1. I have always been interested in the supernatural, and it is very important for me to evaluate the concept of the afterlife, and through a feature film, I hope to accomplish that in great detail.
2. 11 Miles Film Script/Story Treatment
- Title of script/story
11 MILES
- Name and contact information of the writer
Philip Nichols, 323-541-5771
- Logline
11 Miles is a horror film about a risk taking college senior who after getting expelled from school for covering up for the plagiarism of close friends convinces them to travel to the other side of the east coast to resurrect his dead girlfriend, but when black magic is not enough to keep supernatural forces away, he has to find a way to bring her back to life before the demonic forces destroy them.
Key characters
- Protagonist, John Welsh
A kind-hearted and open-minded, 24 year old college senior, attending Palace Valley College for the Traditional and Contemporary Arts, an institution his grandfather cofounded. He is both generous in spirit and with his purse strings. John struggles to find the good in anyone and after sacrificing his college career for the sake of his friends, he is willing to risk his own safety to bring his girlfriend back from the dead.
- Mentor, Ashley Welsh
Ashley Welsh, age 50, is John’s wealthy uncle who raised John throughout his formative years, paid for his college education, and who otherwise supports him economically. Ashley Welsh despises his first name and simply answers to Welsh. Welsh is an enthusiastic and charismatic up-from-under entrepreneur that pinches every penny and operates as a stingy miser to anyone he is not related to. Welsh is one of the only souls to escape the supernatural realm of 11 Miles.
- Love Interest, Ocean River
Ocean River, age 24, is John’s longtime girlfriend who has died in a fatal car accident. Although they were close, it is rumored that she has had multiple affairs with other men and only with John for his money and connections, accusations that John refuses to believe.
- Sage, Trolisa Moore
Trolisa Moore, age 40, is a homeless woman who is Welsh’s former employee at his gas station. She loses her job for stealing bags of potato chips. Although she was only stealing out of extreme hunger and to supplement her minuscule wage, Welsh has no compassion for her and terminates her employment. She comes from a family that practices Voodoo and is an expert when it comes to understanding and battling spiritual forces.
- Reflection Character, Corey Cobra
Corey Cobra, age 24, is John’s longtime friend and roommate since freshman year. Corey, who prefers to go by Cobra, has a rough exterior to hide a damaged childhood. He has transformed himself into a pragmatic individual concerned with educating himself with a university education and insulating himself from any type of danger. John’s generosity makes Cobra one of John’s greatest allies.
- Reflection Character, Eddy Newhouse
Eddy Newhouse, age 24, is good for a laugh. He looks at everything (and everyone) as a possible joke. Like John, he comes from money but could care less about studying in the traditional sense and earning an academic degree through legitimate means, so he convinces John to use his Palace Valley connections to unlock and distribute the senior curriculum and other test banks. The leak is traced to John’s account, and when John will not turn in his accomplice, Eddy agrees to go with John and Cobra for the summer.
Summary of the story
John Welsh, is a college senior who leaks out the entire senior curriculum along with all of the test banks, and he is caught by school officials. He decides to be a stand-up-guy and not turn in the classmates that participated in the academic dishonesty, but by doing so, John is expelled from Palace Valley College for the Traditional and Contemporary Arts.
In turn, he earns the everlasting respect of his friends and classmates and is given a spell book that can bring his dead girlfriend back to life once he enters the realm of 11 Miles.
Once John realizes he will be trapped in Hell if he does not make it out of the spiritual realm of 11 Miles, he contemplates giving up on his journey and not attempting to enter the spiritual realm.
On his way to 11 Miles, John visits his uncle’s dilapidated gas station located in Northwest Florida with two of his college friends Corey Cobra, 24 and Eddy Newhouse, 24. They enter the store. John talks to his uncle, Ashley Welsh, in the front of the store. Eddy and Cobra stand in the back and steal food items. Welsh notices the theft and throws them out of the store. John’s uncle then explains to John that he has come too far and sacrificed too much not to enter 11 Miles, and although John is putting his own soul in Jeopardy, there can be no turning back at this moment.
As John is exiting the gas station with supplies Welsh has given him, Trolisa Moore (Welsh’s former employee who was fired for stealing bags of chips) approaches John and describes her depressing life to him. As John takes pity on her, Welsh exits the gas station and curses Trolisa. The two run to John’s SUV and escape with Eddy and Cobra.
John and his friends crossover into the spiritual realm of 11 Miles; However, only John and Trolisa are aware of the supernatural elements that exist within this area. They approach an old farmhouse without running water or electricity.
Once Eddy and Cobra realize that John was serious about bringing Ocean (John’s girlfriend) back from the dead. They are overcome with rage and attack John.
John is saved by Trolisa who shoots them with a stun-gun. Eddy and Cobra try to steal John’s SUV, but the car will not start. Later that night, they sit around a bonfire and discuss the difficulties of life. The group makes up and they decide to locate Ocean’s grave and dig it up.
The next day, they excavate Ocean’s casket from her grave and relocate her casket back to the farmhouse. They prepare the resurrection site, and Welsh exists the farmhouse and convinces them to wait until the next day.
The next day, the group with the help of Trolisa bring Ocean back to life only to have Ocean confirm the rumors about her in regards to her infidelity and antisocial personality.
John is devastated that Ocean never loved him and was only using him for his money, but he is also relieved that she is alive again and understands that he does not have to be loved in order to love others.
The group discovers a group of corpses and decide to play a game of baseball with their bodies. In the outfield Eddy turns pale and passes out without anyone taking notice. They find him later that night and bring him into the farmhouse only to find that he has fallen gravelly ill. The group decides that they need to leave 11 Miles.
They use the spell book to form a portal that will lead them out of 11 Miles, but in order to leave successfully, they need to push the SUV for the entire 11 Miles. Eddy shivers in the backseat. Ocean steers. Welsh eats chips in the front seat. John and Cobra push the automobile. Trolisa sits in the passenger seat. A group of demons attack the SUV. Trolisa and Ocean throw grenades and use a variety of guns to fend the demons off. On the tenth mile, Cobra tries to enter the SUV, and his leg is decapitated by a spinning saw that had been unknowingly placed underneath the SUV. John puts Cobra into the car and as he pushes the SUV past the 11 Mile mark, the SUV disappears and a forcefield forcefully throws John backward, leaving him alone in the realm of 11 Miles. The SUV reappears in Defuniak Springs, FL. Eddy is no longer ill, and although Cobra is still missing his leg, the wound has healed.
The next day, John wakes up, comes to his feet, picks up a shotgun. He shoots the demons until they surround and murder him.
Possible premises
- Cheating death is unnatural, and bringing someone back from the dead disrupts the natural balance of life.
- Lessons are meant to be extracted from the past and implemented in the future; however, the past is not meant to be rewritten.
- Not understanding basic human psychology (how people operate, and why they operate the way they do) can place an individual in a tremendous amount of trouble that leads to Irreparable anguish.
Tones
1 Fear
2 Uncertainty
3 Light Hearted humor
Rewards
At this time, there are no rewards offered.
3. The crowd funding will be utilized to supplement these risks and add to the potential for success.
Risks and challenges can be categorized into three basic areas 1) Time. 2) budget restraints. 3) Potential filming locations. 1) Time, After careful planning and consideration, the independent production should take no less than forty-five days to film within predetermined specified locations, which were secured well in advance, before footage is ultimately sent to postproduction for final editing and mastering. However, since much of the story takes place outdoors and the production will be subject to weather conditions in the particular area, the time allotted for filming will be doubled to ninety days to ensure that production has adequate time to be completed. 2) Budget restraints, Such as film equipment, craft services, and cast and crew, can raise a film’s budget by thousands of dollars. To minimize this economic risk/challenge, the independent feature will be filmed on an iPhone 14 and edited within Final Cut Pro. Since these pieces of equipment are already owned, costs will be minimized significantly. I will also hire actors I have a prior rapport with and who have agreed to work for mostly backend money (if there is any backend money to come.) 3) Potential filming locations, lastly, since locations can be difficult to secure, I have worked diligently with friends, acquaintances, and other members of my local area to secure filming locations on either a low cost or no cost basis. These separate locations will add depth to the motion picture without significantly raising costs.
4. This project cannot take place without the economic support that others have the ability to bring to this potential feature film. Therefore, I would have an endless amount of gratitude to anyone who chooses to take this journey with me.
