The Black Dahlia audio book adaptation pilot
Project Overview
This is a test pilot for an audio adaptation of the 1987 novel The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy. If you are unfamilar with the source material, then I recommend reading a sample of the prologue chapter that we will be adapting. (https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Black_Dahlia.html?id=8kHHiYyvglsC). The book is set in 1940s Los Angeles and revolves around the investigation of the murder of Elizabeth Short, also known as The Black Dahlia. This is a hard boiled crime novel, very much set in it's time period. As much, there is heavy presence of racial and social prejudices of the time period, including various slurs(the worst of which will be toned down). If that makes you uncomfortable and unwilling to take part, then I understand completely. If not, then feel free to audition.
Voice Actor
Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert. Born 1917 in Los Angeles. Former Boxer, now LAPD officer. Nicknamed "Bucky" for his buck teeth. Had a rough childhood, blames his father for his mother's death. After graduating from High School, he became a boxer, and by 1941, he was working towards joining the LAPD. Shortly after America joined WW2 in December of 1941, Federal Agents came on Bucky hard. His father was a member of the German-American Bund, a pro-nazi group masquerading as a German heritage fraternity. He was given an ultimatum, he and his father go to prison, or Bucky give the feds information on childhood friends of his that were Japanese-American. He chose the latter, and it's hurt him ever since. By 1943, he is a LAPD beat cop.
Some traits to keep in mind:
Methodical and Calm: Known as "Ice" in his boxing days, he is cool, strategic, and analytical, contrasting sharply with his fiery partner, Lee Blanchard.
Cynical and Hard-Boiled: He possesses a bleak, gritty view of Los Angeles and human nature, shaped by his time in the ring and on the police force.
Guilt-Ridden: He carries profound emotional baggage from betraying his Japanese-American friends during WWII and dealing with an abusive, pro-Nazi father.
Flawed and Morally Ambiguous: Despite a fundamental desire to do right, he is capable of cold manipulation, violence, and cruelty when driven to the edge.
In short, he's a young man wanting to do right, but unfortunately, it doesn't work out that way usually.
- english
- adult
- male adult
- audiobook
- general american
Maybe never, Blanchard. Maybe you work Warrants and pull in repos and serve papers for the shysters downtown. Maybe I put in my twenty, take my pension and get a soft job somewhere.
Maybe he'll cop a plea. Fifteen to life, out in twenty.
Voice Actor
The story is narrated by an older Bucky, possibly decades later. Everything from the younger version applies here, except older, more experienced, and gruffer. Ideally, I would like the same voice actor for the younger Bucky doing an older take on the character, but we'll see. I don't want to bog down anyone with too much work.
I always imagined the older Bucky having a voice similar to Keith Szarabajka, who voiced Herschel Biggs in LA Noire and also served as narrator(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol0vvI7snvw&t=27s), but feel free to do whatever you think is best.
- english
- adult
- audiobook
- general american
- old
- male senior
I never knew her in life. She exist for me through others, in evidence of the ways her death drove them. Working backward, seeking only facts, I reconstructed her as a sad little girl and a whore, at best a could have-been. A tag that might equally apply to me.
But before the Dahlia there was the partnership, and before that there was the war and military regulations and manuevers at Central Division, reminding us that cops were also soldiers, even though we were a whole lot less popular than the ones battling the Germans and the Japs.
It was early June of '43. The week before, sailors had brawled with zoot suit wearing Mexicans at the Lick Pier in Venice.
Voice Actor
Lee Blanchard. Born 1914. Former Boxer and LAPD Officer. At the age of 14, Lee's sister disappeared, never to be seen again. This incident drove him to become a police officer. In 1939, he cracked a famous case, the Boulevard-Citizens bank Robbery. In addition to sending the criminals away, he even began a relationship with one of the robber's girlfriend, Kay Lake. In the years since, Lee has been eager to climb the ranks of the LAPD, hoping to get a place on the Warrants Division.
Some traits to keep in mind:
Charismatic and Jovial: Publicly known as "Fire," he projects an outgoing, confident, and magnetic personality that wins over crowds and superiors.
Aggressive Cop: He is a rough-and-tumble street investigator ready to handle the dark underbelly of Los Angeles without hesitation.
Rebellious: He openly lives with Kay Lake—the former girlfriend of a bank robber he caught—in direct violation of department rules.
In short, he is a loud, sarcastic, rebel.
- american (west coast)
- audiobook
- male adult
- adult
To the halls of Tripoli, shitbirds!
He's deadmeat. Manslaughter Two's a gas chamber jolt for spics. Hepcat here's about six weeks away from the Big Adios.
Pretty. Make a good picture postcard. 'Dear Mom, wish you were here at the colorful East LA race riot.'
Voice Actor
Minor character. Mexican American man that committed a crime. He only appears in the first chapter and only has a few lines.
- spanish
- adult
- spanish (mexican)
- male adult
- audiobook
Inez? Inez? Que? Inez?
*A drunken rendition of the songs "Cielito Lindo" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo" in spainish.
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