A set piece would be when Laura takes Maurice to visit her sister Annette’s family in the suburbs on Christmas Eve. Her niece comes home crying from a friend’s house. When she had mentioned Santa Claus, her friends had laughed at her, saying Santa Clause was not real. She asked her brother and sister if that was true, and they said yes. She began wailing. Later that evening she was dressed in wings and a halo to play an angel in the church pageant, but was still inconsolable, making the family run later. Maurice watches her throw a tantrum expecting that at any moment she would be shouted at or hit by someone. He thought, “She better quiet down before she gets a whipping.” He sees her father, Bruce, approach and just knows she’s going to have a whipping. Instead, Bruce sits next to her, picks her up, puts his arms around her and strokes her hair. Instead of punishing her, he was loving her. Maurice could not believe what he had just seen. He vows to be a father like that someday.
It is called Last Bus Out
It is a Rescue Drama.
In the vein of The Blindside.
It is like Hotel Rwanda meets The Pursuit of Happyiness.
It follows determined basketball player Courtney Miles
And streetwise drug dealer Jabbar Gibson
As they seek to help their friends and family escape the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina.
Problems arise when police block the highways.
Together they will trust in God and refuse to be stopped as they rescue over 300 people.
The idea came to me when I read Last Bus Out by Beck McDowell and thought it would make a great movie portraying the victims of Hurricane Katrina positively .
My unique approach would be showing the people of the New Orleans as their own saviors instead of helpless victims just standing around as portrayed by the media.
A set piece would be when Courtney is driving down an empty stretch of Highway 90, heading northwest away from New Orleans. Suddenly a Crown Vic, the car of a police officer, appears. Courtney slows down. He has no driver’s license, so if the police pull him over, he will be charged with a crime. There will go his clean record, along with his academic and sports future. The police officer looks up, does a double take, glances over his shoulder at the empty highway. Then he looks up at the jampacked bus and scans the faces of the passengers looking out of the windows at him. Then he makes eye contact with Courtney. He smiles, nods his head, and lets the bus continue.
Target audiences would be teenagers, educators, basketball fans, faith-based audiences and the people of the Gulf Coast region.
People would want to see the movie due to its universal themes of faith, determination, community, personal responsibility and making the right choice.
It is called The Wayfaring Stranger.
It is a Western Romance
In the vein of When Calls The Heart.
It is like Hatfields and McCoys meets 1883.
It follows Irish Immigrant searching for peace Joseph Moore
Abd Redbone teenager full of joy Eliza Clark
As they search for peace and freedom in the Outlaw Strip of western Louisiana.
Problems arise when outlaws don’t take kindly to outsider Joseph and timber companies try to drive the Redbone people off their land.
Now together Joe and Eliza will through the love of God and the power of community overcome hardships and sustain a relationship.
The idea came to me when I read The Wayfaring Stranger while traveling through western Louisiana.
My unique approach is a Western set in the forests, hills, and swamps of Louisiana.
A set piece would be when the timber companies set fire to the forest to drive off the Redbone people. The people gather at a creek crossing for safety. Someone shouts that a widow is missing. Joseph jumps on his horse and rides through the smoke. “Who is that fool,” some wonder. He rides to a creek, soaks his horse and saddle in the water, climbs up the bank and takes off into the firestorm. The widow is sitting on her porch, praying as the flames approach her cabin. Suddenly Joseph comes galloping out of the billowing smoke. He takes the widow and places her on his horse. Then with her in his arms he takes off into the flaming forest as the cabin burns. The smoke clouds choke him and stings his eyes. His hair is being singed but he gallops on. Then he burst out of the firestorm and is at the creek crossing! The Redbone people cheer!
The target audience would be men and women (30-80), fans of westerns and period pieces, nature lover and Louisianans.
People would want to watch the miniseries because of the themes of love, freedom, forgiveness, finding peace, the power of community and the romance, adventure and excitement frontier Louisiana in the 1840s.