CAST LIST:

Narrator: Geoff Mays
Jennifer: Val Cole
Charlene: Hannah Ehman

Based on,
Concepts from the novel
Considering SomeplacElse
By Barry B.L. Lindstrom

Get to know the writer:

1.What is your screenplay about?

The Galactic Council has seen enough and has voted 8 to 1 to eliminate all humanoid Earthlings. Padrin, the lone dissenter, an expert extra-terrestrial world saver, must now save humanity using only the positive actions and interactions of individual humans as evidence. In this, the pilot episode, Padrin’s android, Facto, unexpectedly connects with the plight of suddenly, violently, orphaned 18 year old Charlene and her 12 year old sister, Jennifer who, apparently, are being forced into a polygamist cult run by their only next of kin. Padrin, sensing that Facto’s discovery is something far beyond coincidence contemplates invoking Galactic Assertion 5: There MUST be something that moves a system from its current state to one that is better for the planet and its population, in defiance of all probabilities, patterns and past behaviors.

We Earthlings call it Fate, Destiny, Faith, Luck and Random Chance, but the rest of the galaxy calls it: NaturalAwe.

2. What genres does your screenplay fall under?

Consider, if you will, "the twilight zone" as genre.

Half hour serialized Character driven episodes centered around the idea that: The Galactic Council has been monitoring the behavior of planet populations for eons.
Whenever a planet's ecosystem is threatened or a planet's population threatens other planets, the council, after following due process can directly intervene without warning, Unless, of course, there is significant evidence of NaturalAwe.

3. Why should this screenplay be made into a movie?

Sometimes it seems like things have never been worse, That we are incapable of fixing that which is broken, That those who blame everything on those not-like-us are in control, That the doom and gloom dystopian vision of our entertainment depicts our destiny. As one who was raised on lessons gathered from Good-triumphs-over-Evil 50s and 60s Broadcast Television, (Occasionally impacted by exemplary public education), built a highly successful Information Systems career based on Richard Feynman’s “Perspective is worth 80 IQ points”, and has extensive experiential evidence that there is no such thing as coincidence, I feel we need to deliver SOMETHING that might just move us to ways that are better for the planet and its population, in defiance of all probabilities, patterns and past behaviors.

4. How would you describe this script in two words?

NaturalAwe happens.

5. What movie have you seen the most times in your life?

There are several, I would say the 1938 version of You Can’t Take it with You is the one I have intentionally watched more than any other.

6. How long have you been working on this screenplay?

About 9 months. This is my 6th rewrite based upon various feedback from contests and paid script consultants.

7. How many stories have you written?

Probably 100 or so written, with another 100 or so told to little ones in my life. Some graded, some delivered orally. One Novel and 2 short stories were published.

8. What motivated you to write this screenplay?

18 years ago I published a Novel. A modern myth about the last 5 days of a Utopian experiment that was founded by a homeless man who was allowed to win the
lottery. When I finished it, I was constantly asked, “when does the movie come out?” But when Hollywood sort of called, they were selling instead of buying.
So I decided when I untired from Corporate servitude, I would write the script myself. Then I took Andrew Kaplan’s Visual Approach to Screenwriting at Udemy.com
And everything started to fall into place. Writing, rewriting and considering professional feedback produced quarterfinal, semifinal and top 15 contest finishes motivating me to arrive at what most seem to consider a FINAL draft.

9. What obstacles did you face to finish this screenplay?

I tried two times to get professional screenwriters to create a screenplay from my Novel. But their first drafts did not meet my expectations and cost me some 2500 dollars. I took several in person classes which taught me a lot but had me questioning whether this was something I was meant to do. Earning a living was the priority and I was not seeing a path to earning the kind of money I was receiving for writing code for very appreciative computers.

10. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

Continuous improvement. I love to find better-cheaper-faster, more value added, ways of doing things. My backyard borders Disneyworld property and my wife of 53 years and I, love to “walk a park” 3 times a week making little ones smile and occasionally giggle.

11. What influenced you to enter the festival? What were your feelings on the initial feedback you received?

I feel the attention span of the majority has decreased significantly, so my scripts are less than 30 minutes. So when I got an email for a contest requested SciFi Shorts, I thought my script could be refined to be a self contained story, OR stand, as is, leaving the audience asking for more…the goal of a pilot. Judging by the very positive feedback I got, it accomplished that goal.

12. What movie have you watched the most times in your life?

Since you asked this twice I will answer the two movies tied for second place Forbidden Planet and the 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers.