After a huge number of submissions for Sydney Lift-Off Film Festival, here are the 5 screenplays officially selected to go forward onto the Community platform. Congratulations all! In order to read the screenplays, sign up to the Lift-Off Community here:
Spiral – Laurence Prieto
SYNOPSIS: This is the pilot episode of a six show series. Spiral is the story of addiction, in this case vinyl, and how the simple can mutate into obsession. It follows Dillon from 1960s Hell’s Kitchen through to 2005 in Louisiana and Hurricane Katrina aftermath. It tells his personal journey to find the records from his parent’s prized collection after he traumatically sees them die in an arson attack on their home at 12 years old. He vows to honour them and with his little note book begins his life long search.
What was the inspiration behind this script?
As with many of the best stories the idea is rooted in real life, some of it my own past and some taken from the incredible story of Zero Freitas. I’m a habitual cultural curiosity hoarder and had come across this amazing story of Zero who had collected over 6 million vinyl records, which he intended to catalogue and make available as a massive listenable archive. Initially dismissing this as the craziness it obviously was I slowly started to come around to the fact that, well, that could easily be me. Disregarding the small case of having to be rich of course. I had been (what I thought) was a pretty heavy weight record collector at one time myself and could empathise. I too knew the bug that gets inside you and takes over all sense of perspective as you just devour your obsession. In this case it was vinyl but I think many people can relate to having an addictive thirst be it comics, shoes, stamps or thimbles but they are just able to reel it in or are at least restricted by money or a more reasonable partner. But what if you had the funds? What if you didn’t have that switch that said enough is enough? That mechanism that says stop you fool? What if there was something spurring you on, a desire, a mission, that made that tunnel vision so narrow you were able to dismiss family, friends, your way of life to ensure you succeeded?
Anyway, that idea stuck with me for years and I eventually wrote it as a short story ‘For the Love of…’ and threw it in the drawer, my cathartic release. I really liked it as a short but also couldn’t help thinking there was more to it than that, I wasn’t doing the material justice confining it to that format. I wasn’t confident enough to make it work as a feature, I thought we needed time to see Dillon’s obsession grow from reasonable, cool behaviour to it’s extreme. I knew it would fit a short TV series quite well though and this is what lead me to write the Spiral pilot.
What are you looking for to take this project to the next stage?
I would really love an experienced television storyteller to come along and tighten it up! I’m confident in the story, characters, my language and such like but I think you can always strip it back that little more to really get it lean. I’ve loved so much great television writing these past few years and think we really are in a new Golden Age but so many series have also suffered from mid-season lags, even those great ones. I don’t want Spiral to be the same.
I’m pleased the pilot sets the story up effectively and as it was knocking around inside my head for quite a while the rest of the season sort of fell into place quickly. It would be great to get the chance to see it realised in a really tight, short six episode run.
What advice has helped you get where you are now?
A writer writes. Always! Larry (Billy Crystal) summed it up really well, albeit comically, in Throw Momma from the Train (1987). A cliché answer I guess but for me it’s true. To me it doesn’t mean you have to be constantly writing but that you always have your writing head on as inspiration may equally come from the most insignificant or magnificent source. You just have to be awake enough to recognise it as inspiration.
Again, I’m a real culture hoarder, always collecting little bits of info that gets archived away to be pulled out one day when I’m looking for that bit of pizzazz, something extra in a story. I journal constantly be it a misheard song lyric, an exhibition, an over-heard name, a tag on a woman’s coat on the tube, a line in a midnight movie, a photo in a frame in fake lounge in a shop window… it really can be anything. You just need to realise its potential.
SYNOPSIS: After winning a contest to live rent-free at a coastal community, Dale is happy to accept that his life there will be recorded, until his missing girlfriend contacts him and says his life is in jeopardy. Soon he learns he shares a common tragedy from the past with his neighbours, one involving a drowned boy that each of them played a part in, yet no one can recall the exact details of.
What was the inspiration behind the screenplay?
I wrote this for a class in my creative writing master’s program. I live in a place called The Cottages and it is surreal. Hundreds of identical cottages on the coast of South Texas. While I was in Tokyo, I saw micro hotels and an idea about people who stayed there developed into this. My idea is what makes us who we are. Are we a collection of memories, past experiences that determine how we respond to situations or is there something more? If someone can control your memories, can they predict how you will react? What about the spark of attraction? Is that memory or a deeper connection?
What are you looking for to take this project to the next stage?
We have shot a proof of concept that is just beginning on the festival circuit. We would like to take that to actors and develop this into an hour-long episodic series with a studio. What would take it to the next stage is the ability to pitch someone like Netflix.
What advice has helped to get where you are now?
Value honest feedback. Filmmaking is a process. I learn more every day. Never surrender. The cavalry is not coming. Make your own wave.
SYNOPSIS: In the near future after an unknown phenomenon prevents humans from experiencing bodily harm, a struggling actor teams up with a detective to solve the first murder case in years.
What was the inspiration behind this screenplay?
The inspiration behind this script was looking at the way humans behave and understanding that since the dawn of civilization, violence has been inherently connected to us. The need for violence is always present and this script asks the question of what would happen if violence was no longer possible. If humans can’t commit acts of violence, how would that effect the world? Also the rise of virtual reality and how detailed it may become was another driving force when writing this screenplay. Human nature must always be balanced with consequences, and in a world where the option for violence is taken away, it will lead to a change for the worse.
What are you looking for to take this project to the next stage?
We are looking to get this project produced and already have plans to remodel a massive space in Russia. We are going to turn it into a film studio with several different locations on site. This new film studio will allow the screenplay to be produced for much cheaper compared to the American and European studios. This is a very viable option and one we plan on taking full advantage of. The studio will be providing everything needed for the production. We have even already created a website for this exciting opportunity – www.nizhnystudios.com.
What advice has helped you get where you are now?
The advice that helped me get to where I am now is to never stop chasing what you want. No matter the difficulties that lie ahead, never stop pursuing your dream. The first draft of this script was written 10 years ago and it’s been a long, hard road. I always kept pushing forward and believed in myself and in this very original idea. This thought process is what kept me going and lead me to where I am today.
SYNOPSIS: Harvest is a blood-dark comedy centered on a tightly knit but dysfunctional Russian family in Miami who run an illegal organ harvesting business. The oldest son, the heir to the company, desperately seeks an out so he can pursue his true love before the family axe (scalpel) falls!
What was the inspiration behind this script?
I’d like to think that it was due to my terribly normal childhood and the fact that I was never exposed to a lot of drama in my lifetime that I had to look internally for the dark and humorously twisted material that makes its way on the page. My favorite thing to do as a writer is to establish an environment that might be recognizable and turn it upside-down in an attempt to show a side that is new and original. Harvest takes the rather macabre concept of organ trafficking and injects a comedic element that has allowed me to have a lot of fun with the characters and events that take place.
I had workshopped this script in a very special writing group that will always be dear to my heart, led by my fiercely talented writing mentor (and Oscar-nominated screenwriter) Hesper Anderson. Of all of my scripts I brought into the group, she liked this one the best, which delighted me to no end, given the absurd and over-the-top nature of the content. Hesper and the group really helped me shape the story into what it is today, and Hesper gave me the confidence to believe that I might be alright at this writing thing. Hesper passed away last week before I had a chance to share the news of Harvest being an official selection in the Sydney Lift-Off Festival, but I feel her presence more than ever and owe its success to her. This one’s for you, Hesper!
What are you looking for to take this project to the next stage?
My production company, Peridot Rose Productions, recently completed its first feature film, LEMON DROP, and are in pre-production on our next feature, THE WAY IT WAS. Our third film on docket is HARVEST, and I look forward to directing it as well. With a crew of five people and a budget of $9000, our first film was our boot camp to learn hands-on about the filmmaking process. My hope is that our education of filmmaking will grow even more through the production of the second film, and exponentially by the time we begin HARVEST. To take HARVEST from script to screen, my producing partner and I will be looking for financing, locations, equipment, and cast and crew to start, all the way to distribution and marketing upon completion, and as much advice and education as we can collect along the way. We are proud members of the Lift-Off community and participate frequently with screening and voting on the films of fellow members that are shared, and hope that one of our films will have the honor of being shared on this esteemed platform as well some day. We look forward to growing our skills with the support of the Lift-Off Community and submitting to their amazing programs in hopes of having their support and guidance as we venture forward in our filmmaking careers.
What advice has helped you get where you are now?
Be persistent. Don’t give up on your goals, and don’t give up on yourself. Continue improving, continue learning. Grow your passion and see your projects through to the end – then do it all over again. And enjoy yourself in the process.
SYNOPSIS: An Air Force photographer gets assigned to document the development of a new atomic bomb during wartime.
What was the inspiration behind this script?
My inspiration behind Sonora’s Crown was to offer a more personal story about the people who worked on atomic weapons. I’ve always been fascinated by the Atomic Age, especially the commercialisation of it all. Taking the story to current day, I wanted to give the audience a look at where one’s moral values lie when you might be the cause of all the destruction the weapon holds.
What are you looking for to take this project to the next stage?
I am looking for someone who is as passionate about the story as I am and is interested in bringing it to life.
What advice has helped you get where you are now?
The best advice I’ve received so far is to just keep writing. No matter what, don’t stop writing. There’s always something to learn from what you’ve written.
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