grounded, balancing pulp‑horror intensity with neo‑noir biker‑crime realism.

Logline:
Blown to bits and thought dead, genius weapons designer, Charley Fever, becomes a mangled fugitive from the DEA and Feds seeking redemption for a murdered love, the Senator’s daughter, by offering his motorcycle family, who killed her, a ghost of a chance to walk away from the violent world of drug trafficking… or die.

Synopsis:
Violent Behavior
Charley Fever was once a prodigy of destruction—a weapons designer whose genius made him indispensable to the government and irresistible to the criminal underworld. But when a cartel bombing leaves him shattered and presumed dead, Charley claws his way back into the world as something else entirely: a scarred fugitive, hunted by the DEA and federal agents who see him as both a liability and a threat.
The blast that nearly killed him also claimed the life of the woman he loved—the daughter of a powerful Senator. Her murder is the wound that drives him, the ghost that will not let him rest. Charley’s only path to redemption lies in confronting the outlaw motorcycle family he once rode with, the same blood‑stained brotherhood who betrayed him and pulled him into the drug trade.
Now, Charley offers them a final chance: abandon the violent empire they’ve built, or be destroyed by the very weapons he forged. But as he infiltrates their world, the lines blur between vengeance and salvation. Old loyalties resurface, rivalries ignite, and every choice drags him deeper into the cycle of blood he swore to end.
Violent Behavior is a neo‑noir thriller about a man who becomes both hunter and hunted, a ghost of war waging battle against his own past. It asks whether redemption can be earned through violence—or if violence is the only language left to men who have already lost everything.

Where the story came from reality:

Wrote this years ago before the earthquake. Never showed it to anyone. Based on what I witnessed in the Starlight Bar in Studio City while watching the Lions play. Almost everyone there was on crank and coke, and the bartenders were pouring so heavy I had to ask for a larger glass to add water. And if you turned your back at the bar someone would down your drink. So I started asking around and found that the place was full of young dealers. It was crazy. So I started looking into where it was coming from, and it was from bikers transporting Mexican cookers’ products spreading across California to the rest of the US and Canada. But the behavior in that bar was violent due to the crank in there. Sans the title. It’s actually a love story about how these drugs destroy lives of more than those who use it.

  • Karl J Niemiec
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay, Television Script
  • Number of Pages:
    120
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Digital Cinema Package:
    Unavailable
  • 2nd Annual Fade In Screenwriting Fellowship - First Ten Pages
    L.A
    July 29, 2022
    Semi-Finalist
  • Chicago Screenwriting Awards
    Chicago, IL
    December 23, 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.

AFTRA/SAG / WGA eligible,

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Writer Statement

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.