Writer of prestige drama, thrillers, and emotionally charged stories about buried truths, identity, and the cost of silence.
Prestige Drama, Charater-Driven
Modern-Noir; Movie-within-a-movie
I don’t write “gay stories.”
I write thrillers where power seduces, love destroys, and fate never blinks.
Some of my leads are queer. The stakes get higher.
I’m not chasing trends. I’m defining them.
BLACK DIAMOND
A Marine-turned-cop who fell harder than anyone ever expected.
Now he lives on the motel floor… staring at life through a fishbowl.
His only witness is an angelfish named Rocco.
His only weapon is the hope he barely believes in.
His only chance?
BLACK DIAMOND — Almost might just be enough.
A bruised, human neo-noir about rock bottom, redemption,
and the strange angels we meet in the dark.
Feature screenplay now in motion.
BLACK DIAMOND — ONE PAGE OVERVIEW A Modern Miami Noir / Written by Dennis J. Manning LOGLINE
A former Marine-turned-chef, haunted by a past he can’t remember, is dragged back into a lethal conspiracy involving a covert Black Ops organization tied to his own family — forcing him to confront who he really is, what he was built to do, and whether he can ever escape the ghost of the man he once loved.
THE PROJECT
Black Diamond is a prestige Miami-Noir thriller fusing espionage, identity, and emotional trauma through a neo-cinematic lens. The story blends muscular action with psychological depth — a violent redemption narrative grounded in queer identity, memory fracture, and family betrayal. Callaia coverage identifies Black Diamond as a genre-blending, high-concept thriller balancing action (25%), suspense (20%), espionage (15%), and black comedy (10%) with a character-driven emotional engine. The script pushes at the edges of noir and technothriller style with non-linear narrative structure, visual memory devices, and grounded thematic stakes.
THE WORLD & TONE
Fort Lauderdale / Miami criminal underworld colliding with covert government machinery. Visual and emotional DNA: John Wick + Atomic Blonde + Sicario + The Accountant. The tone is violent, stylish, and intimate — heavy atmosphere, neon noir, bruised romance, and lethal family politics.
WHY THIS WORKS
A cinematic antihero: Derrik Diamond is a broken, complex protagonist — ex-Marine, ex-cop, now a chef drowning in grief, substance abuse, and lost identity. His tattoo reads ALMOST: almost sober, almost alive, almost free. Big stakes, big action sequences, and global espionage hooks deliver real cinematic value.