Hi everyone — my name is Jack. I’m a U.S. Army veteran, now working in law enforcement. Before joining the service, I was a newspaper editor and freelance writer, and it was back then that I first tried my hand at screenwriting.
I’ve recently returned to a longtime passion project: MACCABÆUS, a historical war epic about Judah Maccabee and the Hasmonean revolt—the little-known story behind Hanukkah. Revisiting it after years in the Army, including a couple of deployments and time supporting Special Operations, gave me a very different perspective on the military side of the story, particularly asymmetric warfare.
I’ve tried to combine those experiences with the surviving historical sources and my own spiritual journey as an Orthodox Jew to create something I feel is genuinely distinctive. It’s an incredible story that has never gotten the cinematic treatment it deserves, despite spending more than 2,100 years in the public domain. (Though I’m gradually learning that every other studio now has a Judah Maccabee movie “in development.”)
The latest draft has received some encouraging industry feedback, including a 7 on the Black List, and I’m now trying to learn as much as I can, meet people in the business, and connect with writers, producers, reps, and others interested in historical drama and ambitious cinematic storytelling.
Glad to be here, and looking forward to meeting some of you.
Welcome to Stage 32, Jack! MACCABÆUS sounds like a fascinating project, especially the way you are bringing your military experience into a historical story that deals with asymmetric warfare. I also like that you are approaching it through both the historical sources and your own journey. What part of Judah Maccabee's story do you think audiences today will connect with most strongly?
Please don’t take offense if I’m wrong, but I’m inferring from your name and profile that you’re either a bot or a human relying pretty heavily on AI here. But hey, a good question is a good question.
I think one aspect of Judah’s story will resonate with anyone who has ever had to come to terms with a burden placed on them, perhaps unintentionally, by a parent or parental figure. People think of Judah the Maccabee as the protagonist of the Hanukkah story, but in many ways he was simply carrying on the legacy—or, if one is feeling less charitable, cleaning up the mess—left by his father, Matityahu (Mattathias), a Hebrew priest whose zeal ignited an insurrection and civil war. Most people don’t know that part of the story.
MACCABÆUS also asks a primal question—one that weighs heavily on many Jews today, but also speaks to anyone with deeply held spiritual or cultural values: What would you sacrifice for the right to simply be who you are?
Those are issues that feel at once timely and timeless. I hope I’ve shaped them into something emotionally resonant, visually arresting, and worthy of the big screen.
Welcome Jack Perezselsky ! I hope you'll join us at our upcoming webcasts in the Writers' Room. Sign up for a Free Month of the Writers’ Room: https://www.stage32.com/writers-room/plans-vip
Here’s a great post that will help you navigate Stage 32: https://www.stage32.com/blog/how-to-successfully-navigate-the-stage-32-p...
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Be sure to stop by the screenwriting lounge and get to know some of your fellow scribes: https://www.stage32.com/lounge/screenwriting
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Hi Jack! Welcome to the community. I agree, this story hasn't been done justice and it would be amazing to see. It's a ripe time now with the Odyssey having awoken a hunger for stories of this time period. What's been the toughest nut to crack on this so far, and how are you working through it?
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Hi Delenn! The toughest nut to crack has been getting past skepticism on two fronts: the economics of mounting a historical epic, and the fact that the story is unapologetically rooted in faith without being a conventional “faith-based” movie. It’s distinctly Jewish rather than Christian, though it has resonated with Christian readers. I love the idea of inviting a wider audience into an authentically Jewish world, although even that has generated some controversy in the current cultural climate, despite the story itself being more than 2,000 years old. And an R-rated Bible movie is admittedly an odd elevator pitch.
At this stage, the challenge is simply getting my foot in the right door. I’ve been using a mix of personal networking, competitions, and paid pitches to get the script in front of people. The upside is that the feedback along the way has helped me improve it substantially.
Ironically, what keeps me optimistic is that I’ve already gotten several “no thank yous” from producers who have Maccabee projects of their own in development. So clearly I’m not the only person who sees something there.
Commercially, I think the first person to make a great Judah Maccabee movie has the opportunity to do for Hanukkah what The Prince of Egypt—and before it, The Ten Commandments—did for Passover: create an annual tradition. MACCABÆUS wouldn’t necessarily live or die by opening weekend. Done right, it could remain culturally and commercially relevant for years, even decades.
What I bring to it is lived experience as both an Orthodox Jew and an Army veteran, which gives the material a texture I don’t think it would otherwise have.
And I just realized you’re the Stage 32 contest coordinator—I’ve actually entered MACCABÆUS in a couple of your competitions, so apparently one of the doors I’m knocking on was installed by you.
The plan is pretty simple: keep knocking until the right one opens, God willing. I’m open to suggestions!
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MACCABÆUS sounds like a fascinating project, Jack. Your military experience brings a particularly interesting perspective to a story centered on asymmetric warfare. Best of luck with the project!