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Toronto Lift-Off Officially Selected Screenplays

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After a huge number of submissions for Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival, here are the 4 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:

 

Swoon – Carrie Siggins

 

 


SYNOPSIS: After a shy student becomes her high school’s Banksy, she’s propelled into the fast lane of the popular elite.

 

 


What was the inspiration behind this screenplay?

It’s based on a novel I wrote that, it turns out, was not a novel but a treatment for a screenplay.

What are you looking for to take this project to the next stage?

Someone who sees potential for the script and is interested in coming on the project.

What advice has helped you get where you are now?

Stick to it!

READ THE SCREENPLAY HERE

 

The Baron of Nulford – Leevi & Heikki Ikonen


 

SYNOPSIS: Two twenty-year-old Irish boys, seen as failures by their small town community, stumble upon a huge load of drugs. In an attempt to feel better about themselves, they move to Dublin to try their luck as drug barons.

 

 


What was the inspiration behind the screenplay?

Our screenplay came into being by my father’s (Heikki Ikonen) drafts from the nineties, which then were put aside for almost twenty years. During this time-period, I myself (Leevi Ikonen) followed in dad’s footsteps and graduated as a screenwriter. Back in 2015 I read his old drafts and noticed that I could really relate to the characters through people I grew up with.
My father was raised in a small city in Eastern Finland, where alcoholism and other social problems were commonplace. I myself grew up in a bigger city (on a Finnish scale) during the big Finnish economic recession of the nineties and had similar experiences. Both of us had lost friends for drugs, violence and suicide. And as we found out, many of these people had similar family backgrounds, aspirations and personal frailties – most importantly a thirst for acceptance and willingness to find shortcuts for physical and especially emotional pleasure.
We decided to make a synopsis combining our experiences and update my fathers old story into the twenty-first century. As we found both tragic and humoristic aspects to our subject, the screenplay started molding into a satire. It reflects problems of our post-internet social media culture – such as obsession for admirers, maintaining false images and appraising superficial values. Though gritty and dark at times, The Baron of Nulford addresses these themes with a sense of humor, warmth and optimism.

What are you looking for to take this project to the next stage?

We are looking for producers, directors and production companies who would be interested in taking the project forward. The script takes place in Ireland, but we believe that the characters and core themes are universal enough to be situated in almost anywhere within the western cultural sphere. This also includes non-English speaking countries and projects; and we’re fine with working with an outside dialogue writer.
We’re also very open for artistic feedback and co-operation of all sorts, including working on the structure and nuances of the script with dramaturg, producer and / or director. Having said this, we want to maintain our status as the only main screenwriters. We’re also open for discussion on altering the form of the story, for example writing a miniseries off of it.
So far the screenplay has qualified into the Nordic Film and TV Foundation’s ‘Nordic Talents’ (under a previous Finnish name ‘Virransuu’) and the pitching competition of the Norwegian International Film Festival in Haugesund (under the name ‘The Baron of Karelia’). It was also nominated for the best feature screenplay in Paris Art and Movie Awards and received an art grant for its development from the Arts Promotion Centre of Finland.

What advice has helped to get where you are now?

My screenwriting professor always told us not to mimic our favorite films but to base our screenplays on people and and themes we personally know. To write about personal and unique observations on the human character, even if the story takes place in a far-away time or culture. If a writer doesn’t know the backgrounds and deeper motivations of his or her characters, they often become one-dimensional and lack psychological detail.
Both me and my father – who’s also my co-writer – have personally known people who’ve felt attraction towards crime and drugs and fallen into a downward spiral as a result. We compared our observations of these people from two very different places in time, and found out that the backgrounds and mindsets were very similar.
Based on our shared experiences we started molding our main character, trying to maintain as honest to our personal observations as we possible could. We shared our stories and found a range of emotion from tragedy to comedy. Based on these stories and observations we wrote a dark yet optimistic drama-comedy called The Baron of Nulford.

The Good Twin – Zach Bliss

 

 


SYNOPSIS: As identical twins Matt & Clay grow up on opposite ends of the success spectrum, Matt has always longed to walk in his brother’s shoes. In fact, it seems like Matt’s one true talent in life is his ability to convincingly masquerade as Clay. One day w

 

What was the inspiration behind this screenplay?

Honestly, after shopping and shopping and ultimately (so far) failing to have any success with my first screenplay, my deep passion project, I wanted to make a movie. I wanted to create an entertaining story with a deeper message. I originally wanted to write the story of a ‘bad cop’ and explore the environmental motives and inner nature of someone who uses his badge to take advantage of people. As the story developed, it simply became something else with its own message. In the end, I feel strongly that I’ve created a story that shows a young man’s struggle to survive in the real world, the choices he makes in attempt to achieve what he thinks will make him happy, and the real-world consequences of those choices.

What are you looking for to take this project to the next stage?

Ideally, any of the following would make my day: an A list actor, director, or any serious financier or producer that I can really get on the same page with in bringing this ‘edge of your seat’ thriller to life.

What advice has helped you get where you are now?

A Toronto-based editor named George Roulston told me back in 2012 when I first visited Toronto, hoping to shop my first script with grandiose, unrealistic hopes and expectations, that I have to learn how to ‘kill my babies,’ referring to my struggle getting rid of scenes that I love. It’s not only very very great advice for writers learning the process and truth behind the cliche, ‘writing is rewriting,’ but I see it being relevant to more and more situations throughout life– Ya gotta learn how to break an egg if you want to make an omelet 🙂

READ THE SCREENPLAY HERE

The Great Divide – Lindsay Sparks

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS: In 1879 on the Colorado frontier, a young woman finds herself alone and penniless after a failed business venture. With no other options, she seeks out the money she’s owed by joining forces with the outlaws who murdered her father.

 

What was the inspiration behind this screenplay?

I was in the middle of vacation and this incredibly strong image popped into my head. I knew if I didn’t write it down, it would be lost, so there I am, the a-hole at the beach on a laptop, writing what would become the opening scene of the screenplay. That’s what got me started.

What kept me writing was the theme of exploring and finding one’s identity, especially as a woman, in a society that is constantly judging and bestowing its own labels on us. Growing up I was a tomboy and it wasn’t because I wanted to be like a boy, but rather because I wanted to be acknowledged by society in the way that society acknowledges boys and men – not as fragile victims, but as strong and independent leaders. Though society has evolved since then and makes an effort to recognize the strength of women, there’s still a disparate judgement.

I wrote the story from my perspective as a woman, so it is important to me that the feature film has that perspective. Of course, there are strong female characters in the story, but we are aiming to have a crew that’s at least 80% women as well, to give the story the creative perspective it deserves.

What are you looking for to take this project to the next stage?

Funding and above the line collaborators. I’ve invested some of my own money for development and we are filming our proof of concept at the end of July. I’m also actively looking for a female director to work closely with on the feature film. We are targeting the end summer 2019 to begin principal photography.

What advice has helped you get where you are now?

Do a little bit each day. For me that translated to a lot of bits each day because, from the first keyboard strokes, I found my passion in this screenplay. I reached my goal of writing eighty pages in thirty days and finished the full screenplay in forty. The end goal is to get the movie made in order to promote film in Colorado and women in film, including myself as an actor, writer, and producer. Everyone on my production team is as passionate as I am. The team is growing, and we are moving forward, a little bit every day.

READ THE SCREENPLAY HERE