Here is information about completed screenplays, “Looking for Morning,” “Vale of Shadows,” “Backlash,” “Age of the Kingdom” and “Flyboy” plus a short film “Kapi’olani.”
“Looking For Morning”
A young, small-town pastor has a crisis of faith when his wife dies, leaving him with small children, and rebuilding his faith is complicated when he is drawn to an agnostic woman with tragedy in her own past.
It’s “God Bless the Broken Road” meets “The Case for Christ.” It’s “God Bless the Broken Road” meets “The Case for Christ.”
Synopsis:
DAVID PORTER is a young pastor of a small town church in rural South Georgia. He and his wife, LINDA have two children, DAVY and ALICIA. They are loved by their parishioners and they love their ministry. As a pastor, David is idealistic and a bit immature in his faith. He feels he has all the answers.
When Linda suddenly contracts brain cancer and dies within a matter of weeks, his world is destroyed, including his faith. He cannot understand why God would allow this to happen. He wonders if God is in control since He didn’t answer his prayers. His ministry suffers and he doesn’t handle his children well, especially eight-year-old Davy, who runs away from home at one point and narrowly escapes danger.
In the course of his grief, he meets JULIA WAINWRIGHT, a transplant from Philadelphia, who is as different from him as anyone can be. She is an independent divorcee and business owner. AND she is an agnostic. Julia also has grief in her past, which causes them to be drawn to one another.
As David struggles to recover his faith, Julia becomes his sounding board, eventually revealing her own pain and the history of her unbelief. She has a niece, ANNE, the brain-damaged 15-year-old daughter of Julia’s older sister who died in childbirth. The double tragedy sent Julia, a teen herself at the time, into a limbo of doubt from which she has never returned. Julia is devoted to Anne, visiting her regularly in a local nursing home.
Though he resists at first, David meets with DR. GARRETT, the town general practitioner, who is also a deacon in David’s church. He helps David work through his doubts. David has a breakthrough when he takes his eyes off himself and realizes nothing could even exist without the sustaining hand of God.
David and Julia grow closer, even as they sharply disagree about faith perspectives. She prefers the concreteness of science, while he argues for a God greater than human knowledge. Julia must re-examine her decision not to believe and David must re-evaluate and mature his formerly simplistic faith.
However, tongues wag and conclusions are jumped to in the small town about the time David and Julia spend together.
In the meantime, the church’s head deacon is not happy with David’s performance since Linda’s death and is not sympathetic with his grief process. He mounts a campaign to get rid of David, citing poor job performance since his wife’s death and the rumors about him and a woman.
Julia begins to believe there might be a future for her with David, and when he brings her a Christmas present they share a tender moment, but once David learns that the head deacon intends to replace him, he breaks it off because he feels he would have to choose between her and his ministry.
David narrowly survives a vote of the board of deacons. Unexpected support for him comes from none other than Julia herself, who arrives as the meeting is breaking up and testifies that David has become her pastor. She tells how he has ministered to her and how foolish they would be to fire him.
When David encounters Julia and Anne at the nursing home, Julia lets him know she believes again and he admits he doesn’t know all the answers, but that’s OK: “Maybe we should just trust Him.”
This screenplay is optioned. If you are interested in being part of this project, contact Smith International Productions.
“Vale of Shadows”
After he is shot, a drug dealer is reunited with a high school friend who tries to introduce him to Christ, but first they must both see past the veil to the spiritual battle swirling around them.
It’s “Pusher” meets “This Present Darkness.”
Synopsis:
JIMMY DOWLAND, a scrawny white man of about thirty, he deals drugs so he can afford to use them. He alienated his legitimate friends long ago. He lives in squalor and stays barely one step ahead of the law. Jimmy’s live-in girlfriend is ANGEL LOPEZ, whom he abuses and has addicted to drugs.
LUTHER VANDENBERG, a high school friend of Jimmy’s, is black and built like the linebacker he wanted to be. He is a Christian, thanks to his wife, LISA. Luther is an orderly at an emergency room.
After losing a drug shipment, Jimmy is threatened by kingpin EL MANO. Shot during a botched liquor store holdup, Jimmy is taken to the emergency room. Luther is alarmed and tries to share his faith, but Jimmy rebuffs him. In court, Jimmy gets off because the police failed to read him his rights.
A beautiful MYSTERY WOMAN keeps showing up around Jimmy. She offers him the money he needs if he will kill Luther. Jimmy attempts to kill Luther while he sleeps, but is scared away by VALDE, Luther’s guardian angel, who appears to him as a big man in a khaki uniform, carrying an imposing gun.
Jimmy dreams about the Mystery Woman, her arms trapping him. She then morphs into the demon spirit, DOLUS. Jimmy is afraid he is going crazy, but he is seeing the spiritual battle.
When Jimmy fails to kill Luther, Dolus causes Luther to run off the road and crash. While unconscious, he sees the spiritual battle around him. Lisa’s prayers help her find Luther.
In a drug-and-alcohol-fueled dream, Jimmy is attacked by a dog – or is it a wolf? Jimmy kills the dog/wolf and then wakes up with the Mystery Woman dead in his bed. Except that THAT is also a dream.
El Mano and his goons break down Jimmy’ door and El Mano demands payment, but Luther happens by. Unseen by Luther, but visible to El Mano and Jimmy, Valde comes in with Luther. El Mano skulk outs. After a quick discussion, Luther whisks Jimmy away, saying he’s not safe in his apartment.
Jimmy stays with Luther that night and the next day Luther helps him reunite with his mother, MARTHA, who never stopped praying for him. Luther, Lisa, Martha and Jimmy to go to Luther’s church. After Martha’s Sunday dinner, Luther’s leads Jimmy to Christ.
Act Three is the final battle over Jimmy. Staying with his mother, he gets his life together. But El Mano and his hoods find Jimmy and take him to an abandoned warehouse where they try to kill him with an overdose of heroin, causing Jimmy to imagine himself in hell. Luther goes to rescue his friend. With the element of surprise, Luther overcomes El Mano’s goons. Luther is allowed to see the angels of light battling the demons, as he tries to save Jimmy. Luther, Lisa, Martha and the church pray like never before. The good angels send the demons to the abyss through a swirling portal. Jimmy’s life is saved.
This screenplay is optioned. If you are interested in being part of this project, contact Smith International Productions.
“Flyboy”
Just prior to D-Day, Robert Brandenburg pilots a P-51 Mustang fighter on daily bombing missions across France to Germany. Returning from a mission, Robert is shot down, parachuting onto a farm belonging to Paul Bouchet, who, with his daughter, Claire, is active in the sabotage work of the underground. The Bouchet’s farm is a stop on the route out of occupied France for refugees, but a German spy puts the entire operation in jeopardy.
Synopsis:
Just prior to D-Day, Robert Brandenburg pilots a P-51 Mustang fighter on daily missions across France to Germany. His wing man/friend/rival is Vinnie Patrizzo. They are as different as their hometowns in New York and Kansas.
A band of partisans explodes an ammunition dump at a German command post (a French chateau). A beautiful 19-year-old girl, Claire Bouchet, distracts the sentry as the underground warriors go over the wall. Later she covers their exit with a barrage from the tommy gun she carries under her coat.
Returning from a mission, Robert’s squadron is surprised by the first of Hitler’s jet fighters. Robert and Patrizzo are both shot down over Northern France. Robert ejects and parachutes onto a farm belonging to Paul Bouchet, who, with his daughter, Claire, are active in the sabotage work of the underground. The Bouchets hide Robert and, eventually Patrizzo and another pilot, too, since their farm is a stop on the route out of occupied France for refugees. Robert is amazed by the beautiful but tough Claire. Paul prepares false papers for the pilots and tells them they will be flying to England tomorrow night.
Karl Linzer is a German Major who suspects the Bouchets of underground activity.
At night, Claire and Robert go for a walk in a field. She tells him how the Germans killed her mother and others randomly after an act of sabotage in the village. She rages, cries and resolves to see the “Bosches” defeated.
Paul answers a knock at the door. It is Linzer. He invites Claire to be his escort at a ceremony tomorrow night at the army headquarters, using veiled threats to get her to say yes.
Later, Robert asks Claire about Linzer. She replies that Linzer is not a danger to her, but Robert is, because he might actually have a chance with her. Robert and Claire both realize they are falling in love.
During Linzer’s ceremony, a distant explosion announces the destruction of a bridge important to German supply lines, the work of Paul and the partisans.
Claire discovers the third pilot is a German spy passing information about the underground to Linzer. Paul tricks him into speaking German, then executes him.
They immediately head for the rendezvous expecting the Germans to soon pursue them. Linzer and an SS soldier catch them and force Paul to stop his car. Paul and Claire insist they are going to visit her aunt. When Linzer orders the storm trooper to search the car, Paul opens fire and runs over the storm trooper. As the car spins around, Claire sprays the Mercedes with her tommy gun and Paul speeds away.
At the rendezvous, while they wait Robert and Claire talk about the future, the end of the war.
When the plane comes, they hastily say goodbye. Robert and Patrizzo hurry toward the plane, but shots ring out from the woods and Patrizzo falls, dying in Robert’s arms. Claire and Paul return fire. The plane takes off again but gunfire brings it down in a fireball. Paul is killed. Claire runs to him as Linzer and a score of soldiers emerge to take her captive. Robert escapes into the trees.
Claire is tortured by the Gestapo, but reveals nothing. Other partisans are executed.
Robert, traveling at night and aided by nuns at a convent, returns to the Bouchet farm, where he hides in the barn. The Germans have ransacked the place and won’t be back. He finds food and an old pistol. Dressed as a peasant, he bicycles into the village, finds where he plots to rescue of Claire. However, the Germans capture him as well and he must improvise to free himself and Claire.
This screenplay is optioned. If you are interested in being part of this project, contact Smith International Productions.
“Kapi’olani” (Short Film)
A young Hawaiian princess causes the death of a friend when she violates a law of kapu, the cruel Hawaiian religion which includes human sacrifice. Many years later she finds peace after the kapu and its temples are destroyed.
Synopsis
It is 1791. The scene is Kealakekua Bay on the Island of Hawaii.
Kapi’olani, a 10 year-old Hawaiian princess, and Mau, an 11-year-old boy and Kapi’olani’s favorite servant, along with Keoua, another Ali’i (nobility) about Kapi’olani’s age, are playing on beach. At one point they run up into the trees and encounter the heiau (Hawaiian temple) and a frightening Kahuna (priest) Kuheleaumoku glowers down at them. They run away, frightened.
Kapi’olani asks Mau to take bananas for her, even though she knows under kapu, the Hawaiian religion, the penalty for a common woman eating a banana is death, but for Ali’i, it is life-long poverty, loss of rank and must remain unmarried.
Because Mau is so fond of Kapi’olani, he takes bananas from a hale (house) while the wife isn’t looking.
Later on the beach, Kapi’olani and Keoua eat bananas for the first time, but are caught by Kahuna Kuheleaumoku. He takes them to the village. All three children are crying.
There is a trial in front of the chief’s house. Villagers observe and Bodyguards stand on either side of the chief. Kuheleaumoku demands kapu be satisfied and mana restored. Kapiolani and Keoua are to suffer the penalty of life-long poverty, loss of rank and must remain unmarried. Kapi’olani’s aunt and guardian, Akahi, argues for her life. Kuheleaumoku takes Mau away instead, while Akoni restrains Kapi’olani.
That night in Akahi’s hale, Kapi’olani is incolsolable. Akahi tries to get her to eat, but she runs out to the beach in the dark.
The scene dissolves into a scene 28 years later of a heiau being burned. Kapi’olani as an adult is there with High Priest Hewahewa, King Kamehameha II, Queen Ka’ahumanu and Queen Keopuolani, watching the fire consume the temple. A Narrator informs us that Kapi’olani was among the Ali’i who did away with the cruel kapu religion in 1819.
In 1820, the two-masted ship “Thaddeus” anchors in Kailua Bay. The narrator informs us that the missionaries have arrived.
Missionary wife Laura Judd teaches Christianity to a group of Hawaiians under a tree in Kailua. She tells how Adam and Eve received a death sentence for eating forbidden fruit, but Jesus died in their place so they could have eternal life. Kapi’olani sees that Kuheleaumoku, now an old man, is there. She confronts him, asking, “What happened to Mau?” He replies, “Those were evil times, though we priest knew better. We did it to control the people.” “But what happened to him?” Kapi’olani asks again. “He was strangled at the altar.” Kapi’olani weeps and says “Why couldn’t the Christians have come sooner and taught us a better way?”
Kapi’olani sits on the beach at sunset. She holds a cross and looks up to the sky, praying to the God who made all things.
If you want to participate in this project, contact Gary Ivey.
Backlash (Adapted from the Novel)
Based on the novel by Gary L. Ivey, “Backlash” has now been adapted for the screen by the author.
Logline: When a young woman and her company, Axiom Oil, takes on environmental radicals, the media and all of Washington DC, the drama is bound to be explosive.
Synopsis: Axiom Oil, Inc. is the nation’s largest oil company.
Jacqueline (Jackie) James, VP of Operations, is the daughter of CEO Donald “Junior,” James, but everything changes when he dies suddenly. She becomes CEO of the nation’s largest gasoline retailer over the objections of the old-boy network on the Board of Directors.
Jackie, 38, is more like her scrappy grandfather, a 1920s wildcatter, than her MBA father.
She’s earned everything she’s ever gotten, including the respect of stockholders and employees.
The day after she becomes CEO, an Axiom offshore drilling rig is attacked by a radical environmental terror cell and one of the workers dies, which the news media portrays as negligence on the part of the oil company, creating a public relations nightmare. When a Senator uses the “accident” to push through an additional major gas tax, Axiom’s finance people tell Jackie that the new tax wipes out their profit on motor fuel for the fourth quarter. Jackie knows that drastic action is necessary. “Operation Backlash” sets in motion a chain of events that few could have predicted, including putting Jackie herself in danger.
If you want to participate in this project, contact Gary Ivey.
Age of the Kingdom
The “Age of the Kingdom” series is a one-hour, biblical, historical drama covering multiple generations of several families in Israel’s United Monarchy period. In the pilot, Eldad of Mizpah must join the fight against an invading Philistine army to protect his family and a courageous woman must rescue her young orphan nephew from a burning city to keep the religion of Yahweh alive.
Six seasons are envisioned, spanning 140 years, following
multiple generations of five families against the backdrop
of Israel’s united monarchy:
• Seasons 1 & 2: Saul’s Reign
• Seasons 3 & 4: David’s Reign
• Seasons 5 & 6: Solomon’s Reign
“A” Story: A metalsmith from Mizpah distinguishes himself in battle, but his sons clash over divided loyalties until one dies trying to save the king he loves.
“B” Story: A cursed family of priests faces annihilation more than once, but a remnant survives each time.
“C” Story: A Dynasty of Philistine kings has a series of rocky interactions with Israel’s kings, leading to their downfall.
“D” Story: Israel’s first king fails because he regards the kingdom as his instead of God’s. The night before his death, the king seeks counsel from the ghost of the prophet who rejected him.
“E” Story: A young shepherd threatens the dynasty of Israel’s first king, rising to take the throne though refusing to use violence, but his reign is immediately threatened by civil war.
Season One: Saul’s Reign
S1E1: (Pilot) “Lost Glory”
In a disastrous battle with the Philistines, Eldad, a metalsmith from Mizpah, barely escapes with his life and four members of a cursed family of priests die, but a courageous young woman rescues a boy and his infant brother in the priestly line so the religion of Yahweh continues. After a long convalescence, the smith returns to his wife in Mizpah to find the town under the iron heel of the Philistines.
S1E2: “Plague”
The Philistines learn their prize from the battle brings a plague, so they return it. Eldad must act decisively to save his wife, Hadassah, when she is almost raped by Philistine soldiers. Hadassah gives birth to a son, Jeriah. Meanwhile, and the remnant of the priestly family suffers tragedy again. Eldad works with the prophet Samuel to drive out the occupiers in a battle with spiritual overtones.
S1E3: “Long Live the King”
Though the Philistines now occupy Gibeah, Israel demands the prophet give them a king like other nations, God tells him to select Saul, an imposing but green member of Eldad’s tribe. Saul is crowned at a ceremony in Mizpah. Later, desert dwellers threaten in Israelite town across the Jordan River with a personal connection to Saul.
S1E4: “Extremity”
When Saul hears of the siege of Jabesh-Gilead, he raises a huge army. For the first time, the prince, Jonathan, leads a company of soldiers. Jeriah and Eldad both participate in the battle of Jabesh-Gilead to end the Ammonites’ siege of the city. Jeriah meets Shelomith, who will be his wife. Jonathan assassinates the Philistine governor and Saul then attacks the garrison, but a Philistine army of 20,000 men marches on Gibeah.
S1E5: “Desperation”
Saul raises a small army, including Jeriah, but only 3,000 from Benjamin respond and they start deserting while Saul waits for Samuel to arrive and offer sacrifice before the battle and Saul takes matters into his own hands, leading Samuel to tell Saul God has chosen another to replace him. Saul leads the army to Micmash, but is paralyzed by depression, so Jonathan leads Israel to victory. Jeriah also distinguishes himself and is offered a commission by Abner, Saul’s cousin and commander-in-chief.
S1E6: “Rejection”
Jeriah and Shelomith marry. Jeriah’s first campaign in the standing army is to annihilate the Amalekites because, according to Samuel, they hindered Israel during the Exodus, but when Saul fails to carry out God’s command to the letter, Samuel rejects him once and for all, telling him God has chosen another. Meanwhile David is anointed by Samuel to be the next king in a clandestine ceremony.
S1E7: “The Vale of Elah”
The Philistines march toward Gibeah again. Jeriah commands a company of 1,000 with David’s brother Eliab as his lieutenant. Jeriah’s brother, Azel, has also joined the army, but Saul is paralyzed when the Philistines reveal Goliath, their 9-foot champion.
S1E8: “Giant Killer”
David, a civilian, defeats the giant no one else faced, but this will drive a wedge between Jeriah and Azel. On the way back to Gibeah, David is hailed as a hero, with women singing his praises. David’s fame crosses the country like wildfire and Saul becomes jealous.
Season Two: The Rise of David
S2E1: “Bait and Switch”
Azel takes a wife, Dani, from his mother’s village in Ephraim. David is given a command, but is frustrated that Saul has not given him all the rewards promised to the one who would kill the giant, especially his daughter’s hand in marriage. Saul first offers Merab, but then withdraws her, offering Michal instead, whom he asks to spy on David for him, certain that David will supplant him. Jeriah is upset when Azel asks to be under David’s command instead of his.
S2E2: “Divided Loyalties”
Even though Saul is now his father-in-law, David must flee for his life, first going to Gath and narrowly avoiding arrest, then to a remote cave in the wilderness of Judah. Azel deserts and he and his family join David in hiding. Saul massacres the priests and their families because one aided David. Only young Abiathar excapes to join the David’s outcasts David.
S2E3: “Cross Purposes”
David marries his second wife, Ahinoam. Many more of the disaffected join David. He and his company move around to avoid Saul’s pursuit, but Abner’s spies always reveal David’s location. Samuel dies and Saul is desperate to hear from the Lord. David moves his aging mother and father to Moab. Eldad Dies. When Jeriah and Azel return to Mizpah they have a major falling out over their divided loyalties.
S2E4: “The Chase”
Abner continues to consolidate his power in the vacuum formed by Saul’s obsession with David. Jeriah becomes Saul’s personal guard and armor bearer. Jonathan has a son: Mephibosheth. After an insult, David is stopped from killing Nabal, who dies from fright, and David then marries Nabal’s wife, Abigail. David refuses to kill Saul when he has the chance. When Saul later nearly catches David, he and his refugees disappear into Philistia.
S2E5: “Exile”
King Achish welcomes David to Gath, but others doubt his loyalty. Achish gives him the city of Ziklag, where Azel builds a house for Dani and their son. David deceives Achish, pretending to raid Judah, but instead raiding villages of the Philistines, killing men, women and children, so no one talks.
S2E6: “Voice from the Grave”
When the Philistines prepare to attack Israel again, David and his men, including Azel, march to Jezreel, expecting to fight alongside the Philistines, but they are dismissed to return home to Ziklag. David and his men find Ziklag sacked and their wives and families taken captive by Amalekites. David’s men plot to kill him. Israel’s army marches to the Jezreel valley. Saul prepares for battle with the Philistines again, but he is desperate to hear from God, so Jeriah accompanies him as he consults a witch in Endor. They have to cross the valley near the Philistine camp. The witch conjures the ghost of the late prophet Samuel, who gives Saul bad news.
S2E7: “Tracks in the Desert”
David and his men pursue the Amalekites deep into the Negev to rescue their families. Azel recovers his wife and child unharmed. Jonathan is angry that Saul is out of pocket and confronts Abner. Saul returns from Endor and orders the attack.
S2E8: “Death On the Mountain”
Israel’s army is routed in the battle of Gilboa and Saul and his sons die. Jeriah dies trying to save Saul. When David hears the news, he mourns the death of “the Lord’s Anointed.” With Saul dead, the tribe of Judah finally crowns David king, but civil war is on the horizon.
If you want to participate in this project, contact Gary Ivey.