Tag: adventure

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Skyscraper – an animated adventure for the whole family

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New York, New York.

Pitch: Family fare à la Don Bluth. An American Tail meets Finding Nemo in the Art Deco style of the 1930s.

Synopsis: New York, 1930. Skyscrapers reach for the heavens, and a squirrel family in Central Park adopts an abandoned baby harrier named Scrap. They don’t realize that Scrap will turn their lives upside down. When a twist of fate separates Scrap and his brother Skip from their mother, Scrap must face his fears, navigate the big city, and learn to fly to reunite his family.

Skyscraper is an animated adventure for the whole family, filled with suspense, humor, and even fascist guinea pigs.

The screenplay for Skyscraper received an 8/10 rating on the online version of The Black List, with comments like:

  • “Universally funny – perfect for a family film.”
  • “It has the potential to be a great animated feature for family audiences worldwide.”

Skyscraper was also favorably reviewed by John August and Craig Mazin on their Scriptnotes Podcast.

The Journey: We began working on Skyscraper a few years ago, inspired by the idea of writing a feature-length screenplay. Animation felt like a natural fit. The basic premise of Skyscraper—a squirrel family adopting a baby harrier—remained constant, but as we refined the plot and characters, we discovered what the story was truly about.

In 2012, we were happy enough with the project to share it with the world. We entered it into competitions and submitted it to The Black List, receiving great and encouraging feedback from producers. Over the past year, we’ve taken that feedback to heart, reworking Skyscraper into a “better than ever” 80-page version.

The script takes the reader on a fun ride filled with laughter and lots of heart. The theme of acceptance is carefully woven throughout as Scrap must come to terms with who he his and who he isn’t. The best aspect of the script by far is the wacky, yet sweet collection of characters. From Linus, the terrified Lizard, to Fluffy, the leader of the crazed guinea pigs, and even Piers, Scrap’s pseudo-sensei, each characters has its own unique voice and their role in the script has been carefully thought out. The entertaining and tense action scenes would have any kid and adult seating on the edge of their seat. Overall, this script would make for a great animated film. (…) The script definitely has a Madagascar vibe, and could potentially spawn a couple of sequels. It could absolutely attract A-list talent needed to secure its high budget.

This is an endearing script with a well-constructed plot and likeable characters. The humor is universally funny – perfect for a family film. The sequences in the second act are well thought out and keep the plot moving toward the action packed third act, with the library sequence featuring Piers being especially engaging. With a family friendly plot that’s funny for all ages, this seems like a script that could attract a wide, mainstream family audience as an animated film.

The current draft of Skyscraper is 73 pages long.

If you’re interested and would like to read Skyscraper, drop us a line, and we’ll be happy to send it your way.

We are currently in the process of sending Skyscraper out to production companies and are proud to share that Skyscraper was nominated for the German Animation Screenplay Award at the  ITFS 2018. 

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Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs – The Screenplay

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Pitch: The Avengers meets Battlestar Galactica and evolves into Pacific Rim in Space. Or, in short: Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs brought to life on the big screen!

Synopsis: The New Colonies are under attack—but by whom? Is it King Jarred, or could the rumors of an old enemy’s return be true? In the middle of the chaos lies RAMROD, a mysterious weapon—or savior—that everyone seems to be after.

Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs follows a group of exceptional loners brought together by circumstance, thrust into a galaxy-spanning war. As alliances form and secrets unravel, RAMROD becomes their only hope for survival in a battle where the fate of the universe hangs in the balance.

Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs

Stallion power on!

San Diego Comic-Con 2012, Hilton Bayfront, at the bar after a long day of nerdgasm… what could possibly go wrong?

We were reflecting on the amazing day we’d had, discussing the sci-fi movie we’d decided to write. As we brainstormed characters, action scenes, and big story moments, we caught ourselves referencing the same old TV show over and over again. A few drinks later, we admitted what we’d both known for hours: we knew what we really wanted to do.

So, we scrapped our generic sci-fi idea and started working on a live-action version of Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs.

We loved that show as kids, and while we knew it was a long shot, we set out to write the best possible movie adaptation we could imagine. Our goal was to create something completely different from Skyscraper, and we think we succeeded.

Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs tells the thrilling story of a group of misfits who must come together to fight an enemy willing to do whatever it takes to win. The New Colonies are under attack, but who is responsible? Is it King Jarred and his formidable army, or has an old enemy returned to finish what he started 25 years ago?

And then there’s RAMROD. Who—or what—is RAMROD, and why is everyone after him? Can RAMROD really tip the scales in the war?

Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs is an action-packed, no-holds-barred thrill ride. It stays true to the spirit of the original show while addressing some of its shortcomings. We’ve taken the series’ core storyline, raised the stakes, and made it movie-worthy with bigger action and a more compelling narrative. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a newcomer, we believe everyone can enjoy this adaptation.

We received great feedback from The Black List and spent several weeks rewriting and polishing the screenplay. We made adjustments to the characters and are now very happy with the current version.

Here’s what The Black List reviewers had to say about Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs:

The world is colossal from the spaceships to the alien planets to the vision of the cities truly making the setting feel like an epic space opera. The opening immediately captures a similar scope and vibe as the opening of the original Star Wars where battleships combat all over the place. Much like STAR WARS, there is a western undertone to the story including Saber Rider and his robotic horse Steed that gives the script another fun little twist on the genre. Saber’s team is also a group of unlikely candidates who constantly seem to come into conflict with each other. Saber and Colt have an immediate distaste for the other especially with the generational gap yet they are after the same goal forcing them to work together. Fireball is another character who is led by his ego putting him at odds with the others yet his driving skillset often comes in handy. April is the final piece of the team who is the key for bringing together Ramrod. Together they somehow end up working together to save the galaxy. On the surface, story is relatively clean and simple setting up both the universal stakes and conflicts. There are some fun action sequences including an epic showdown in the third act between the battling factions.

This action-packed sci-fi comedy entertains from start to finish, delightfully building tension and suspense as SABER RIDER investigates a perpetrator and the mystery unfolds into a much bigger plan orchestrated by an enemy of the colonies. Well-laid from the outset, the writing skillfully uses kids being taught history on a school field trip to introduce the key plot points, characters and motivations that exist in the project’s world. And the project is indeed set in an incredible world- a futuristic set of colonies that has created a defense force to ward off enemies and that feels part western, part futuristic like LONE RANGER meets PACIFIC RIM. Its visuals are captivating with spaceships, racecars, a mechanical horse that fights in space and numerous other unique and eye-catching settings, props and characters. The writing does a great job of developing the script’s spectacular supporting characters. Feisty FIREBALL and renegade bounty hunter COLT add depth and dimension to the script’s world thanks to their own unique backgrounds that contrast with the personalities of the Star Sheriffs to create brilliant comedic chemistry; also, the supporting characters add complexity, intrigue and unexpected obstacles to an otherwise simple, good guy versus bad guys plot.

The current draft of Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs is 113 pages long.

If you’re interested and would like to read Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs, drop us a line, and we’ll be happy to send it your way.

(c) “Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs” is based on upon the animated television series produced by Studio Pierrot and World Events Productions.