Once again, the UK and Irish film community have compiled a list of their most liked and recommended un-produced screenplays for the 2014 edition of The Brit List. To qualify, a script must a minimum of three votes, be un-produced, penned by a non-US writer, and must not have been featured on any previous Brit Lists.
This year there were 140 entries with 34 scripts making the list based on votes received, and the romantic comedy Matinee Idol by Richard Galazka (who is unrepped) and the sci-fi script Gateway 6 by Malachi Smyth lead the pack.
The full list:
NINE VOTES
MATINEE IDOL
Writer: Richard Galazka (unrepresented)
Producers: Rooks Nest Entertainment
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Summary: Inspired by his favourite rom-coms, a cinephile tries to win a girl’s heart by pretending to be someone he’s not, only to learn that it takes more than grand gestures to turn fantasy into reality.
GATEWAY 6
Writer: Malachi Smyth (JAB Management)
Producers: Sentinel Entertainment
Genre: Sci-Fi
Summary: Set in the future, on a war-ravaged Earth, four soldiers man the last bastion – an outpost in a sea-covered continent – awaiting relief or the enemy, whichever comes first. But as the empty weeks turn to months, a paranoia descends that tests relationships to breaking, especially with the arrival of a mysterious boat…
EIGHT VOTES
THE PIER
Writer: Jay Basu (42) & David Bowers (Independent Talent Group)
Producers: 42
Genre: Action/Adventure
Summary: Family adventure movie set on a British seaside pier. In the vein of The Goonies.
AETHER
Writer: Krysty Wilson-Cairns (United Agents)
Producers: Film Nation Entertainment
Genre: Sci-fi
Summary: A device invented for capturing sounds of the past is used to track violent crimes of the present.
SEVEN VOTES
FASTEST WAY DOWN
Writer: Philip J Booth (Curtis Brown Group)
Producers: Newscope Films
Genre: Heist
Summary: Set on the ski slopes of Switzerland, a team comes together to steal a lock box full of diamonds that is being transported to a ski hotel to be smuggled over the border.
SICK ROBOT
Writer: Paul Valnay (Sheil Land Associates)
Producers: Stigma Films/Met Film
Genre: Sci-Fi
Summary: A thriller about a robot in quarantine.
SIX VOTES
THE TRIAL OF QUEEN CAROLINE
Writer: Matthew Faulk (Dench Arnold) & Mark Skeet (Dench Arnold)
Producers: Working Title
Genre: Historical Drama
Summary: The true story of Caroline of Brunswick’s return to England to face accusations of adultery by her estranged husband, the newly ascended King George IV, and her ensuing relationship with the ambitious young barrister defending her unlikely corner, Henry Brougham.
FIVE VOTES
THEIR FINEST HOUR AND A HALF
Writer: Gaby Chiappe (Blake Friedmann)
Producers: Number 9 Films/Wildgaze Films/BBC Films
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Summary: A love story set against the making of a propaganda film in WWII.
SWIMMING WITH MEN
Writer: Aschlin Ditta (Independent Talent Group)
Producers: Met Film/Shoebox Films
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Summary: Comedy drama about a male synchronized swimming team.
COME MONDAY, WE KILL THEM ALL
Writer: Michael Kinirons (United Agents) & Jamie Hannigan (Casarotto)
Producers: Currently available
Genre: Noir
Summary: Dublin 1916. The search for the missing daughter of an old flame unexpectedly draws Harry Coyne – a street-wise smuggler – into a labyrinthine world of espionage, betrayal, murder, and ultimately, revolution.
CLEAN
Writer: Matt Orton (The Agency)
Producers: Qwerty Films
Genre: Thriller
Summary: A disillusioned city slicker posing as a window cleaner seeks revenge against his manipulative ex-employer, only to find himself implicated in a series of murders and stranded, 400ft up, on the outside of London’s Shard.
FOUR VOTES
A LITTLE MUSIC
Writer: Lydia Adetunji (Knight Hall Agency)
Producers: Shine Pictures UK/Film Four
Genre: Horror
Summary: Psychological horror set in Bavaria 1945, inspired by a true story.
MEN OF STEEL
Writer: David Chidlow (Sheil Land Associates)
Producers: Campfire Stories/Bard Entertainment/BFI
Genre: Drama
Summary: The true story of Jimmy Reid and his union colleagues determined to save the Clyde Docks.
THE DEATH ENGINE
Writer: Melissa Iqbal (Casarotto)
Producers: Currently available
Genre: Sci-Fi
Summary: In a world where forever never ends, Lily lives the perfect immortal life. But when she’s diagnosed with the melancholia, the incurable desire to die, she must call the notorious Death Engine.
SEEKERS
Writer: Arinze Kene (The Agency)
Producers: Poisson Rouge Pictures
Genre: Thriller
Summary: Romantic thriller set in London’s migrant community. A cab driver puts his life on the line to help a mother and her teenage son.
MR CHARTWELL
Writer: Kelly Marcel (Casarotto)
Producers: Endor Productions/Seemore Ltd
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Summary: Winston Churchill’s “black dog” taunts the former Prime Minister as it stalks a lonely young parliamentary librarian. Can Churchill rouse himself for one last battle?
SLAMMER
Writer: Alan McKenna (United Agents)
Producers: Carole Sheridan
Genre: Thriller
Summary: A prison-set thriller based on the novel by Allan Guthrie.
BULLDOG DRUMMOND
Writer: Tom MacRae (The Agency)
Producers: Beagle Pug/BFI
Genre: Action
Summary: A reboot of the classic novels by Sapper.
VIVLING
Writer: Sameera Steward (Independent Talent Group)
Producers: MGR Films
Genre: Biopic
Summary: The intimate character study of an iconic film star’s prevailing passion through her silent battle with mental illness.
OVER THE BAR
Writer: Hugh Travers (The Lisa Richards Agency)
Producers: Dan Films/Deadpan Pictures/Irish Film Board
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Summary: An American football coach who falls from grace is forced to hide in Ireland, only to find himself training a local Gaelic football team.
KILLER CV
Writer: Joy Wilkinson (Berlin Associates)
Producers: Jeva Films
Genre: Thriller
Summary: A wannabe journalist and CV writer discovers a potentially explosive story while interviewing an executive at a chemical firm.
THREE VOTES
TRANSMISSION (ALEXANDER/AMFO)
Writer: Joe Alexander (Valerie Hoskins Associates) & Andy Amfo (Valerie Hoskins Associates)
Producers: Beck Farhall & Sarah Radclyffe
Genre: Drama
Summary: The relationship of two brothers set against the backdrop of the early Garage music scene.
OUTSIDE THE WIRE
Writer: Rowan Athale (42) & Rob Yescombe (Curtis Brown Group)
Producers: 42/Automatik
Genre: Sci-Fi
Summary: In the near future a young remote drone operator is sent out into the field with a newly-developed android soldier as his commanding officer. As the soldier starts to suspect that the android has turned rogue, he is forced to think for himself and disobey orders for the first time in order to save himself and the world.
THE SCIENCE OF LOVE AND LAUGHTER
Writer: Sam Baron (Curtis Brown Group)
Producers: Currently available
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Summary: Comedy-drama about love, loss and companionship: a neuroscientist, trapped in the wrong relationship, finally decides to ask his wife for a divorce – but before he can, he discovers she has cancer. He becomes determined to save their marriage – but is that the right thing to do?
THE GEE GEES
Writer: Kevin Barry (Aitken Alexander Associates)
Producers: Element Pictures/Irish Film Board
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Summary: A father and son horse-racing team have one last chance at winning big, but this pair are born losers and the odds are against them.
SHE WHO BRINGS GIFTS
Writer: Mike Carey (Ki Agency)
Producers: Golden Arrow Pictures/BFI
Genre: Sci-fi | Thriller
Summary: 10-year-old Melanie could be the end of the human race, but she might just be a new beginnin
LION
Writer: Luke Davies (UTA)
Producers: See-Saw Films/The Weinstein Company
Genre: Drama
Summary: The true story of Saroo, who after being separated from his family in the lands of India at the age of 5, grows up in Australia to eventually embark upon a quest to find his mother using Google maps.
HHhH
Writer: David Farr (Curtis Brown Group)
Producers: Adama Pictures/Legende Films
Genre: Political Wartime Thriller
Summary: Based on the book of the same name by Laurent Binet, the true story behind the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the most dangerous man in Hitler’s cabinet known as the “Butcher of Prague”.
SILENCERS
Writer: Matt Greenhalgh (Independent Talent Group)
Producers: Origin Pictures/BFI
Genre: Thriller
Summary: Two mismatched, unarmed cops break the rules to take down the armed gangs of Manchester.
MARINADE
Writer: Jeff Povey (Valerie Hoskins Associates)
Producers: Dan Films
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Summary: Bridget Jones meets Ghost in this comic cooking caper.
ALICE IN LA LA LAND
Writer: Tamzin Rafn (Casarotto)
Producers: Oakheart Films
Genre: Comedy
Summary: A Geordie girl discovers her real Dad is a Hollywood A-lister.
SONIA
Writer: Nick Stafford (The Agency)
Producers: Montebello Productions
Genre: Thriller
Summary: A dangerous woman with nothing left to lose decides to settle some scores.
THE INVERNESIAN
Writer: Simon Stephenson (Knight Hall Agency)
Producers: Rooks Nest Entertainment
Genre: Comedy
Summary: Two estranged brothers set off on a road trip around Scotland in search of youth hostels, brotherly redemption and somewhere they can bury a body.
THE NINE LIVES OF LOUIS WAIN
Writer: Simon Stephenson (Knight Hall Agency)
Producers: Shoebox Films/SunnyMarch
Genre: Biopic
Summary: An emotional tale of love, art and obsession following the rise and fall of the eccentric Louis Wain, the Victorian painter of cats.
