Submission Samples from the Thriller Genre

Title: DREAM HITCHER

Logline: Logline: In dreams the mind sorts through the information gathered by the senses during waking hours and discards that which would be destructive to sanity. Suppose one man can not dream. Then what?

Synopsis: Thousands of warriors have returned from the Iraq War. Among them is Dan Gallatin, violent, bare knuckle fighter, studying for Doctorate Of Neuroscience. Many veterans show horrible wounds, missing arms and legs, disfigured faces. Not visible are the brains damaged by roadside bombs, or warped by the constant fear of being blown all to hell by a bomb, or killed by a sniper's bullet. This trauma causes terrifying nightmares. Anubis (an alias) can't dream and hitches onto the dreams of sleeping vets. He then kills the vet and hitches onto his journey into the afterlife. Each afterlife is unique, created by the dying man's mind. Colonel Granville has a terrible head wound and knows the savagery of war. His wound has given him the capacity to see human auras and to lead scores of veterans into dreams where he heals their afflicted minds. Anubis stalks Granville. Dan is thrust into danger to protect the Healer from the Hitcher. In the afterlife, the true Anubis,the Jackal God waits.

Title: Brain Child

Logline: A female neuroscientist, who has invented a way to view images stored inside the human brain on a computer screen, must turn to this technology as her last hope for identifying her daughter's killer.

Synopsis: Dr. Nora Winthrop has discovered a way to view images stored inside the human brain on a computer screen. One evening, she returns home to find out her eight year old daughter has been mysteriously murdered. After a failed police investigation she has decided to take matters into her own hands. She will genetically recreate the little girl's brain in a desperate attempt to view her final moments of life and identify her daughter's killer. What she brings back, however, is not just the girl's brain, but her actual consciousness which, amazingly, she can communicate with via a computer. This incredible event sets off a series of frightening twists and turns as Nora attempts to come face to face with her deepest fears and emotions, not only in order to solve the mystery surrounding her daughter, but to also try and regain some kind of meaning in her own wounded existence.

Title: MALIGNED

Logline: Unbeknownst to the people who call him friend, Sidney is a twisted serial killer playing them all against each other for his own demented desires.

Synopsis: Following Shakespeare's classic Othello, Sidney seems to be an ordinary man who deals with work, hangs out with his friends and tries to balance a relationship at the same time. Only Sidney also murders people. When he is passed over for a promotion by Julius, who considers Sidney to be his best friend, Sidney's murderous mind concocts a devious plot for vengeance. He uses Julius's jealous nature to convince him that his girlfriend has been unfaithful to him with the very man given the promotion. Sidney places himself as Julius's sole advocate, all the while waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Leading this near-perfect double life, this psychotic serial killer pits all his unsuspecting friends against each other in a deadly game of cat and mouse- until his web of lies began to crumble around him. When his plot is finally discovered, this psychopath is forced into a confrontation from which no one may get out alive. WGA Registered #1276704

Title: Mania

Logline: A medical student spirals into the world of adrenaline,sex,money and excess when he befriends a wealthy and enigmatic neuroscientist that offers him an experimental brain therapy.

Synopsis: If it could make you feel euphoric, empowered and confident, would you undergo a mysterious brain-manipulating therapy without knowing its possible dangers? That's the dilemma faced by the young protagonist of my feature "Mania", which I would like to send for your consideration. This character-driven thriller combines the sexy yet dangerous appeal of "Limitless" with the emotional gravity of "Requiem for a Dream". While fueled by my passion for screenwriting, this script also clearly benefits from my professional experience in the field of medicine, which provided me not only with medical knowledge necessary to ensure the credibility of the story but also with years of keen observation on human nature. Please let me know how I can send you the synopsis or full script of "Mania". I'm confident that its high-concept appeal and economical production values give it a very strong commercial potential. Sincerely,

Title: Witnessed

Logline: A white, racist ex-cop and an Arab-American FBI Agent turn to the Russian Mob for help in uncovering an FBI conspiracy.

Synopsis: WITNESSED is the pilot teleplay for a weekly dramatic series about JIM DAVIES, a white, racist ex-cop who witnesses an arms deal involving ALEXEY CHERNOV, the head of New York's Russian Mafia. As the key witness in a trial aimed at putting Chernov away, Davies puts his life into the hands of WALTER EL NASSER, an Arab-American FBI Agent assigned to protect him. When an attempt on Davies's life goes wrong, Davies and Nasser quickly realize that the order came from somewhere in the FBI, and they must now put their trust in the only man who can keep Davies Alive -- Alexey Chernov.

Title: Survival

Logline: Will Hunt is a a dependable Italian mafia member. Will has to save his family who were kidnapped by police, all put on the Russian mafia. Will has to kill his boss, save his family.

Synopsis: Survival, is a story of five childhood friends working for the Italian mafia in New York. Will wants to quit the mafia. Just before he could quit, Will Hunt gets a call: his wife and four years old daughter were kidnapped, seemingly by the Russian mafia. The kidnappers forcing him to execute his boss, to set his family free. If he would not do so, his family will be killed. Will soon finds the police is behind the family kidnap not the Russians. The game is already irreversible. The police, the Italian and Russian mafia feels trapped, seeking their way out, topped with other troublemakers, all hitting back on Will. Each party tries its own way out of the lethal game through lies, betrayal, discipline, misleading and revenge, while everyone reacts differently to the same problems. What would the Italian and the Russian mafia leader, plus a reputable police inspector do if their sons were executed? What matters the most, business or family?

Title: Serial Encounters

Logline: Dear Sirs, for your consideration: Logline: While trying to gather information to sell to the FBI a P.I. crosses the path of a serial killer and his professional and private life entwine

Synopsis: Alex, a P.I. chasing terrorists for rewards, is hired to protect Ann, a singer, from a serial killer. Alex often chats with Linda. Like Alex she had some bad relationships. They never met and plan to keep it that way. While Alex works for Ann they get involved, but she dumps him after Hank, the killer, stages his own death. Linda dates Hank after meeting him online. It's a real disaster. It´s time to take a chance and meet with Alex. Alex is staking out a hotel where a plutonium dealer is meeting with Hank. Hank knows Linda is meeting Alex in the hotel and sets her up, sending her to the dealer´s room. Alex saves her, but with all that has happened their chance for a relationship is over. Alex gets a message from Hank: He kidnapped Linda and is on his way to his next victim, with the plutonium. Alex catches up with them and learns Hanks´ motives, and that he wants Alex to be the one that kills him. But 2 jets are already on their way to take him out. Alex has to move fast

Title: The Masking -WGA:1101954

Logline: She takes on a masked assailant who then cleverly seduces her. Not realizing who she used to be is the biggest mistake of a brilliant killer's life.

Synopsis: NOTE: Script was optioned. Michael Madsen attached and pre-prod noted in the Hollywood Reporter. Option was released. I am also adapting the story into a novel. Matthew Holland springs from shadows and savagely attacks a young man he thinks is gay. Years later he's still on the loose and attacking Samantha Hanson. Unfortunately for the Julliard scholar, there is something about Sam his research doesn't reveal: Matthew thinks Sam is the sister of the student he nearly beat to death, and that the student went missing after the assault. In actuality, Sam was that very same male college student Matthew attacked twelve years ago. In order to leave the past behind Sam took the necessary medical steps to become what she has always been in her mind and heart, a beautiful female. Having acquired a tip-top body, she's also honed excellent defense skills and escapes Matthew's murderous intentions. Now truly turned on by his prey, his seduction of Sam is the biggest mistake of his life.

Title: Sudden and Untimely

Logline: LOGLINE: An insecure girl makes contact with the ghost of a boy accused of killing several high school students fifty years earlier. She sets out to prove his innocence.

Synopsis: Soon after a boiler room investigation of a 50 year old school fire, Annie McGreevy's mother is stalked. Annie is with her as a grave situation develops. She watches her die in a suspicious accident. Throughout the story Annie's quest is to find the killer. In time she meets Frankie Spiletto in that same boiler room. Annie thinks she's hallucinating, but soon realizes he's a ghost, the person blamed for the fire. The same killer who stalked her mother now stalks her. Several perilous incidents nearly take Annie's life. Later we learn that Annie is Frankie's granddaughter. He had relations with the grandmother. The grandfather is the culprit. His increasing bitterness and jealously are motives for murder. In the end the police are forced to kill him. Annie briefly sees his ghost and the revelation is made that Frankie is innocent. Annie is left alone to deal with her grief and newfound family secrets. (WGA #948147)

Title: The Panic of Hollows

Logline: Sadie is convinced by her friend Margo to assist in a kidnapping, which unleashes a series of events that forces her to confront a shocking truth: that Margo is dead and has been for almost a year.

Synopsis: Sadie Winston is a housewife who lives a comfortable life, with her husband Teddy, in the city of Hollows. Things become complicated when her friend Margo comes to visit, staying in their basement apartment. Sadie and Margo enjoy spending time together, but something about their relationship unnerves Teddy, though he does his best to hide his feelings. Eventually, Teddy's fears are manifested when he discovers that, as a way to achieve instant fame, Margo has convinced Sadie to assist her in kidnapping Jacob, the only child of a wealthy local family. This horrific crime puts all of Hollows in a state of panic as intense fear and false accusations begin to grip the locals. Soon, Teddy finds himself thrust into the middle of the mysterious crime, but it is Sadie's life that is changed forever when she discovers that Margo, the mastermind behind the crime, is actually dead and has been for almost a year.