ARENA | Film | Screenplays
“The Emperor of the United States” (2018)
By David Francis
SCRIPT here.
Author Statement
I first heard about Emperor Norton on an open-top bus tour of San Francisco while my wife and I were on vacation there in 2016. The tour guide recited a few “facts” about the Emperor — enough to get me intrigued to learn more. Back in our hotel room I searched Wikipedia and discovered more about this fascinating individual. As a bit of a history buff I was surprised that I had not come across his name before. My following thought was that his story was worth telling to a wider audience and that the best way to do that was with a movie!
Initially I thought to try and interest someone in writing a screenplay but soon realised that the better course was to have a go at writing one myself. I love the movies but had zero experience in this sort of writing so I acquired and read some books on the subject and took a short class. As well, I launched into further research on the Emp and quickly came across the wonderful resource of The Emperor Norton Trust (then known as The Emperor’s Bridge Campaign). It quickly became clear that my tour guide’s story bore only a vague resemblance to the “real” one as it emerged from John Lumea’s research, from the biography by William Drury and from other references I gleaned from various sources. The more I learned the more determined I became to promulgate Norton’s story to a wider audience.
I made contact with John and arranged to meet him in San Francisco — quite a trip from my home in Melbourne, Australia. We had some great discussions and visited some sites associated with the Emperor. John was exceedingly gracious and generous with his time. Following this I spent several months writing my first draft (using the professional screenwriting software program Final Draft), completing it in 2018. I then undertook a second trip to SF, visiting more sites (including the Emperor’s grave) and meeting John again to discuss my ideas and to gain his feedback, following which I spent time extending and polishing before I considered the screenplay finished. I entered several screenplay contests — without success — and participated in an online “pitch-fest” to various Hollywood producers. Several of them expressed interest in my script but in the end nothing came of it. Fewer than one screenplay in a thousand ever makes it to the screen.
Regardless of the outcome I greatly enjoyed the screenwriting process. I learned a lot about my protagonist and about the process and tools needed to complete a proper screenplay. I also made a good friend in John Lumea and have even been able to make a minor contribution to one of his research pieces!
Anyone with knowledge of the Emperor will readily see that my story is a mixture of fact, “could have been fact” and pure invention. Indeed some of what I thought was fact has turned out not to be so as John has dug deeper into the historical sources. Despite any lack of historical accuracy I sincerely hope that I have accurately captured Emperor Norton’s essential character, in particular his clear thinking, dignity and compassion — so much in contrast to many so-called leaders from his day or indeed from ours!
Long live the Emperor!
David Francis
July 2025