Submission Samples from the Biography Genre

Title: If Upon A River

Logline: Theodore Roosevelt journeys into the Amazon jungle, navigating a life-death struggle, while grappling with the psychological forces and regrets that have shaped his life.

Synopsis: Shortly after the devastating defeat in the 1912 presidential election, Theodore Roosevelt heads an expeditionary force into the Amazon jungle, finding a new challenge in charting an undiscovered tributary -- the River of Doubt. While he struggles to come to terms with his future, Roosevelt learns his greatest challenge is confronting the specter at the crossroad of his life - his deceased brother, Elliott, who committed suicide twenty years earlier. "If Upon A River" is as much of a literal trip as it is a metaphorical journey - a delicately layered tale through the dark corners of the human soul and a personal past filled with misgivings and forebodings. The screenplay is registered with the Writers Guild of America, and available upon request.

Title: Wild John

Logline: Environmentalism has a name; John Muir.

Synopsis: Tracing the highlights of John Muir's extraordinary life, Wild John begins deep in a well on the Muir family farm. Nineteen-year old John sits in a bucket, poisoned by gas and unconscious. He survives, but suffers a beating at the hands of his father, who uses his belt on John's back. Escaping home, John enters college and takes courses in botany and geology. One summer, he works as a machinist and is blinded by a metal file. He vows - if his sight ever returns - never to work indoors again and to witness the majesty of God's creation. His sight does return, and he moves to Yosemite, where he begins his career as a naturalist, writer and preservationist. His passion and writing ability launch the Sierra Club. He nearly dies many times though; on a cliff wall on Mount Ritter, on an Alaskan ice bridge with a dog named Stickeen, and atop a tree in a lighting storm. When San Francisco wants a dam built in his beloved Hetch Hetchy valley, the tumultuous last act of John Muir's life begins.

Title: Caracalla

Logline: Caracalla is one of Rome's most infamous Emperors. He ruled with an iron fist and made an example out of any anyone who defied him. He and his brother Geta fought for control over the Roman Empire.

Synopsis: Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoniinus Augustus nicked named Caracalla for the cloak he wore. He was far worst than Nero and Caligula. He ruled Rome with terror and killed many Romans for supporting his brother Geta. Caracalla and Geta plotted against one another to be the sole leader of Rome. Not only did he terrorized Rome, but other Empires as well. Septimius Severus is the father to Caracalla and Geta. He left the empire for the both of them to rule after his death. A good emperor made a bad decision and many lives were lost. Julia Domna is the wife to Septimius and mother to Caracalla and Geta. She tries her best to keep peace between the two brothers. Julia is smart and very familiar with politics, but that is not enough from keeping her sons from fighting with one another. Macrinus is the Praetorian Guard Prefect for Caracalla. The man is sworn to protect and serve Caracalla. Macrinus has grown weary of the blood shed and decides to take Rome for himself.

Title: American Shaman

Logline: Doctors called him Freak, vowing to destroy him. While he struggled to find the source of his psychic powers and maintain his sanity, he healed thousands to become the world's greatest psychic.

Synopsis: Far from the front lines of WWII, Edgar Cayce looks at a sailor and knows he won't come home. His psychic powers gives him the ability to heal the sick and predict the future. He recalls his life-long battle with doctors when they called him Freak and tried to kill him. Even though they threatened him, he defiantly healed thousands of patients after doctors had given up on them. This is also the inspiring story of the fierce love and compassion of a strong willed woman who believed in him, even when her life hung in the balance. Set amidst world-changing events and strange psychic phenomena; they struggled to understand the source of his powers, and feared it would some day destroy him. Tormented by his son's death, Cayce's faith is shattered. It is only when he sees his wife's faith in him that he finds the courage to save her life. Finally accepted by the world, he has become America's Nostradamus. Director & stars attached www.americanshamanthemovie.com WGA 1104948

Title: Zora

Logline: The dramatic ascent of Zora Neale Hurston - from the dust tracks of the Deep South to literary icon. Premiere female writer of the Harlem Renaissance glitterati.

Synopsis: The screenplay "Zora" captures Hurston reeling from her father's rejection, homelessness, abusive relationships, experimental lesbianism, hypnotic voodoo exploits, and a torrid love affair with a man twenty years her younger. In "Zora", Hurston struggles between wanting love and achieving national acclaim as a writer. Her impassioned journey is revealed as scenes that inspired her semi-autobiographical novels, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and "Jonah's Gourd Vine", come to life and Hurston courageously turns personal pain into genius - a genius that would speak to an entire nation. The story is one that we feel very close to and has led us to acquire the rights to the biography "Wrapped In Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston." We have done extensive research on the period and sold a script about the famous black actress Dorothy Dandridge to De Passe Entertainment. Please let us know if you would like to read "Zora".

Title: CAPITOL LIMITED

Logline: Eavesdrop on John Kennedy and Richard Nixon as they share a Pullman car in 1947 for an overnight ride to Washington and talk until dawn.

Synopsis: CAPITOL LIMITED is based on a true story. It's 1947, and John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon are little known freshmen congressmen trying to climb the political ladder. They are assigned to go to McKeesport, Pennsylvania to debate the merits of a new labor union law. Long before they would meet in a national debate in 1960, they face off in front of 250 people at a then-famous local hotel. As fate would have it, they had to share a Pullman sleeper car that night for the trip back to Washington. They flipped a coin to see who got the lower birth. And they stayed awake until dawn talking about the world, themselves, and their hopes and dreams. I've recreated a lost conversation from a long ago night, one that yields clues about the leaders they'd become, the rivalry they'd experience, and the history they'd make.

Title: Midnight Dreary

Logline: Edgar Allan Poe has written some of the most horrifying tales ever imagined, but none so dark as the tale of his own life.

Synopsis: We have recently completed the feature screenplay MIDNIGHT DREARY that we would like to submit to you for consideration. It is a dark blending of Poe's tragic life with his popular tales of horror. MIDNIGHT DREARY is also a tale of rivalry in the vein of AMADEUS between two gifted, self-centered men, Edgar Allan Poe and the Reverend Rufus Griswold. The story of this impulsive, excessive genius and his mysterious life and death unfolds as an enduring blend of biography and drama. MIDNIGHT DREARY recently received a grade of RECOMMEND from the Senior Story Analyst at Script P.I.M.P. Our screenplay is available in electronic or hard copy format. We look forward to your reply. Respectfully, Joel and Greg Reeves

Title: The Man and His Shadow

Logline: The Man and His Shadow is the story of two men divided by an ocean and time, who would become spiritual brothers: Poe giving creative life to Baudelaire, as Baudelaire gave Poe to the world.

Synopsis: One might say that nature often makes life very hard for those from whom she expects great things. She did this for two of the nineteenth century's greatest literary minds. The Man and His Shadow tells the story of Edgar Allan Poe, through Charles Baudelaire's discovery of the now famed American gothic writer, whose life so closely mirrored his own. The Man and His Shadow is an extensively researched biography about two men, whose belief that the primitive and irresistible force of perversity marks us for evil, making us all simultaneously a murderer and a suicide, an assassin and a hangman. Through his seventeen year struggle to translate Poe, Charles Baudelaire, author of Le Flur Du Mal, embarks on a quest that will consume the rest of his life. The bonds that posthumously formed between Poe and Baudelaire would forever suture their kindred spirits and literary minds, once leading Baudelaire to admit that, "several years have passed and I have been constantly haunted by his ghost."

Title: THE OUTCAST

Logline: A story about a young man that experiences a tremendous amount of adversity, leading him to become an outcast, and his eventual death.

Synopsis: I'm Eugene Williams and I'm seeking representation for my script, The Outcast. The Outcast is an amazing story about the life of a young black male (Eugene Wilson) that gets in serious trouble with the law and goes to prison at a young age. He learns law, philosophy, and psychology, which enabled him to counsel his fellow Inmates physically and spiritually. He is released from prison, but the grand legacy he had built had followed him. The Outcast is worshipped by a few, but despised by many, because he didn't fit their concept of a living God. In the end, the Outcast is killed and all of his work is taken from him. If you are interested in The Outcast I am able to send you the script in Microsoft word format. Thanks. Sincerely,

Title: BUCKLEY!

Logline: Lord Richard Buckley, the first Hip comedian, paved the way for comics such as Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams. He lived a life of glamor, comic insanity, and pain.

Synopsis: A cross between LENNY and LA VIE EN ROSE, (although more entertaining than either), BUCKLEY! traces the remarkable life and times of Dick Buckley. Born in poverty in northern California in 1906, Buckley was a revolutionary figure in the stand-up biz, and a star from Vaudeville through 1960. But - much as with Edith Piaf - the same unique personality and avant garde lifestyle that made him such a success on stage, led inevitably to a tragic end. From the Walkathons of the Depression, thru Vaudeville, appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, several films, and all the top jazz clubs from San Francisco to New York, Buckley lived a life of extreme highs and excruciating lows. He hosted a party in Chicago that continued for years non-stop; he founded his own church; he hob-nobbed with Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Robert Mitchum. And in the end? He died broken and impoverished, but not forgotten. Robin Williams and George Carlin are just two of many fans. BUCKLEY! will make many more.