2014 Launch Pad Feature Competition Winners Announced
Overall Winner
COOTIES
Frank Longo
THE GOONIES meets GREMLINS
When a meteor brings an outbreak of space bugs who infect their victims and make them behave like overgrown two-year olds, an unlikely group of kids must find a way to thwart them, save their small town, and stop the potential downfall of civilization.
Comedy Family
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Winner
Top Drama
BLUFF, THE
Darius Turbak
TRAINING DAY meets FRUITVALE STATION
A confidential police informant must protect his family when he finds himself caught between a bloodthirsty crime boss, a friend gone to far, and the dirty cop who’s blackmailing him.
Drama
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Winner
Top Comedy
INTRO TO CREATION
Adam Goldstein
SUPERBAD meets THE BOOK OF GENESIS
A comedic retelling of the Book of Genesis from the perspective that God is a 15-year-old misfit with no faith in himself and our world is his half-assed Introduction to Creation class project.
Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Management SGC | Scott Carr
Winner
Top 5% Of All Entries
(Listed Alphabetically)
106
Mark Ganek & Sebastian Davis
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS meets BRICK
A freshman on the varsity wrestling team investigates the apparent suicide of his only friend and the team’s star athlete only to discover a dark truth lurking beneath the town’s surface.
Drama
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Principato/Young | Maggie Haskins
Top 25
A FAR STRANGE LAND
John Albanis & Reid Morgan
ENCHANTED meets THE LAST ACTION HERO
When the dying wish of an old puppeteer transforms his Heroic Knight and Evil Mafisto marionettes into human beings, they continue to play out their fabled story in the real world – fighting for glory, world domination and the beautiful nymph Calypso. But when Knight falls for a foul-mouthed independent woman, he has to ask himself what his true quest is.
Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
ARCADIA
Robert Dunn & Ryan Trevino
NATIONAL TREASURE meets SHERLOCK HOLMES
The poet Lord Byron finds himself on an epic adventure with two thieves and a goat herder when they discover clues to an ancient treasure guarded by the first werewolves.
Action Adventure
Agent: APA | Adam Perry, Alex Johnson, David Saunders
Manager: Circle Of Confusion | Zach Cox
Top 10
ARMADA
Dimitri Neos
MASTER AND COMMANDER meets THE NEW WORLD
The story of Sir Francis Drake, a legendary English ship commander and “pirate” who stole treasure from the Spanish and eventually served as second command of the English fleet in battle against the Spanish Aramada.
Action Period
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
BIG GUN MAN
Garrett Baker
TRUE GRIT meets O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU meets BIG FISH
A Tom Sawyer-like adventure that follows a young boy who sets out on a journey to find a mysterious treasure his father told him of before dying in an effort to save his family’s farm. A fun and heart-warming western coming-of-age tale that is both an origin to how “tall tales” are born and an exploration about the death of innocence.
Adventure Western
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
BLITZ TIME
Ravi Satchi
LOOPER meets MR. & MRS. SMITH
With two weeks to live, a time traveling hitman and his thrill-seeking girlfriend travel back in time to expose the technology that has sped up his aging, and to put an end to the tyrannical empire-building of the technology’s inventor.
Action Sci-Fi
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
BLUFF, THE
Darius Turbak
TRAINING DAY meets FRUITVALE STATION
A confidential police informant must protect his family when he finds himself caught between a bloodthirsty crime boss, a friend gone to far, and the dirty cop who’s blackmailing him.
Drama
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Winner
CAESURA
Daniel Algarin
THE SHINING SET ON MARS
The pioneer terraforming mission to mars begins to unravel when members of the expedition discover the remnants of a family that wasn’t supposed to exist.
Sci-Fi Thriller
Agent: UTA | John Huddle
Manager: Benderspink | Daniel Vang, Jake Wagner
Top 25
CITIZEN JANE
Gregory Joyce
THE PRODUCERS OF POLITICS
After losing her job, a woman decides she is going to run for governor in order to collect all of the state-funded campaign funds. But, when her unorthodox campaign becomes a surprise hit with the people, her plans to simply lose and take the money start to unravel, and the powerful incumbent makes it personal.
Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
COOTIES
Frank Longo
THE GOONIES meets GREMLINS
When a meteor brings an outbreak of space bugs who infect their victims and make them behave like overgrown two-year olds, an unlikely group of kids must find a way to thwart them, save their small town, and stop the potential downfall of civilization.
Comedy Family
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Winner
DARKLANDS
Paul Sheridan
WORLD WAR Z meets CHILDREN OF MEN
A family must risk their lives in the wake of a mutating alien virus to save a young infant who may be the cure to saving the world.
Action Sci-Fi
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Top 10
FORTY THIEVES
Peter Hamilton & Scott Hamilton
MODERN TAKE ON ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES
A group of forty mercenaries hijack a DEA shipment of drugs on the US/Mexico border and only a disgraced ex-special forces marine turned bounty hunter is prepared to bring them to justice.
Action
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Top 25
FOUR SWORDS
Amit Bhaumik
INDIANA JONES meets NATIONAL TREASURE
An antiquities thief finds himself locked in a centuries old struggle of good and evil when he steals a legendary sword imbued with extraordinary powers.
Action
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: 3 Arts Entertainment | Will Robotham
Top 10
GIRL AND ROBOT
Joel Dorland
I, ROBOT meets THE ROAD
In a near-future apocalypse where robots have “glitched” and massacred mankind, a fierce young woman journeys with her stoic android guardian to find a weapon that can save humanity.
Action Sci-Fi
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
H.O.V. (HIGH OCCUPANCY VEHICLE)
Jacob Isser
HORRIBLE BOSSES meets THE HANGOVER
Three childhood friends on the verge of winning a high-stakes rideshare competition pick up an extra passenger who turns out to be a fugitive on the run, turning their routine commute into the carpool from hell.
Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Artillery Creative | Tom Carter
Top 10
INTRO TO CREATION
Adam Goldstein
SUPERBAD meets THE BOOK OF GENESIS
A comedic retelling of the Book of Genesis from the perspective that God is a 15-year-old misfit with no faith in himself and our world is his half-assed Introduction to Creation class project.
Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Management SGC | Scott Carr
Winner
KISS, THE
Susan Feehan
IN THE VEIN OF THE PROPOSAL
15 years after a candid photo immortalized a moment of passion, two ex-lovers are reluctantly reunited to appear in an ad campaign that gives new meaning to the word “awkward.”
Romantic Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Top 25
KNIGHTS OF FIRE
Alexander Danelski
BRAVEHEART meets KING ARTHUR
A banner of Knights are forced to team up with their sworn enemy on a journey to a mysterious city that threatens them both.
Action Period
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
LAST TROJAN, THE
Amit Bhaumik
TROY meets 300
After the city of Troy is sacked by the most powerful men in Greece, the massacre’s lone survivor sets out to bring bloody justice to the tyrants who wiped out his people.
Action Period
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
MATRIARCH
Eric Koenig
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS meets KISS THE GIRLS
A prison psychologist has just 48-hours to convince a serial killer to tell her the location of her final victim before she’s executed.
Thriller
Agent: Paradigm | David Boxerbaum
Manager: Benderspink | Daniel Vang, Jake Wagner
Top 10
MCMANUS & ME
Jacob Isser
HORRIBLE BOSSES meets MRS. DOUBTFIRE
When a disgruntled assistant finally snaps and goes off the deep end one drunken night, he invents a fake employee to take the blame…but he’s forced to keep up the ruse when everyone loves this new mystery guy and his brash, bold attitude.
Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
NIGHT WITCHES, THE
Steven Prowse
ENEMY AT THE GATES meets UNBROKEN
With wood and canvas biplanes, no radio, no lights, and no parachutes, a Soviet squadron of all-female pilots became the Germans’ most feared opponents during WWII, one bomb at a time.
Action Drama
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Top 25
ONE FELL SWOOP
Greg Scharpf
UP IN THE AIR meets THIS IS WHERE I LEAVE YOU
A self-centered divorce attorney’s life takes an unexpected turn when he is guilted into spending time with the family of a one night stand who died in a freak accident.
Dark Comedy
Agent: Verve | Bill Weinstein, Melissa Solomon, Parker Davis
Manager: Industry Entertainment | Micah Klatzker, Steve Crawford
Top 25
PILLS
Andrew Bluestone
AMOUR meets SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK
After years of monotony caring for her Parkinson’s-afflicted husband, a woman must decide whether or not to hold true to her wedding vows when she meets a man who has embraced a new life.
Drama
Agent: ICM | Bryan Diperstein, Cullen Conly, Laura Gordon
Manager: Silent R Management | Jewerl Ross
Top 10
PREGGERS
Katiedid Langrock
KNOCKED UP meets BAD TEACHER
A hard-partying bartender gets knocked up and labors to maintain her wet ‘n’ wild lifestyle while under the prenatal care of her “Super Mommy” big sister.
Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
SHADOW EYE
Nathan Wilcoxen
MINORITY REPORT meets ENEMY OF THE STATE
In the future, microscopic implants allow the government to monitor the actions of the population, and one rogue cop joins the resistance movement desperate to end the corruption.
Sci-Fi Thriller
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
SHELBY SHERMAN OF SHERMANVILLE
Lisa Garvey
WIZARD OF OZ meets ALICE IN WONDERLAND
A teenage girl wakes up after an accident in a fantastical land where she must clear her name of the crimes of her doppelganger.
Drama Fantasy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Top 25
SHIVERS, THE
Mike Van Waes
AMERICAN PIE meets ROSEMARY’S BABY
An angst-ridden half demon inadvertently possesses the girl of his dreams and must struggle to make amends while she struggles to take revenge.
Comedy
Agent: ICM | Allie Berkowitz, Doug Johnson
Manager: Grandview | Zac Frognowski
Top 10
SINGULARITY, THE
Tony Pitman
I, ROBOT meets SEVEN
A disillusioned detective discovers that an android is responsible for a series of brutal murders and finds himself in a race against time to save the entire human race from the robot’s sinister plans.
Action Sci-Fi Thriller
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Niad Management | Chris Brannigan, Wendi Niad
Top 25
SLAVERY BY ANOTHER NAME
Jeanne Bowerman
12 YEARS A SLAVE meets TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
The lives of a lawyer-turned-gubernatorial candidate, a wrongly-imprisoned black farmer, and the first African-American Deputy U.S. Marshall are intertwined as they fight discrimination in the newly Emancipated South.
Drama
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Top 25
STALKING MONICA BELLUCCI
Brendan Gore
PUNCH DRUNK LOVE meets HOTEL CHEVALIER
A 20-something loser infatuated with Monica Bellucci recruits his fantasy’s doppelganger to help him finally meet the Italian movie star of his dreams.
Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Top 25
STRICKEN, THE
Robert Pilkington
TRUE GRIT meets CABIN FEVER
An unpopular young sheriff discovers an abandoned train stalled, robbed, and teeming with leprous undead and must pursue the charismatic bandit who carries both the stolen lootƒ and a deadly germ.
Horror Thriller Western
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Top 25
TELL ME A MOVIE
Robert Weinberger
RADIO DAYS meets THE GRADUATE
In 1962, a movie-obsessed teenage boy starts a relationship with a tortured older aspiring actress.
Drama
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
TREES OF PEACE
Alanna Brown
HOTEL RWANDA meets PANIC ROOM
Centers on four women trapped in a small underground room fighting for their survival during the Rwandan Genocide. A heart wrenching true story of how these strangers formed an unbreakable bond over three months of captivity.
Drama Thriller
Agent: Paradigm | Adrian Garcia, David Boxerbaum
Manager: Kaplan/Perrone | Aaron Kaplan, Sean Perrone
Top 25
TRIENNIAL, THE
Richard Ehrenreich
TAKEN meets THE HURT LOCKER
An Israeli commando puts his life and his morals on the line in order to save a general’s daughter and stop a terrorist cell operating on U.S. soil.
Action Thriller
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Artillery Creative | Tom Carter
Top 25
UNDER THE BORRACHERO TREE
Matt DeMartini & Scott Waldvogel
TAKEN meets MEMENTO
A man who wakes up with nothing but the clothes on his back and no memory of the last 48 hours, and must use his criminal connections to find his missing Drug Lord brother, and hunt down the people who stole his money and his free will.
Drama Thriller
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Gotham Group
Top 25
VICARIOUS
Jason Williams
THE EXORCIST meets EVIL DEAD
A young man, raised by a demon-hunting priest, is forced to mature and take up his father’s mantle to hunt down a body-possessing demon with a taste for children.
Horror
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE
Jon Bachmann & Katherine Griffin
AMERICAN BEAUTY meets AMERICAN PSYCHO
After a father’s desperate attempt to keep his son from dating his mistress ends in murder, he finds himself racing to cover his tracks, as layers of revenge, blackmail, and deception peel away to reveal no one is innocent, no one is perfect, and no one will make it out of this unscathed.
Drama
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Top 25
WINTER GARDEN
Tucker Hannah
BIG FISH meets THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS
On her deathbed, a Russian mother reconnects with her daughters by telling them a fairy tale. But as the daughters listen, the grandeur of the fairy tale begins to melt away and is replaced by the incredible story of how one woman survived one of the most brutal war events in modern history, the Siege of Leningrad.
Drama Period
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
YOU’RE DEAD TO ME
Paul McLalin
SHALLOW GRAVE meets THE PROPOSAL
When a work obsessed young woman, with a sketchy past, accidentally kills her date, she enlists the help of her slacker neighbor to cover up the murder.
Comedy
Agent: Available for Agents
Manager: Available for Managers
Honorable Mention
