Hi, Stagers.
I'm a screenwriter of big, booming Action-Monster-Adventure-Sci Fi-Fantasy-Thriller screenplays. I currently have four screenplays ready for development.I'd love to talk to any filmmakers who are looking for that kind of material - big, visual, international, exciting MOVIE movies. They're all original IP, they're all feature-length specs, and I'd love to send you a .pdf of any of them.
I've been on Stage 32 for a good while now - but I haven't been able to make many connections. If there's a vein of the site I should be exploring more closely, let me know what it is! I'm trying to sell some specs.
~ Mark | www.500Haiku.com
Let me know if I you'd like to take a look at any of these:
NIGHTBREAK (Sci-Fi / Disaster Epic)
After the Earth stops turning, the US President’s daughter fights to get her husband, a Chinese geophysicist in Beijing, across the Nightside’s empty Pacific ocean bed and the chaotic, sun-burned Dayside America to get to Washington - with a plan to save the world. But crossing half the planet is easy compared to convincing her father to unleash America’s arsenal.
THE SWORD AND THE SERPENT (Adventure / Fantasy)
When their quiet fishing village is attacked by Viking marauders, the scattered members of one Scottish family must fight for survival. The spirited teenage daughter and her crafty little brother then must risk their lives to summon the village's ancient guardian from its exile - at the far end of Loch Ness.
FRAX (Sci-Fi / Action)
After a fracking drill bit destroys its hidden, underwater hatchery, a vengeful river monster in South Texas goes on a rampage against the machines and people threatening it - and an oil company scuba diver must risk everything to save his boss when she’s snatched off her fracking rig by the beast.
KAMELEON (Thriller / Musical)
Liz strangles musicians with guitar strings. Zero runs an Open Mike night. When she comes to his show, hunting for new prey, Zero is “volunteered” by a shattered FBI vet to help ID her, unravel her motive, and stop her - before he becomes her next victim.
=====> CONTESTS
All of my scripts have gotten some love in various screenwriting contests:
NIGHTBREAK was the 1st Runner-Up (Second Place) at the recent Fantastic Planet Film Festival in Sydney, Australia; it just won the Gold Award at the California Film Awards, it was a Semi-Finalist at the Other Worlds Austin Film Festival, and was a Quarter-Finalist at the 2016 ScreenCraft Sci-Fi Screenplay Contest.
THE SWORD AND THE SERPENT was an Official Selection and finalist at the inaugural Famous Monsters of Filmland Silver Scream Film Festival last spring in Santa Rosa. Later in the year, the script was named an Official Selection again, one of the Top Nine finalists, at the Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival in New York. It's also an Official Selection at the current Madhouse Movies Film festival.
FRAX was a Semi-Finalist at the FilmQuest Screenplay Contest last year, and a Semi-Finalist at the GenreBlast Screenplay Contest. It was just named an Official Selection at the Famous Monsters of Filmland Silver Scream Film Festival, and was also an Official Selection at the Madhouse Movies Film Festival. It was a Quarter-Finalist at the ScreenCraft Action Screenplay Contest in 2015.
KAMELEON was a Quarter-Finalist in Final Draft’s Big Break screenplay competition, and a Quarter-Finalist at Scriptapalooza in 2015. It was an Official Selection at the Los Angeles Theater Festival that year. It's currently in the Top Ten Urban Screenplays at MovieBytes' WinningScripts Contest.
Send me an email at markgunnion@gmail.com if you'd like to take a look at any of these.
~ Mark
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Hello my name is Korey. I'm definitely interested but I'm in Arizona
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Wow, these are some really compelling stories and congratulations on those great accomplishments! I'm sure you heard this before, but to get up on the scoreboard you might want to try writing a lower-budget friendly grounded scifi/thriller with minimal cast/locations. There's a much bigger market for it than large scale sci-fi, period pieces, etc., as they require higher budgets. The other route is adapt your scripts into novel form, get them published, and then when they're bestsellers, Hollywood will come a'callin!
I think he's shooting for the B-movie / SyFy market on some of those, Steve. (But I don't know that for sure.) :)
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Thanks, Steve. Of course, yes, I've heard that exact advice many times. Thing is, I'm old, I don't have time to build a careful filmography brick by brick. I'm already making a living as an advertising writer. Every other writer trying to get a start is writing the kind of movies you describe; that seems to be where all the competition is! In any case, working on a script like that for a year, then selling it for 10K spread over three installments, just isn't going to make much of a difference to me. So, yeah, something like Babe Ruth, I'm swinging for the fences every time. I will have more strikeouts than most. But if I ever connect, it oughta go far! And C Harris is right - there is a certain niche for this kind of story - and with the CGI breakthroughs of late, it's hard to know exactly what is expensive to shoot these days and what isn't. And really, these are just the kinds of movies I want to see - and write.
I would like to see some of those movies, too! Have you tried Troma or checked out the SyFy website for details on pitching to them? You can also pitch to Sci-Fi people here - just watch for notifications as to which companies are accepting pitches when. :)
Indeed, Mark. Good luck! Also, SyFy is always looking for tv pilots. Perhaps you can adapt one of your features into episodic format.
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Best of luck!
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SyFy still makes two-hour movies, AFAIK. They usually also release them as uncensored video/VOD releases - that's the way they used to do it, at least.
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THE SWORD AND THE SERPANT SOUNDS GREAT MARK. Being Scottish myself, and believing Nessie is more than just a mythical monster......with a Little less known sister MORAG from Loch Moron.... would love to hear more about this one...
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I'm be happy to share the script, Janet, if you'd like to take a look. There's even an echo of Morag in the story. I can email a .pdf, I would love to hear any reactions to it you may have.
And I will look into that SyFy website, thanks Steve and C.
I have a feeling both Netflix and Amazon will be moving toward mid-markets to boost their libraries. In fact, I've seen a number of mid-rankers on Netflix as late.
Nightbreak sounds like an interesting concept. You should def adapt that into episodic. I'd watch that pilot.
Thank you Mark..Would really enjoy reading it. Great to hear our Morag gets a wee mention. The Loch itself is really cold. Went swimming there once in the middle of winter, when the snow lay thick on the ground and almost fell out the window of Urquhart Castle to the craggy rocks below playing hide and seek lol.. Long may the memories linger. Are you Scottish yourself?