Screenwriting Samples
Note: random (available) screenplay ideas presented here as samples only.
The Collective Desperation of Myth - Screenplay
Genre: drama / action
Estimated budget: US$5,000,000 - US$7,000,000
Log-line: a Nihilistic hitman double crosses The Firm, gets double crossed by MI6, and ends up taking a philosophical group of strangers hostage in a funky inner city London launderette.
Notes on the script: this script - described by my agent as, 'A cross between Tarantino and Mamet' - is a Nicholl finalist and has garnered a great deal of attention. So much so that Warner Brothers Independent agreed to finance it to the tune of US$7,000,000 in 2006 (with Director, David Slade attached) and was officially making 'pay or play' offers to the stars. Actors as diverse as Kevin Spacey, John Cusack and Vinnie Jones wanted to do this film.
Unfortunately everything went pear shaped at the 11th hour, when David decided he wanted to direct '30 Days of Night' with Sam Raimi, before directing 'The Collective Desperation of Myth'...only to "change his mind" once 30 Days of Night was completed over a year later. Even though my agent and manager (we have the same manager mind you) had put the script on-ice during this time - as per David's request - while we waited for him to become available. I know, I know...welcome to Hollywood. The place where the verbal contracts you enter into aren't worth the paper they're written on...
21 Days Before Today - Screenplay
Genre: martial arts / action
Estimated budget (no stars attached): US$3,000,000 - US$5,000,000
Log-line: a Russian martial artist struggles to feed his family in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Red Mafiya.
Notes on the script: this is a straight up and down, genre martial arts / action film set entirely in Russia, with Russian leads. There is no John Wayne character riding in from the good ol' US of A to save the day, in this one. Consequently it's a project that would suit a Russian or eastern European production company eager to make a uniquely Russian martial arts / action film with a strong western sensibility.
Oh, and before you cry: 'Why the hell would anyone write a Russian martial arts film?!?' - Let's just say it was a commission for a 6'8" 300 lb Russian mafiya boss (seriously, he was enormous) who was a friend of a friend of a Grip I know, and that the story is based (in part) on his real life experiences growing up in post Communist Russia.* And that when someone like that wants to hire you to write a screenplay...it's best to say yes...and um...err...would you like me to clean your Maserati on my way out before I start writing, sir?
* Though all names and places were of course changed to protect the innocent, the not quite so innocent, and - more importantly - me!!!
Feedin' the Freezer - Screenplay
Genre: horror
Estimated budget: US$1,000,000 - US$3,000,000
Log-line: A group of college graduates reunite for a 10 year anniversary weekend deep in the Australian outback...with disastrous consequences.
Notes on the script: if you're looking for the next 'Wolf Creek' or 'Saw' (excellent films which both originated in Australia, remember), this is it. Feedin' the Freezer is a slow burn - and dare I say, 'Grown Up' - horror, where we get to know the characters before the blood starts flowing. Thus giving the reader / viewer a chance to actually care about who lives and who dies. Rather than just slicing and dicing 18 year old cheerleaders who have only been on screen for the last 30 seconds, and whose resume no doubt sports the hyphenate, 'model slash actress'.
Feedin' the Freezer is a nasty, visceral horror franchise waiting to happen.
Oh, and it's worth noting that while this script is currently set in Australia, it is simplicity itself to change the location to the US, if required.
Purgatory, Pennysylvania
Genre: supernatural thriller
Estimated budget: US$30,000,000 - US$40,000,000
Log-line: A mysterious old man forces a teenage girl and her autistic brother to accompany him to a village that has been hidden from the world for two hundred years.
Notes on the script: this is a modern day morality tale of redemption and recompense, wrapped up in a high concept supernatural thriller. Described by my manager as, "The sort of script The Village should have been".
Genre: drama / action
Estimated budget: US$5,000,000 - US$7,000,000
Log-line: a Nihilistic hitman double crosses The Firm, gets double crossed by MI6, and ends up taking a philosophical group of strangers hostage in a funky inner city London launderette.
Notes on the script: this script - described by my agent as, 'A cross between Tarantino and Mamet' - is a Nicholl finalist and has garnered a great deal of attention. So much so that Warner Brothers Independent agreed to finance it to the tune of US$7,000,000 in 2006 (with Director, David Slade attached) and was officially making 'pay or play' offers to the stars. Actors as diverse as Kevin Spacey, John Cusack and Vinnie Jones wanted to do this film.
Unfortunately everything went pear shaped at the 11th hour, when David decided he wanted to direct '30 Days of Night' with Sam Raimi, before directing 'The Collective Desperation of Myth'...only to "change his mind" once 30 Days of Night was completed over a year later. Even though my agent and manager (we have the same manager mind you) had put the script on-ice during this time - as per David's request - while we waited for him to become available. I know, I know...welcome to Hollywood. The place where the verbal contracts you enter into aren't worth the paper they're written on...
21 Days Before Today - Screenplay
Genre: martial arts / action
Estimated budget (no stars attached): US$3,000,000 - US$5,000,000
Log-line: a Russian martial artist struggles to feed his family in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Red Mafiya.
Notes on the script: this is a straight up and down, genre martial arts / action film set entirely in Russia, with Russian leads. There is no John Wayne character riding in from the good ol' US of A to save the day, in this one. Consequently it's a project that would suit a Russian or eastern European production company eager to make a uniquely Russian martial arts / action film with a strong western sensibility.
Oh, and before you cry: 'Why the hell would anyone write a Russian martial arts film?!?' - Let's just say it was a commission for a 6'8" 300 lb Russian mafiya boss (seriously, he was enormous) who was a friend of a friend of a Grip I know, and that the story is based (in part) on his real life experiences growing up in post Communist Russia.* And that when someone like that wants to hire you to write a screenplay...it's best to say yes...and um...err...would you like me to clean your Maserati on my way out before I start writing, sir?
* Though all names and places were of course changed to protect the innocent, the not quite so innocent, and - more importantly - me!!!
Feedin' the Freezer - Screenplay
Genre: horror
Estimated budget: US$1,000,000 - US$3,000,000
Log-line: A group of college graduates reunite for a 10 year anniversary weekend deep in the Australian outback...with disastrous consequences.
Notes on the script: if you're looking for the next 'Wolf Creek' or 'Saw' (excellent films which both originated in Australia, remember), this is it. Feedin' the Freezer is a slow burn - and dare I say, 'Grown Up' - horror, where we get to know the characters before the blood starts flowing. Thus giving the reader / viewer a chance to actually care about who lives and who dies. Rather than just slicing and dicing 18 year old cheerleaders who have only been on screen for the last 30 seconds, and whose resume no doubt sports the hyphenate, 'model slash actress'.
Feedin' the Freezer is a nasty, visceral horror franchise waiting to happen.
Oh, and it's worth noting that while this script is currently set in Australia, it is simplicity itself to change the location to the US, if required.
Purgatory, Pennysylvania
Genre: supernatural thriller
Estimated budget: US$30,000,000 - US$40,000,000
Log-line: A mysterious old man forces a teenage girl and her autistic brother to accompany him to a village that has been hidden from the world for two hundred years.
Notes on the script: this is a modern day morality tale of redemption and recompense, wrapped up in a high concept supernatural thriller. Described by my manager as, "The sort of script The Village should have been".
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