News: "Hollywoodland" Writer Set for Crime Thriller "Skin Trade"

Hollywoodland screenwriterPaul Bernbaum has been tapped to write the screenplay for a new period noir thriller called Skin Trade, based on the incredible true story of FBI agent Pat Livingston and the Mafia-related pornography sting that nearly claimed his life.

Matt Geller and David Stern will produce through Kipperman Management

The story centers around model FBI agent Pat Livingston, who, in 1978, is sent undercover to infiltrate the pornography industry and arrest dozens of top-level Mafioso, but finds himself struggling with his own identity. As the line between fantasy and reality blurs, Pat falls deeper into his undercover persona, risking the success of the operation and threatening to tear apart his life as he once knew it.

The true story was debuted in Time Magazine in 1982, exploring Livingston’s life under the alias “Pat Salamone,” the name he used to masquerade as a pornography distributor in Miami. He and his partner, Bruce Ellavsky, made contacts with Mafia members across the country and arranged to have illegal merchandise shipped to them in an operation that became known as ‘MiPorn’.

Bernbaum also wrote Next with Nicholas Cage. His Hollywoodland was also a period thriller based on the true story that centered on the investigation into Superman actor George Reeves’ mysterious death. Bernbaum’s latest project, K Blows Top, is being developed at HBO, with Jay Roach attached to direct and Paul Giamatti set for the lead of Nikkita Khrushchev.

Have a crime thriller of your own? Get it ready for the next ScreenCraft Action & Thriller Screenplay Contest!

Source: The Tracking Board