As a writer Jake’s focus is creating community through story.
Jake’s work centers LGBTQ+ characters and themes we have not seen in mainstream media.
Films
TOP (short film)
SYNOPSIS:Finally at the hospital for his long awaited gender affirming top surgery,
Matt Levit, with lively girlfriend Leisha Meyer by his side, navigates the
bureaucracy of the top surgery process. But once Matt is thrown deep into
surgery day, he suddenly finds his present intertwining with his past self,
Kimberly. Plunging through past and present, Matt is dropped into confronting
his relationship with his chest and sudden loss of his mother, Nancy.
LOG LINE:
Matt Levit's reality is turned upside down on the day of his gender affirming
top surgery. When Matt’s past intertwines with his present, he is forced to
reckon with his relationship with his chest as well as his mother.
AWARDS:
Artist Trust Award Lillian Miller Foundation Fellowship for Trans and Indigiqueer Artists,
Artist Trust Grants For Artist Projects (GAP) Award, Washington Filmworks Production Initiative
OFFICIAL SELECTION:
LGBT+ Film Festival Poland, One Fluid Night LGBTQIA+ Film Festival (London), Nyack International Film Festival
CONTACT:
JMorganScharhon@gmail.com
Unproduced Screenplays
TOP (Feature Screenplay)
SYNOPSIS:
2018, Seattle. When a rare chance opens for gender affirming top surgery,
37-year-old Matt Levit is faced with the decision of a lifetime. With
lively girlfriend Leisha Meyer by his side, Matt navigates the bureaucracy
of the top surgery process. But once Matt is thrown deep into surgery
recovery, he suddenly finds his present intertwining with his past self,
Kimberly. Plunging through past and present, Matt is dropped into
confronting the changing landscapes of friendships, sudden loss of
his mother, Jewish identity as a transgender person, and discovering
hidden history of transgender men. The more Matt is compelled to pull
at the threads of time, relationships, and gender, the more he uncovers the
complex elements that make up a life. An unflinchingly honest and up close
ride in the quest to know what it is to be our authentic selves.
LOG LINE:
37-year-old Matt Levit's reality is turned upside down when he is thrust
into recovery from gender affirming top surgery. When Matt's past intertwines
with his present, he is forced to reckon with long buried demons.
AWARDS:
Artist Trust Award Lillian Miller Foundation Fellowship for Trans and Indigiqueer Artists,
Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2nd Round Pick
CONTACT:
JMorganScharhon@gmail.com
SMALL TOWN OUTLAWS (Feature Screenplay)
SYNOPSIS:
17-year-old Marian Crestwell’s life is speeding toward the future her powerful
father, Mayor Thomas Crestwell, has planed, until her path unexpectedly collides
with the leader of the town's notorious queer gang, Robin Maxing. When Robin is
blamed for a string of arsons blazing through town, Robin and her gang, The Wolves,
pull Marian into a world of survival, causing Marian to question all she believes.
Robin and The Wolves must fight to clear their names or be torn apart.
LOG LINE:
As mysterious arsons blaze through the small town of Liberty, New York, Robin and her
queer gang, the Wolves, must seek to clear their names at all costs.
AWARDS:
Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2nd Round Pick
CONTACT:
JMorganScharhon@gmail.com
RULES FOR DROWNING (Feature Screenplay)
SYNOPSIS:
1999, Seattle. Video store employee Jamie has been avoiding her friends all
week to make room for her new obsession: an intriguing girl co-worker named
Alex. When her crush goes wrong, and strange new breathing attacks surface,
Jamie and her uptight friend, Quin, embark on a road trip to Portland, Oregon
in search of a solution to Jamie’s mounting fears of insignificance, resulting
from the recent death of Jamie’s mother.
LOG LINE:
A stolen typewriter, mysterious breathing attacks, and a girl-crush gone wrong,
send 24-year-old Jamie, and her uptight friend Quin, on a road trip and misadventure
in the Pacific Northwest.
AWARDS:
Academy Nicholl Fellowship Quarterfinalist, Gotham (IFP) Emerging Narrative Program
CONTACT:
JMorganScharhon@gmail.com
SYNOPSIS:
2018, Seattle. When a rare chance opens for gender affirming top surgery,
37-year-old Matt Levit is faced with the decision of a lifetime. With
lively girlfriend Leisha Meyer by his side, Matt navigates the bureaucracy
of the top surgery process. But once Matt is thrown deep into surgery
recovery, he suddenly finds his present intertwining with his past self,
Kimberly. Plunging through past and present, Matt is dropped into
confronting the changing landscapes of friendships, sudden loss of
his mother, Jewish identity as a transgender person, and discovering
hidden history of transgender men. The more Matt is compelled to pull
at the threads of time, relationships, and gender, the more he uncovers the
complex elements that make up a life. An unflinchingly honest and up close
ride in the quest to know what it is to be our authentic selves.
LOG LINE:
37-year-old Matt Levit's reality is turned upside down when he is thrust
into recovery from gender affirming top surgery. When Matt's past intertwines
with his present, he is forced to reckon with long buried demons.
AWARDS:
Artist Trust Award Lillian Miller Foundation Fellowship for Trans and Indigiqueer Artists,
Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2nd Round Pick
CONTACT:
JMorganScharhon@gmail.com
SMALL TOWN OUTLAWS (Feature Screenplay)
SYNOPSIS:
17-year-old Marian Crestwell’s life is speeding toward the future her powerful
father, Mayor Thomas Crestwell, has planed, until her path unexpectedly collides
with the leader of the town's notorious queer gang, Robin Maxing. When Robin is
blamed for a string of arsons blazing through town, Robin and her gang, The Wolves,
pull Marian into a world of survival, causing Marian to question all she believes.
Robin and The Wolves must fight to clear their names or be torn apart.
LOG LINE:
As mysterious arsons blaze through the small town of Liberty, New York, Robin and her
queer gang, the Wolves, must seek to clear their names at all costs.
AWARDS:
Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2nd Round Pick
CONTACT:
JMorganScharhon@gmail.com
RULES FOR DROWNING (Feature Screenplay)
SYNOPSIS:
1999, Seattle. Video store employee Jamie has been avoiding her friends all
week to make room for her new obsession: an intriguing girl co-worker named
Alex. When her crush goes wrong, and strange new breathing attacks surface,
Jamie and her uptight friend, Quin, embark on a road trip to Portland, Oregon
in search of a solution to Jamie’s mounting fears of insignificance, resulting
from the recent death of Jamie’s mother.
LOG LINE:
A stolen typewriter, mysterious breathing attacks, and a girl-crush gone wrong,
send 24-year-old Jamie, and her uptight friend Quin, on a road trip and misadventure
in the Pacific Northwest.
AWARDS:
Academy Nicholl Fellowship Quarterfinalist, Gotham (IFP) Emerging Narrative Program
CONTACT:
JMorganScharhon@gmail.com