Submission Samples from the Family Genre

Title: Princess For A Day

Logline: A deserving girl wins a date with a prince. WGA#1188457 WGA#1152946

Synopsis: Jenny was a high achiever whose life was the picture of suburban bliss until age 15, when it was shattered by her father's untimely death. By 18, she remain quite accomplished as a 4.0 student whose academic achievements were exceeded only by her status on the tennis courts. She was on the fast track for a Stanford scholarship. Jenny went about her daily activities with seriousness, and in isolation, never noticing she had forgotten how to have fun. Then, a magazine contest arrived in the mail. One lucky girl would become "Princess For A Day." Jenny dismissed the contest as a product of adolescent fantasy. Yet, her mother knew it was exactly what Jenny needed. The contest would serve as a catalyst, instigating a chain reaction of events that would reunite old friends, and break Jenny out of her shell. This story is about more than winning a contest. It is about dreams, hopes, and two girls who learn about themselves, one another, and the true meaning of friendship.

Title: Shipwreck

Logline: Led onto an un-seaworthy boat driven by a severe-weather-crazed captain, five young boys find out what it takes to survive the elements and hopelessness of a deserted island.

Synopsis: One decision can make all the difference. That's what five young boys found out when they chose not to stand up to the self-proclaimed alpha male of the group, John Howard. John had gotten away with his bullying for the entire two-week camp expedition, and mild-mannered Miguel Landon had had enough. But when Miguel found himself standing on the dock with his friends, all of them prepared to reunite with their families, he chose to steer clear of confrontation. That decision prompted the group to follow John onto an un-seaworthy cargo boat driven by a severe-weather-crazed captain with no regard for staying on course...a decision that would change their lives forever. Near-death experiences and the hopelessness of an empty horizon would force the boys to work together to survive the elements as a group, while simultaneously dealing with their own private secrets and past wounds.

Title: Twas the Elf Before Christmas

Logline: A family separated by the father's amnesia is reunited by the power of believing and the spirit of a magical, mischievous elf. A classic story of hope and magic framed in today's harsh realities.

Synopsis: A contemporary, Capraesque fable set in a small town. A family is separated by Nick's (the father) amnesia. All the daughter (Christy) has to hold on to is hope and Twas--a hand carved elf. In Chicago, Nick is befriended by Detective Miller who gets him a job at a shelter where he struggles to maintain any semblance of hope. Nick¡¯s wife (Elizabeth) and Christy manufacture Twas knock offs to sell at a flea market. They are all purchased by a marketing executive and become a marketing icon for a department store's Christmas campaign. Being destitute and unable to account for her husband's whereabouts, the state takes Christy and puts her in a Youth Development Center (orphanage.) A chance encounter with a Twas image on Christmas Eve snaps Nick out of his amnesia. The owner of the department store helicopters Nick home in time to rescue Christy and the other kids from the Youth Development Center for a joyous reunion on Christmas Eve.

Title: The Christmas Tree War

Logline: Two childhood best-friends-turned-arch-enemies compete to have this year's White House Christmas Tree chosen from one of their farms. The war is on. Merry Christmas.

Synopsis: When Ben White took over his father's Christmas tree farm, he had only one drea,...to one day have a tree in the White House. With the White House about to announce him a winner, Ben's life is turned upside-down when his childhood best-friend-turned-arch-enemy, charismatic, hometown hero, Vince McClausky, returns home to the tree farm next door. Using his connections, Vince convinces the White House that choosing a tree from between the two farms would make a great Presidential photo opp, setting the stage for a monster competition between the two farms. Ben and Vince duke it out with outrageous tactics and absurd gimmicks including rampaging reindeer, full scale musical numbers and a no-holds-barred tree man competition that nearly destroys the town. Consumed by the competition, they alienate everyone they care about. Together, they must learn that the love of their families is all that really matter if they are to realize their dreams and rescue the spirit of Christmas.

Title: Alabama Memories

Logline: J.D., now in his mid-fifties, returns to the small farm in rural Alabama where he grew up and recalls the events of 1965-66 - his senior year of high school.

Synopsis: Quite, strong, and reserved, 17 year old J.D. plays football and becomes president of the senior class. J.D. spends his spare time watching drag races with Wilson and Big John, two friends from a neighboring town. J.D. makes an appearance at the junior-senior prom - but he goes alone because Rebecca, his girl friend, accepted a blind date arranged by Joseph, his best friend. He leaves the prom early, but in separate incidences that same night he is shot at and attempts to elude the Alabama Highway Patrol in his 55 Chevy. J.D later endures his most embarrassing moment when a lighted candle burns his speakers' notes as he stands before a large group of peers. And as graduation approaches, J.D. and Joseph face possible expulsion for a stunt they pull during play rehearsal. Alabama Memories echoes the music, cars and theme of American Graffiti in a different setting. This script, set against a backdrop of hard work on a small farm and the Viet Nam War, was inspired by actual events.

Title: Going For Home

Logline: A career minor league pitching prospect and his fed up wife split after years of marriage. Determined to get them back together, their young boy enlists the help of his grandfather's ghost.

Synopsis: Cal Douglas, eight-years old, throws a ball against a barn door while his parents argue about baseball. Dad is a minor league pitcher who refuses to give up his dream of making it to the bigs and mom is fed-up with his refusal to grow up and get a real job. She tells him to choose baseball or family. He chooses baseball and is thrown out of the house. That very same day he's sent up to the bigs. She pretends to be over him by convincing a friend to help find the perfect man. He becomes an instant sensation and adoring women throw themselves at his feet. She becomes an instant sensation in Penciltown and the locals pine for her affection. Cal prays for help. His recently deceased grandpa returns to earth and performs all sorts of ghostly acts, but to no avail. Cal works hard to sabotage mom's budding relationships but his dastardly deeds fall short when mom meets Mr. Right. Reconciliation seems improbable until magically, on a dilapidated baseball field, the unimaginable happens.

Title: FAMILY MOVES

Logline: Life is a road. Drive it. Caution: Enjoy sudden turns.

Synopsis: A positive-thinking, 30-something couple faces a modern America and a final mortgage payment about to bounce. Out of options, the two decide resolutely over a messy pancake breakfast that they have to move across the country for a job opportunity in a distant Los Angeles. Our parental heroes are convinced this move is right, but the real work comes in wrangling their independent 14-year-old daughter who lives a double life that just keeps getting more bizarre; while, avoiding the aggressiveness of their overgrown 11-year-old son whose sudden menacing presence forces his father to try and bond with the boy in an attempt to survive the weeklong trip; made more difficult by the sprite-hearted roaming grandmother; and getting them All to the other side of the country in 2 two-seater moving vans, leaving the teenage heroin to battle on the floor and hold a tiny obsessive dog, who often "gets away". Families are funny...in a real kinda way.

Title: A Girl's Order

Logline: A 17 year old female, who experience life at a group home/high school.

Synopsis: After the death of Carry Shaw's mother, Shaw was adopted by the superiors of Central High Group Home, an all girl's school. There, Shaw meets friends & foes as she patiently waits for the day when shes old enough to live on her own.

Title: LET ME PLAY

Logline: Eight year old Kathern has the mind of a genius and the heart of a little girl. She is forced to study all the time but wants to play outside and make friends before her childhood runs out.

Synopsis: When Kathern's parents drop her off at summer prep school, she sees the opportunity to escape with a doll and a map to her estranged aunt's home. Kathern's anti-social aunt never had contact with her niece before this. She understands the girl's need to play, but has no idea what it takes to find friends and playmates. With the help from a roommate, the house becomes filled with kids who don't know how to interact because they have spent their lives hidden behind electronics. In the process, the kids come with meddling parents, social events, and nosy neighbors. The kids learn to dream and play while the adults remember what it is like to be a kid again. True friendships are made that will change the course of many lives.

Title: Bottom of the ninth

Logline: A bullheaded major league pitching prospect and his spirited wife separate after years of marriage. Their young boy, determined to get them back together, enlists the help of a ghost.

Synopsis: Cal Douglas throws a ball against a barn door as his mother, Rachel, and father, Ben, argue yet again about Ben's fledgling baseball career. Finally, she gives him an ultimatum. "Its either the game or us?" Ben chooses the game and is thrown out of the house. Ben stands, suitcase in hand, in front of Wright Field, home of the beloved Penciltown Ponies, contemplating his dismal future, when the team pours out of the locker room exclaiming that he's being sent up to the Chicago White Sox. Ben is ecstatic but Rachel is less than enthusiastic; after all, her husband just told her he would rather play baseball than continue with their relationship so she refuses to join him in Chicago. Ben becomes an instant sensation and adoring women throw themselves at his feet. Rachel dips her foot in the dating pool and becomes a sensation in Penciltown. Cal prays to the heavens above for help. His prayers are answered when Ben's recently deceased father returns to help repair the splintered family