The Shaft , Chasing Truths & Handprint — Under Contract with Price Productions — Packaging in Progress.
The Substitute Wife - Under Contract with Voyage Media
Redefining LGBTQ+ storytelling through bold, cinematic narratives where love, power, and fate collide in a neo-noir landscape.
"More Going Down" – Awarded Stage 32 Double Recommend (Top 1%)
“Insanity — of the best kind.” – Joshua Malkin
“Fucking genius.” – Stage 32 Reader
Hollywood Screening Festival
**WINNER**
-
Best Screenplay
Dennis Manning
"ONE LESS EGG TO FRY" -
​Best Screenplay – LA Crime & Horror Film Festival (2025)
Final Script Delivered. Industry Circulating.
I don’t write “gay stories.” I write thrillers where power seduces, love destroys, and fate never blinks. The fact that some of my leads are queer?
That just makes the stakes higher.
I'm not chasing trends. I’m redefining them.
Beautifully unstable narratives that linger long after the credits roll.
9-screenplay slate. 5 completed in 75 days. All killer. No filler.
For Representation & Industry Inquiries:
dennis@danforthmusic.org
401-644-4759
The Wild Card Chronicles
A Neo-Noir Saga Across Cities, Bloodlines, and Desire.
Logline / Series Pitch:
The Wild Card Chronicles is a prestige limited-series crime universe grounded in queerness, betrayal, and reinvention.
Season One, titled Deuce’s Wild, is a 6-episode noir descent into the Chicago underworld, where lust and loyalty collide like bourbon and blood.
Think Boardwalk Empire meets Euphoria—but sharper, dirtier, gayer, and far more dangerous.
Each episode opens with a haunting acoustic rendition of “Dancing Queen”—a sonic motif that threads through every betrayal, every kiss, and every kill.
What begins as a deal too good to refuse turns into a reckoning no one escapes.
This city plays for keeps—and the house always wins.
Power never dies. It just changes hands.
The Wild Card Chronicles is a four-season LGBTQ+ neo-noir crime saga spanning 50 years, multiple cities, and an unforgettable bloodline of betrayal, lust, and legacy.
From 1980 Miami to present-day Los Angeles, this prestige television universe unfolds across four interconnected seasons and a mini-series — where everyone plays someone… and someone always pays.
Series Structure
Season One: Deuce's Wild
Setting: Chicago, 2025
Tagline: Everyone plays someone. Who’s playing you?
Jack and Deuce climb the underworld, Queen falls, and Six flips the whole damn board. Final moment: A knock.
“I heard you two had a story. I want to tell it. Alex will be the star.”
Season Two: Wild Card Origins
Setting: Miami → Chicago, 1980–2000
Tagline: Noir isn’t dead. It just started younger.
Karen kills. King and Duke build the empire. Carlos arrives. Robin, Mitch, and Jake fall.
Includes the 3-episode mini-series: More Going Down
Season Three: Handprint
Setting: Los Angeles, Present
Tagline: Legacy bleeds. Love breaks.
Alex rises from trauma. Karen and Duke rule quietly. Carlos returns, FBI badge in hand.
“I’m not that Carlos. I’m your nightmare in Dreamland.”
Season 4: Dreamland
Setting: Havana → Bogotá → San Francisco
Tagline: There’s no such thing as escape. Only deeper games.
Eric is the prey and the prize.
Noir triumphs. No one walks away clean. Just… away.
THE DUO
They sing what nobody else has the courage or guts to say.
Each season is laced with a curated soundtrack — from haunting covers to classic noir motifs.
Think: “Runaway Train” on a rooftop. “I Get Along Without You Very Well” at the final goodbye
AWARDS & TRACTION:
Deuce’s Wild, Handprint, More Going Down, and Dreamland Lovers have each earned Greenlight “RECOMMEND” coverage and finalist honors across major screenplay competitions.