Green Room Excerpts
Saturday, November 11th, 4:00pm
MAinstage
FEATURED EXCERPT WRITERS (ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
1. Rachael Ashe
2. Royce Buckingham
3. Laura Gilliam
4. Debra Jarvis
5. Joey Johnson
6. Yoav Litvin
7. Bry Troyer
High Spirits - Rachael Ashe
Logline: When an ambitious psychiatrist, firmly grounded in science, opens up psychically and meets two zany Spirit Guides assigned to help her, her life becomes as complicated as her patients.
Excerpt summary: This excerpt is taken from the first act of the pilot episode after we have met psychiatrist Evie Roberts as a young child. Evie sees spirits but she is met with stern, unsupportive responses from her family. She suppresses her visions and grows up to be a caring and meticulous psychiatrist who believes all supernatural phenomena are hallucinations. In this excerpt, Evie has no idea something is about to happen to turn her world upside-down. The first scene of the excerpt is of an Afterlife Conference Center where Spirit Guides are training to assist people on Earth.
Baggage - Royce Buckingham (with James Dailey and Arthur Rains-McNally)
Logline: When a problem-solving single mom discovers that her perfect new boyfriend has a dark secret, she digs into his past to seek out his hidden baggage and finds a manipulative ghost.
Excerpt summary: Molly is a single mom who has met the perfect boyfriend, Nick. But no one’s perfect, right? Molly believes this so strongly that when Nola, the ghost of Nick’s dead stepsister, speaks to her from the duffel bag in which she was found, Molly is more than ready to listen to what Nola has to say about Nick. We join the story as Nick gives Molly’s teen daughter, Kaylee, a ride in his car while Molly frantically tries to track them down or at least warn Kaylee that Nick is, probably, a killer.
A Chef with Convictions - Debra Jarvis
Logline: When a former felon accidentally sets off a burglar alarm, he ducks into a nearby house where a group of pre-teen girls mistake him for their cooking instructor and he is forced to play the part when the police arrive looking for him.
Excerpt summary: Fresh out of prison, on probation and under house arrest, Jeff Artana drops off his resume at what he assumes is a janitorial company. But he’s got the wrong place, so the burglar alarm goes off and now he is running through the neighborhood backyards to avoid being caught by the cops.
Refuge - Joey Johnson
Logline: In this feature-length dystopian thriller, two couples have escaped the collapse of society by surviving in a self-sustaining mountain refuge, but when they invite a young couple to join them, they must face the violent nature that has erupted in the world, and in themselves.
Excerpt summary: To save her gravely injured husband Xavier, Monica (30s) journeys back to Seattle for the first time since the world collapsed, guided by Diego (20s), who has been coerced into helping her reach the terrible prison he had just escaped.
Face Genius - Laura Gilliam
Logline: Logline: New Age healer Sylvia Barron is mortified when her new VIP/NDA client turns out to be HartRob, the celebrity hottie she’s been obsessively watching online.
Excerpt summary: In the opening scenes of the pilot episode for the limited series dramedy FACE GENIUS, Manager Austin and makeup stylist Shelly fuss over Josh Roberts—once child actor, now the darling of the cougar set. To keep Josh’s current movie deal on track, they unsuccessfully try to cover up the damage from a recent car accident that killed Josh’s best friend. Meanwhile, Sylvia Barron spends her days in the waiting room of a rehab clinic hoping to see her long-time partner after his advance directive has shut her out from his post-stroke care. She can’t resist sharing her ergonomic insights with anyone who walks by.
Odessa - Yoav Litvin
Logline: In 1880, as the Russian Empire teeters on the precipice of revolution, Czar Alexander II masterminds a high-stakes boxing showdown in Odessa. The destinies of the Czar's grand scheme, a burgeoning assassination plot, and the very fate of the Jewish community intertwine, all hinging on the shoulders of Munio Mariash, a 28-year-old fisherman and retired boxer.
Excerpt summary: After the humiliating loss of the Crimean war and his liberal reforms which freed the serfs and upended the economy, Czar Alexander the 2nd faces resistance from his aristocratic base, pressures from neighboring countries, a brewing scandal of brazen infidelity and threats to his life from a bold revolutionary movement called “The People’s Will”. Barely surviving a fifth assassination attempt at the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the Czar decides to spend his birthday in the Black Sea port town of Odessa, where he stages a public relations stunt - a boxing match between a Russian and a Jew. The fate of the Czar's plan, the success of a fresh assassination plot devised by "The People's Will" and the well-being of the entire Jewish community, all revolve around one man – 28-year-old fisherman and retired boxer Munio Mariash, who must contend with forces within the Jewish community as well as his own demons.
My Dead Boyfriend - Bry Troyer
Logline: With the help of his back-from-the-dead boyfriend and adventurous daughter, a risk-averse dad struggles to maintain his job as a tour guide for the dead and otherworldly beings visiting the world of the living.
Excerpt summary: This excerpt is from the pilot of My Dead Boyfriend. Our protag, Raymond Plunt, just arrived at his condo after a long day with a boss from hell and all he wants to do is drink wine—maybe straight from the bottle—and binge Golden Girl reruns. But what’s this? A “Do not enter” sign posted on his door? Someone must know that inside his condo is something dark and potentially deadly. Something not of this world. But will a stupid sign stop Ray? Fuck no! Now if he could just find the damn key to open his condo…