Dan Portnoy with a white dress shirt and a jacket

I write about power and consequence — using monsters, machines, and myth to show who we become when it costs us something.

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    Scripts, novels, and stories in development.

    Some sold, some circling, all mine.

    TITLE
    Gods & Monsters

    FORMAT
    One-hour pilot, creature mythology.

    LOGLINE
    A disgraced federal agent, a former nun, and a brilliant coder investigate ritual murders tied to ancient myths, only to discover the monsters of legend are no longer staying in the shadows.

    STATUS:
    Pilot complete. In revision. Graphic Novel in development.

    TITLE
    Warfyre

    FORMAT
    One-hour pilot, cyberpunk thriller.

    LOGLINE
    A researcher joins a squad of gamers when an evolving AI begins rewriting the world’s most popular virtual battlefield, forcing them to stop a threat that won’t stay inside the game.

    STATUS:
     Pilot complete.


    TITLE
    Gaijin

    FORMAT
    Feature, historical action.

    LOGLINE
    When Varangians become stranded along the coast of Feudal Japan, two legendary warrior cultures must overcome language barriers, honor codes, and centuries of mistrust before an ancient predator turns them into prey.

    STATUS:
     In development.


    TITLE
    The Reckoning of Battery Park

    FORMAT
    YA historical fantasy novel.

    LOGLINE
    New York, 1892.
    When an aspiring magician loses the only mentor who believed in him, he is drawn into a hidden world where history is stranger than myth, monsters wear human faces, and the fate of civilization may rest inside an ancient artifact stolen from the sands of Egypt. To stop a ruthless criminal mastermind from unlocking its power, he must become more than an illusionist.

    STATUS:
    Novel in progress. Screenplay and graphic novel in development.


    Latest Essay

    The best work is usually the worst funded

    I took a job that's testing this theory in real time.— Former Customer