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Samuel Hearne : His Journey
Genre: Action/Adventure - Drama - Historical
Logline: The story of Samuel Hearne’s attempt to discover the ultimate meaning of existence via a journey through the Northwest Passage.
Synopsis: This is the story of Samuel Hearne and his historic, three year, three thousand mile trek, in the eighteenth century, across the North American subarctic to find the fabled Northwest Passage. Even more, it is the story of this individual's attempt to discover the ultimate meaning of existence, a discovery he believes will be realized at the furthest extreme of the unknown where West meets East. It is a journey that involves incredible hardship, violence, aching misfortune and perfidious villainy, love in all its guises-- lust, passion, and devotion-- and unsurpassed camaraderie between himself and a charismatic Native American leader. In the end, an old alchemist is instrumental in his realization of his long sought desire.
Author Info: MARK PARRY began writing Samuel Hearne after teaching theatre and film at the University of Manitoba. It developed after many months of studying Jung, Campbell, Wilber, and meditating on the conundrum..."Seer and seen, beholder and beheld are one".
P. MARK PARRY, Writer
#30-4949 Ontario Avenue
Powell River, BC V8A 5T7
604-485-3937
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Sex Lives of the Saints
Genre:Coming of Age • Romance • Dark Comedy • Drama
Logline: Set in 1963, a tragi-comic coming-of-age triangle unites fourteen-year-old Michael with a beautiful nun and teenaged Danuta - over a year of change, he discovers lust, betrayal, Lives of the Saints, and learns that passion and purity aren't mutually exclusive.
Synopsis: A sweet-bitter coming of age story set in a prairie town (Winnipeg), during and after the 1963 Cuban Missile Crisis. The protagonist, Michael, is an edgy Grade Eight student at Holy Ghost Parochial, where classes are routinely interrupted by air raid sirens and 'Nucular' war drills.
No big deal for Michael, son of two Polish war survivors; apocalyptic expectation is in the blood. His problems lie elsewhere. For one thing, he's trapped ... between home, where life with his wounded parents plays like an endless WWII movie, and the would-be-macho world of his peers. Comfortable in neither sphere, he's become a talented escape artist, sliding by on loner cool. But when the classic coming-of-age issue – Encounter with the Eternal Woman – surfaces, Michael's 'cool quest' is fatally undermined.
It begins with his crazy Mom, powerfully, even horribly female, with her emotional demands and gory tales, all starting with the same exhortation: "Listen!" And you do, as long as you can stand it – but, pretty soon, you gotta go.
Then there's Michael's love object, ethereal, elegant Sister Lioba, a nun at the Holy Ghost. Beautiful, brilliant, challenging, her chill purity turns Michael on even as it awes him. images of the saints' varied martyrdoms, once just part of the Catholic wallpaper of his world, suddenly grab Michael's attention in a way that's not pious. Soon he's having visions of his chaste mentor, scantily clad and pierced by celestial swords.
Yet, while he yearns after Lioba, Michael is also drawn to an oddball classmate: vulgar, plump, mouthy Danuta, iconic 'Fat Girl' of the school. He doesn't like like Danuta – but there's something about her goofy humour, weird insights and, above all, her blonde lush femaleness, that's more than OK, even compelling ... as long as no-one knows. Hot prairie summer continues; loopy late night talks turn into make-out sessions on Danuta's front porch. Michael tries to keep it a secret, but inevitably everyone finds out... even Sister Lioba.
How painfully uncool to be linked to the Fat Girl: and then Danuta ups the ante, insisting they 'go public' at the local diner. The resultant tug of love leaves Michael caught between the very different demands of two women – and two creeds. His 'correct' choice speaks to the linear thinking that automatically opposes flesh and spirit. But life – and women – aren't so simple. Danuta and Sister Lioba both hold secrets, contradictions that will finally explode (like the Nuclear bomb) Michael’s facile world of polar oppositions. In the end Michael, revealed to himself as the 'Fool of Cool', discovers that love, lust, and the Lives of the Saints aren't mutually exclusive after all.
Author Info: MICHELE ADAMS has published fiction and reviews, recently completed a novel, worked for CBC Radio as a writer/broadcaster – and continues to freelance as writer/editor in a variety of forms. Her first feature script, Lady S, a satiric romantic comedy, is an adaptation of Jane Austen's first novel. Her current screenplay project traces a contemporary, tragi-comic tale of deceit, smoked meats, and the dark anguish of unrequited love.
MICHELE ADAMS, Writer
1149 Lily Street
Vancouver, BC V5L 4H5
(604) 253-5828
madams@shaw.ca
Agent: Dacia Moss
Lucas Talent
(604) 685-0345
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Stealtown
Genre: Crime Drama
Logline: A road crew of poker hustlers head to Hamilton to take on a local gangster.
Synopsis: Jimmy, Dan, and Liz are poker hustlers who know that the only way to win is by cheating. They are a road crew. They work small town games, traveling across Ontario, cheating the locals during poker nights at the Legion Hall and Lion's Club conventions.
But something is eating at Liz. She's desperate to go back to her home town of Hamilton and settle a score. She drags Jimmy and Dan with her to take on Milan Bosic and his father, Vlad – an ex-Serbian army war criminal and smuggler. The three conspire to cheat Milan and Vlad out of $300,000. But when Jimmy gets involved with a teenaged prostitute and Dan's ability to manipulate the cards goes south, they face far more than they ever bargained for.
Author Info: WILLIAM ZMAK is a screenwriter living in Toronto. He has achieved quarter-finalist status in both the Nicholl fellowship and Chesterfield Writer's Film Project competitions. He is currently a resident in the Professional Screenwriting Programme at the Canadian Film Centre.
WILLIAM ZMAK, Writer
(416) 892-9468
wilzmak@funcow.com
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Steam
Genre: Mystery / Suspense / Thriller
Logline: A dark and sexy thriller about bank robbery, twisted relationships and, above all, obsession.
Synopsis: Richard Fissher, if that's really his name, is new in town and intent on a mysterious revenge. Prompted by a chance encounter with an edgy and desperate teller named Janice, he begins a series of thrill bank robberies. Their relationship develops into a steamy and mutually unsatisfactory affair: all they really share is the titillation of the crimes.
And the man pursued by Fissher is the one pursuing him, Robert Smith. A disgraced cop with an uncertain and unhappy relationship with Janice, he has no idea who or what Fissher is or will be to him. The three of them have chosen each other and yet have no choice whatsoever. Together they form a strange and twisted triangle of want, need, and obsession.
Author Info: MURRAY LOGAN writes stage plays as well as screenplays. He's the author of The King Of Siam, a critically acclaimed collection of short stories published in 1998. Steam made the semi-finals of this year's Nicholl Awards, sponsored by the Academy Awards Foundation.
MURRAY LOGAN, Writer
2707 Carolina Street
Vancouver, BC V5T 3T3
(604) 874-7762
murray_logan@mindlink.bc.ca
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Summer Fallow
Genre: Coming of Age, Drama
Logline: A troubled boy is sent to a prairie farm after the death of his sister, where he develops an unusual relationship with an elderly hermit.
Synopsis: A troubled boy is sent to a prairie farm after the death of his sister, where he develops an unusual relationship with an elderly hermit.
In the strained aftermath of his stepsister's suicide and his father's disintegrating marriage, Gage Bernquist is sent to stay with his uncle and aunt on their Prairie farm. Painfully aware that he neglected his sister in her time of need, and guilty to the point of self-injury, Gage seeks relief from his torment in any way he can.
Gage cannot respond to his aunt and uncle's attempts to reach out to him. Instead he is drawn to their nearest neighbour, Angus Thorpe. Angus, a caustic old hermit who hasn't left his land since his own father’s death, wants nothing to do with Gage or anyone else. Having relied upon his sister Eve to bring him his groceries and serve as his sole liaison with the outside world, Angus has grown accustomed to a comfortable seclusion in which he's been able to raise his cattle and farm his land with little interference. The isolation he has taken for granted, however, comes to an abrupt halt when Eve suffers a stroke that leaves her confined to a wheelchair. Suddenly vulnerable for the first time in three decades, Angus panics as he considers the consequences.
Gage offers to take over Eve's grocery run, believing he'll find in Angus the one person capable of understanding his pain. Angus quickly conscripts Gage to help him bring in his harvest, and Gage zealously embraces the hard labour as part catharsis, part penance for his sister's death. He soon realizes, though, that Angus may not be the kindred spirit he had hoped for. Tensions rise as they work together to bring in the grain.
There is someone who does want to understand Gage's pain, if only he would let her. Melanie Jensen is Eve's granddaughter, a generous and ambitious girl who sees in Gage what he's not willing to see in himself. Wary of her affection, Gage struggles with his feelings, finding it easier to continue blaming himself for his sister's death than to accept the possibility that he still deserves love.
Angus and Melanie represent for Gage two different ways of coping. Through them, Gage must decide whether to face his guilt and begin to heal, or hide behind it and let it destroy him.
Author Info: JASON BRINK is a Vancouver-based writer, but an Alberta prairie boy at heart. He graduated with distinction from the University of Victoria's Creative Writing program, where he wrote and directed the short film Ramona Moans Alone. He is currently developing a dramatic series for television and another feature length script. Summer Fallow was chosen for the Praxis Fall 1998 Workshop, where Jason worked with veteran screenwriter Peter Behrens (Cadillac Girls).
JASON BRINK, Writer
1405 - 1146 Harwood Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 3V1
(604) 408-1090
(604) 408-1090 Fax
jbrink@telus.net
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Sweet Nothings
Genre: Comedy / Romance
Logline: Sweet Nothings is a fast-paced, character-driven comedy about the modern search for romance.
Synopsis: Taylor, Thompson and Crater are all single men approaching "The Big Three-O"; they're long-time friends despite differing views on life, love and commitment. When gal-pal Carrie Hunter tells them that a legendary friend of hers – "The Perfect Woman" – will be at The Live Volcano on Friday night, each guy secretly plans to venture alone into that mysterious night-time world to find her. They will risk everything – even their lives – to meet the woman of their dreams.
Author Info: JOHN LAWSON, JAI DIXIT and SHELDON INKOL are graduates of the York University film program. They have completed seven screenplays together, in addition to solo projects.
Lawson is an accomplished assistant director, as well as the co-writer of both No Exit and Jungle Boy. Dixit's short film The Unbelievable Story of Ellison Spinrad, Aria Von Sniper and the Puzzle of Easy Enlightenment has been screened extensively across Canada. And Inkol is the co-writer of two features, Specimen and Carver's Gate (aka Dream Breaker), the latter of which he also directed.
SHELDON INKOL, JAI DIXIT & JOHN LAWSON, Writers
Sheldon Inkol
147 Borden Street
Toronto, ON M5S 2N2
(416) 323-3537
(416) 652-0390
(416) 323-9148 Fax
sheldoninkol@netscape.net or greedy@interlog.com
Agent: Linda Saint
The Saint Agency
60 Pleasant Boulevard, Suite 801
Toronto, Ontario M4T 1K1
416-944-8200
416-944-3700 Fax
linda@thesaintagency.com
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