Here is information about completed screenplays, “Looking for Morning,” “Vale of Shadows,” “Backlash,” “Age of the Kingdom,” “Accidental Aloha” and “Flyboy” plus a short film “Kapi’olani.”

(Download Pitch Deck)

When a young woman loses her job and her boyfriend the same day she decides a Hawaii vacation is the answer, but when things go wrong, she learns there’s more to Hawaii than beaches and palm trees and finds out more about herself than she expected.

The feeling/genre: light – comedy/drama. Think “Mom’s Night Out” meets “Divine Influencer” with a touch of “Legally Blonde”.

Synopsis:

Faith Paulson, 25, is a social media marketer in Los Angeles for whom things are apparently going well. She has a best friend named Cherry and a boyfriend named Brad. She’s a neat-freak vegan obsessed with Instagram. She thinks she might get a promotion at work. Instead, when she’s called into HR, she gets fired. As she arrives at her apartment, she is approached by a homeless man, from whom she recoils in fear. As she hurries into her apartment, Brad calls and breaks up with her over the phone. Cherry takes her out to a club to cheer her up, but Faith decides a trip to Hawaii is the answer to her problems.
She meant to go to Waikiki, but accidentally books a flight to Hawaii Island because she assumed Waikiki would be on the biggest island. She stays at a resort and at first, is a cliche tourist: beach, spa, snorkeling with Manta Rays, luau, etc. On a boat tour, she accidentally drops her cellphone in the ocean. She can’t get another for 5 days. They loan her a flip phone but she doesn’t have her contacts.
At a bar, she meets another tourist, Ethan, who seems nice, but he steals her purse while she’s in the restroom. Faith reports it, but doesn’t know Ethan’s last name. She does have her rental car key fob and gets a copy of her drivers’ license from the resort. She finds emergency cash in her luggage and decides to go to the volcano. She sees Hilo and Rainbow Falls on the way. She arrives at the volcano after dark and marvels at its beauty, but has no phone so she can’t take a selfie.

Ethan and his two accomplices, J.B. and Colin, rob an armored car and decide to hide out at the volcano, which is erupting in a big way. While they view the volcano, Faith spots them and tries sneak away, but sees their car and finds her purse and other purses they stole in the trunk. She inadvertently gets the bag with the money too. Ethan and the others see her as Faith puts the purses in her car. The trio of criminals give chase in their car. Somehow, she loses them, but in the dark, she gets lost on a lava field and hits a wild boar, crippling her car, so she sleeps in her car overnight.
When she wakes, she’s lost in a lava field with no cell phone signal, so she must walk. She falls into a lava tube and is rescued by a big, scary Hawaiian teen, Kekoa. He takes her home in his pickup, where Kekoa’s mother, Noelani, takes her in. They and Kekoa’s brother, Haoa, live off-grid and grow their own food. Another pig appears and chases the brothers. Kekoa gets a revolver from the pickup and shoots the second pig. They butcher it.
It will be a couple of days before the family can take Faith to town. She learns another side of Hawaii: poverty and subsistence farming, goats, Spam and Coqui frogs. Noelani is a Christian who quotes “the good book,” giving Faith gentle wisdom. She also helps Faith understand the true meaning of “Aloha.” Noelani’s church helps with a homeless ministry and she forces Faith to go, which begins changing her. Cherry has tried repeatedly to reach Faith but failed, until the flip phone rings at the shelter.
Ethan and his accomplices are also looking for Faith, but with sinister motives.
Noelani and sons take Faith to Kailua town on their Costco run, pulling her rental car with Haoa steering. Ethan and crew spot her car and give chase. Ethan cuts them off.
Faith and Noelani get out of the truck and Faith angrily tells Ethan she’s no longer afraid, but he pulls a pistol and demands she hand over the money. J.B. sees the loot in the pickup bed, but Haoa appears and points their revolver at his head. While Ethan is distracted, Noelani, using skills learned in the military, takes his gun. The brothers tie up Ethan and crew. Faith calls the police on her flip phone. The police take them away.
The final scene is Noelani and sons at the resort with Faith as they enjoy the beach in chaise lounges and Faith reflects on all she has learned and how she has changed.

If you want to participate in this project, contact Gary Ivey.