Now: A fugitive group of seven exceptional twenty-year-olds, covertly bioengineered with evolved abilities by rogue extraterrestrials, must find a way to inspire humankind to begin living sustainably with Earth before the Alliance of Worlds’ countdown to humanity’s annihilation runs out. (Pitch Deck available)

Comps: It's the determined idealism of FALLOUT meets the fierce resourcefulness of SILO.

Semifinalist: Stage 32’s 7th Annual Sci-Fi/Fantasy Screenwriting Competition 2023.

SYNOPSIS:

Imagine, days after submitting an Ancestry DNA Test, a stranger tracks you down, urgently reveals you’re a hybrid-human, like them, and you’ve got to run, NOW!

Comps - It’s the hope-fueled “we've got to work together to fix the world" idealism of Ella Purnell's character in FALLOUT. Meets Rebecca Fergusson's SILO character's fierce & resourceful determination to outsmart a corrupt government and inspire people to save themselves.

Pilot Episode - (Today: Silicon Valley).

KATE EKLUND, 20, is the deep, dark and impatient leader of the Solarpunks. She’s an off-the-charts brilliant clean-energy designer. At 18 Kate became NASA’s youngest astronaut recruit ever. But a mandatory DNA test blew-up her life by revealing she’s a hybrid-human. On the run from NSA black-hat hard-ass, Agent Thorpe, Kate tracked down 5 more hybrid-humans. They’re intent to discover who created them and why?

The pilot episode opens on BEN ROSHAN. He’s 20, easy-going and inventive. Ben can re-engineer just about anything into something new & marvelous. He has no idea he’s a hybrid-human or that the Ancestry DNA test he submitted has alerted the Solarpunks as well as their nemesis, Agent Thorpe. The Solarpunks rescue Ben from Thorpe then inform him they’re each uniquely skilled and have an evolved ability which seems almost super-human.

An interstellar message leads the Solarpunks to meet the extraterrestrial A.I. android sent to guide them. Thorpe intercepts them and nearly destroys the A.I. android as it arrives. The Solarpunks escape with the damaged android, but the only way to rescue the sentient A.I. is for Kate to allow the A.I. to upload into her brain. The process nearly kills her and won't last long before it kills them both.

The A.I. voice in Kate’s mind names herself, "Hope". Hope reveals the countdown to humanity’s annihilation has been initiated by the Alliance of Worlds who are intent on protecting Earth from humankind. Hope explains, the Solarpunks were merely infants, secretly bioengineered by the Delphinians, humanity's distant ancestors, and meant to grow up together, working to find a way to guide humankind to live sustainably with Earth, before it’s too late. Tragically, the Alliance of Worlds uncovered the Delphinian plan and the infants were abandoned.

With Kate's and Hope's time together running out, the Solarpunks track down the location of the long lost Delphinian Medical ship. Seized by the Air Force, it’s being held on the base where Ben’s Dad is stationed. This is their only chance to safely extract Hope from Kate's mind.

Kate, Hope and Ben manage to sneak onto the base, locate the secret hanger, but they find the ship in rough shape. Inside they discover several systems have been stripped. The power core is drained. Three of the four Med-Pods are missing.

Kate/Hope and Ben manage to restore power to the remaining Med-Pod. As the extraction begins, they’re discovered by Air Base Security led by Agent Thorpe. The hanger is surrounded.

Air Base Commander, General Schafer, rushes up, forces Thorpe to stand down, then orders Ben and Kate out of the ship. Air Base Security prepares to storm the hangar. Kate survives Hope’s transfer into the ship’s Neural Network but it appears the Med Pod failed to upload Hope’s A.I. into the ship’s Neural Network.

Hope emerges as the ship’s new A.I., takes control of the ship and prepares to escape with Kate and Ben. At this exact moment, a menacing Alliance Guard Ship arrives. Kate, Hope, and Ben are certain they’re dead.

The Guard Ship has been ordered to escort Hope, and the Delphinian ship, back to Delphin to face the Alliance of Worlds, or else be destroyed.

Hope surrenders to the Guard Ship. But first she flies Kate and Ben away to safety, then says, “Your mission is all that matters. Goodbye.” Kate vows to find a way to rescue Hope while working with Ben and the Solarpunks to inspire people to become the change the world needs.

Future Episodes - Kate leads the Solarpunks to work covertly with General Schafer infiltrating military bases around the world to steal components from the six other recovered Delphinian ships to aid in their primary mission but to also assemble their own interstellar ship so they might rescue AI Hope from the Alliance of Worlds.

2025 - On Coverfly's RED LIST for being in the Top 3% of all Sci-Fi scripts

Semifinalist, Stage 32’s 7th Annual Sci-Fi/Fantasy Screenwriting Competition 2023

Semifinalist, ScreenCraft Sci-Fi & Fantasy Screenwriting Competition 2021

Semifinalist, 2023 ScreenCraft Virtual Pitch Competition

Why Now - SOLARPUNKS is an upbeat, hope-inspiring, "Protopian" alternative to the dystopian narrative. It's a “sexy group of young adults doing sexy dangerous things to save the world.” And a great opportunity to subtly introduce cutting-edge, sustainable technologies and practices which can restore Earth.

Why Me - Growing-up just outside of Philadelphia, I needed my wild imagination to create fun & mayhem. It got me into a lot of trouble though, like that time, when I was 10 and I stole my parents' car to take my little sister for ice-cream. (we made it as far as the neighbor’s front yard). In fact, my life’s misadventures led me to discover my brand: Hope-inspiring Dramedies for series and features about underdogs who defy expectations to become who they were always meant to be. Check out my Stage 32 Bio for more.

2021 ScreenCraft Sci-Fi & Fantasy Screenwriting Competition Judge's Feedback -

"Overall, this was a great read, and I found it engaging and creative throughout. You have done a good job establishing a lighthearted and upbeat tone that will appeal to a wide age range of viewers and will be highly marketable. You also have a clear and distinct voice, and while reminiscent of other popular sci-fi stories, "Solarpunks" felt unique and interesting."

"On a deeper level, the real strength of this script is felt in the relationships between the characters, and the dialogue. The dialogue felt realistic throughout, and appropriate to the ages of the characters. It was also well balanced with moments of humor and slang juxtaposed with moments of deeper feeling and true emotion between the characters."