Pitches For Movies

I was always putting little notes away in a file marked "movie ideas." I know exactly what I like to see--usually some kind of thriller or scifi flick--and that's what I see in my head. I must have 20 of these ideas.

Several years ago, I had a really impractical thought, "Why don't I just write them!" Impractical because every cab driver in Hollywood, and half the shrinks, has a movie to pitch. Never mind, the writer's life is rarely practical. I've finished four, almost five so far. Trust me, they're great! Big box office. The lights are going down. Here's what you'll experience...



Title: FIRE

Genre: suspense thriller / mystery / scifi

LOGLINE: People burst into flames, die, come back to life...but they aren’t human anymore.

SYNOPSIS: As a TV sitcom bubbles with laughter, a tough old man looks sadly at photos of happier days, dozes off, and wakes to see his arm sparkling into fire. He can't control his muscles enough to swat the multi-colored fire. He lurches about the room and tumbles down stairs...The Mayor, Fire Chief and Police Chief race up to find a house in flames, EMS technicians working on a dead man. Everyone naturally assumes the fire was caused by arson or accident...

The same strange fire--it doesn't burn its victims, it possesses them--seizes an unhappy doctor, rich kid, beautiful young woman, etc. Their friends and family--in a double shock--learn that bodies have disappeared from local morgues.

An irate lady calls 911 to complain, "There's a naked man in the woods behind my house!!" The police scoff, but it appears to be the ex-Marine who died in Scene 1. The "dead" are reported lurking in the streets or hiding in alleys, so maybe they didn't die, after all?! One of them, a prominent doctor now apparently suffering from total amnesia, is captured but somehow manages to escape.

As authorities try to explain away the numerous mysteries, a take-charge wife looks confidently for her missing husband (the doctor). A devoted brother searches for his missing sister (the beautiful young woman). Indignant parents hire a PI to locate their missing son (the rich kid)...A truck driver, suddenly on fire, crashes a gasoline truck in the woods west of town, and fire spreads in the mountains...A computer whiz tries to decipher a bizarre signal he picked up from deep space, even as he conceals his precious discovery because he wants scientific fame...Throughout, police and SWAT are wrestling with an unprecedented danger they can't possibly understand... Opportunistic criminals figure this is a great time to rob a local bank. As they flee, one of them, an ex-con filled with guilt, bursts into flames.

The eight victims of this strange fire come back as childlike creatures, devoid of language, the simplest knowledge, or any interest in their former loved-ones. They evolve into smarter, more aggressive beings that seem intent on building something electrical, if only they can find the parts...

The action in FIRE lasts three hectic days, and at the end the fate of the world depends on a few heroes. Sometimes violent, FIRE is also surprisingly romantic--at the center are two unexpected love affairs that accelerate from zero to engagement.

Quirky, action-packed, and character-driven, FIRE is propelled by the emotional interactions of an ensemble cast.

FIRE the movie evolves as the "dead" evolve. The marketing slogan for this film might be: "FIRE CHANGES EVERYTHING..." The public will know this is true; and want to know where it leads.




Title: HELL PHONE

Genre: Horror / Suspense / Supernatural

Big idea: fresh approach to the haunted house story: these ghosts are the kind of charming SOB's you meet at the best A-list parties.

Logline: couple and young son desperately seek normal life.... obnoxious big shots show up to make their lives miserable.

Synopsis: Susan and Sam Harris had problems in their marriage. The solution is to move to a new house in a new community and start fresh. As the movie begins, they’re settling in--Susan and Sam and their son Henry (age 11)--and feeling optimistic. They’re very nice people. The audience wants them to succeed.

They’re hardly there a week when Henry sees some figures--people? spirits?--in the middle of the night. On other nights, Sam meets people too. Susan talks to some. What could be more frightening and disconcerting? But Henry, Sam and Susan don’t mention these weird encounters because they might be thought crazy, or they might upset the others, or they might spook their new life. Anyway, nobody’s sure what they saw.

But the audience knows these people quite well, the ones that show up. The audience sees their last hours, leading up to a plane crash in a lightning storm--no survivors. The audience feels sorry for them--even likes them. But it’s increasingly clear that these aren’t the kind of people who accept their fate. No, they’re successful, rich and used to having their way. Finally, they’ve found a way back (thanks to the electromagnetic fizz generated by a nearby cell phone tower) and they intend to party. These ghosts are pushy. Plus, they carry heavy baggage--each committed an unspeakable crime; and now their victims want justice. The ghosts have their own ghosts!

Sam, Susan and Henry have to fight against their private fears and weaknesses; and against the disbelief and scorn of their friends and neighbors. Most difficult of all, they have to wage war against the most obnoxious house guests imaginable.

HELL PHONE is a surprisingly big canvas with a lot of texture. You can make it violent and dark, or play it lighter.





Title: THE HITMAN’S DAUGHTER

Genre: Big Budget Thriller

Logline: The daughter is a pacifist, the father is a CIA assassin. Can they stop feuding long enough to save the country when criminals take control of the President's mind?

Synopsis: Whatever you do, don't call Kate Evans a chip off the old block. She believes she is nothing like her estranged dad, Harry Evans. Kate wishes only to be a typical MBA student at Wharton, with a clear plan to marry her yuppie fiancé and live as far away as possible from her father, a man she thinks is evil.

Dad, however, is really a principled 007 type, who gets calls from Homeland Security when they need a bad guy eliminated. Kate rarely deigns to talk to him--but when she suspects that Harry might go after the father of her best friend Carmen, Kate gets in touch fast. She detects what she believes is his slippery way of avoiding the truth, so she sets out to block whatever he's up to.

A pair of villains (twin geniuses) has created a small army of inconspicuous troops (elderly ladies and nerds who have been "enhanced") to carry out showy acts of violence, with the goal of unnerving the public as the President is about to visit Dallas. In quick succession, a Brinks truck is brutally captured, a bank is dramatically robbed, UFO's are sighted. Thus begins Operation Hotwired, one of the most ambitious criminal conspiracies in history.

Harry (think Mel Gibson or Kevin Costner at age 45) does in fact take a job to hit Carmen's father, but to placate his daughter he asks for confirmation that the target is "bad." This action infuriates the government VIP who wants the man killed. Hitmen are dispatched to hit the hitman. A big mystery hangs in the air: is Camen's father a victim who needs help or a criminal??

As Kate tries to stymie her father, it becomes apparent that the requested hit on Carmen's dad is somehow connected to the plot swirling around the President's visit--all of which puts Harry, Kate and Carmen in the path of the brainy, violent juggernaut that is a scheme to control the world by controlling the President's mind, and to accomplish this in a way that conceals what has happened!

THE HITMAN'S DAUGHTER delivers all the action, plot twists and suspense of the best James Bond flick plus the drama and comedy that is possible only in an intergenerational buddy story. Similar to The Professional, this film's leading man tries to give the shake to a kid who won't stop following him around, but here the kid is not trying to get lessons from her dad. Kate already has her father's will and cunning, and she'll do whatever it takes to frustrate him. As the bullets fly, however, they increasingly function as equals (but don't try to tell Kate that) in a desperate effort to penetrate the mysterious scheme, free the President and stop an impending invasion of Mexico.

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Note: THE HITMAN'S DAUGHTER also exists in a novel version, now renamed "We Own The President."

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©Bruce Deitrick Price 2011. Protectrite.

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