Mandarin
Feature film. Status: First Draft
completed
Alexander
Brand is the leader of a group of remarkable people. Over the
years the kernel of this group have developed a quantum leap in IT
Technology. Everybody wants it, but nobody wants to pay for
it. They would prefer to steal it or obtain it by starving him
out and getting him to accept a bargain basement compensation.
Even his investors are combining to put pressure on him to lower the
price and get in on the market. Then a small glimmer of opportunity
presents itself in the shape of Chinese entreneurs in Hong Kong and
Beijing. They combine with the Chinese government to give him
a financial launch platform. Alex grew up in Hong Kong
and it is through his friends Stephen Vincent Ho and Grace Huang
that is has all become possible. What none of them realise is that
someone is stalking Alex. An attempt will be makd to ensure that he
never gets the project off the ground. Guns, bombs and mayhem
are just part of the drama that evolves as Alex and his
associates strive to bring off a major coup. The hope to reshape the
whole of IT infrastructure and the way the world communicates both
internally and with other businesses. As someone once said,
this isn't just a matter of life and death -- this is much more
important than that.
If
You're So Funny -- Why Aren't We
Rich? Feature film.
Status: First Draft completed
Chris Birney each day has a miraculous
transition. At home he is the son and minder of his aged
mother, Daisy. She is both an eccentric and erratic hook around
which part of his life revolves. Each day he leaves her to go to the
office of his business which is an artist agency. There his
shares his chaotic approachment to life with Maria Mangiano his
office manager, genral factotum and house mother and Sean Finn, an
out of work actor and friend. He and Maria share an idealised
relationship based on trust and love. It is fiercely platonic
as a relationship however. This is because Maria is happily
married and because both of them realise that their relationship
would not survive the abrsaive demands of becoming lovers.
Each days Chris tries to get home to prepare lunch for his mother.
In the event that he is prevented, someone else deputises for
him.
Sometimes Chris feels that there is no time
to stretch out and relax - to enjoy solitary time where his sould
can breathe. At other times his life provides him a smoothe
vista where he sees himself in layers of relaxed layers. Both
night and day he writes, usually plays and scripts. Sometimes one of
his works is performed, but this is more a rarity than a regular
occurrence.
Into this stable day-to-day existence now
come a number of disturbances. The first results from the
demands of the business. A competitor has closed his agency
and Chris and Maria manage to capture most of that business. This is
fortunate as the agency has recently suffered from a down-turn on
the local scene. Then Craig Bushmill enters the scene. He is a
young writer looking for help with developing a script concept for a
TV series. This is an area where Chris has recognised
expertise. He has done this kind of thing before.
Finally Chris meets Madeline Massey and her
daughter, Maggie. Maddy has an obvious physical beauty, but
she also has a quite giving quality. She also forges an
immediate and unexpected rapport with Chris. For years
now Chris has wondered if he would ever meet someone for which he
would ever feel the same sort of relaxed love that he had with his
late love. Perhaps with Maddy his life will begin to open up
again.
Feature film.
Status: First Draft completed
Laura Pedersen has paid a high price for what she believes in.
Orphaned at nine years of age she is a surgeon, travelling the world
over looking after those who have been damaged and destroyed by
conflict. Her friend Claire Dean has supported her in many of her
adventures. Recovering from a difficult time after losing her
husband, Laura once more follows her star. This time to Bosnia. What
she doesn't realise how difficult this journey will be. It isn't
just fighting beauracracy, lack of funds and the daily threat of
violence. This time she will once more be brought to question her
choice of direction.
Turn Left at
Thursday
Feature film. Status: First Draft
completed.
Mark Corday has written a best selling noveldealing withterrorist attacks on the
US, set in the near future. On travelling to the States he finds
that the events he has fabricated are based on situations which in
fact exist. The novel attracts a lot of interest, makes it to the
New York Best Seller List and exposes him to scrutiny by the
American intelligence community, organised crime and the terrorists
themselves. The question is: Can he stay ahead of assassination
attempts and general mayhem before the full ramifications of his
revelations are revealed?
The
Weathermen
Feature film. Status: First Draft completed.
In the not too distant future, extreme weather
patterns are affecting the world. In Europe freak floods and rain
have devastated the continent for some time. In Britain it is
difficult to operate normal daily activity. In Southern Africa,
Australia and South America, drought has been endemic for more than
three years. Chaos is taking hold. Food shortages are routine and
without recourse.
Craig Ruby, with his wife Melissa head up the
team that is developing the technology for the Weatherman
satellites. We follow their journey as they cope with the day-to-day
challenges of getting the project up while trying to lead a normal
life. Then in the middle of everything, Melissa is killed in a
random act of violence. Now Craig must cope with the raising of
their son while finding a path back to some form or normal
existence.
In Australian a joint venture has been allowed
to go ahead which will focus on moderating extreme weather
patterns.? The US and some members of the Pan Arab League, object to
the deployment. Others share their fears. The US doesn?t want a
system, which may interfere with their weather, without their input
or control. It is decided to deploy anyway and to invite observers
from all quarters. Once the system is tested and operational, the
idea is to pass control to an international corporation under UN
auspices. A major problem is that the system
can be used as a weapon. More energy is released during a major
storm than a number of nuclear weapons. Such technology in the wrong
hands would unleash havoc in a very short time.
Matters of Substance
The
first part in the Trilogy An End To
Dreaming
Feature film.
Status: First Draft nearing completion.
Each film circles around a sequence of events at about
the same time. Some of the characters are in all three films, but in
each case the focus and the level of drama/intensity/humour is
different.
We
follow the life and adventures of HARRY ELLIOTT a rat-bag artist and
his friends, CARL SCHYLER who works occasionally as a reporter and
JOE HENRY MORANN his co-worker and side-kick. It is a manic
existence. Harry lives at the Cross in an old terrace has
seen much better days. He sponsors lost causes and takes in lame
ducks. In his late thirties, he drinks, smokes and
plays pool. He likes to party and chase women when he
knows they won't run too fast. Over the years he has been under the
influence of 'brother' Carl. In the the time we
meet him, he rescues and gets involved with a young woman,
JENNI MEACHAM,? who is visiting Sydney with her
father.
The action is set in and around
Sydney, sometimes in the downtown business district, sometimes on
the seedier side of town. The main characters, are not aware that
something is about to impact on their lives, that
something is bringing them together under seemingly legitimate
circumstances. Jennifer's father disappears and part of their time
is spent trying to track him down.
We are aware that there is
something happening which comes from the attempt of certain
influential parties trying to corrupt and take control of certain
enterprises. Political influences, large corporate enterprises and
overseas observers all twist and twine their influence. But this is
all in the background, almost invisible.
The second film, Shadow
Mask follows two of the key characters from the previous film
with incidents which were indicated before and are now explored more
fully. There are a series of murders and hints of paedophilia as
well as more obvious violence on a close physical level, which in
the previous film were only glancingly explored. It ends with events
leading to a revelation, but before all the events can be unraveled,
one of them is badly wounded.
The final part is a flashback.
The Comfort of Strangers explores the life of an old
eccentric, McAllister as we follow his life which leads him to his
present day dilemma. As a younger man he was part of a security
organisation. Every so often he would go into part of Asia and break
up the distribution chain of Asian drug groups. He did this by
following the distribution chain back to its source, killing as he
went. Later this would play on his mind to such an extent that he
was instrumental in a series of destructive events which almost
brought about his own undoing.
Forest
World
The second part in the Science Fiction
Trilogy Outreach
Feature film. Status: First half completed.?
Concept sketches completed.
Background:
The premise is simple. There is a world
covered in trees and associated vegetation to a height of two
kilometers. First problem: How do you land?
After landing, it is discovered there are
native inhabitants who live in the trees and show signs of
intelligence, but who seem to go out of their way to avoid contact
with the human visitors.
Question: What if humans come in contact with
a civilisation which has taken a different path and can create
natural defenses through their alliance with the
environment?
In
the last decade of the twenty first century, fusion as a convenient
source of energy has long been a reality. Fusion power has also been
the key political issue prevalent at this time. Those who control
the power, control the world. But it doesn't stop there. Man has
ventured beyond the local system.
In
2078 Yuri Sorch and Frederich Mannerschein joined forces to take
fusion into space. Their revolutionary ram-fusion drive made the
journey to the stars a matter of weeks or months. The race to find
new planets had begun.
One of the first successful colonies was MONTA BRAY in
the VEGAN system. The planet was rich in heavy metals and closer to
potential developing outposts than Earth. It didn't take the Vegans
long to realise the potential of their situation. They formed the
VEGAN COMBINE, a planet-wide co-operative and inside fifty years
were overtaking Terran producers as the main suppliers of fusion
reactors and the fuel that ran them.
Terran interests fought hard to retain their influence
beyond the home system. The price for space technology was kept
prohibitively high, particularly for off-worlders. Other practices
bordered on the illegal verging on piratical. An example was
outbound immigration, one of the most profitable sources of trade.
Only Terran ships were licensed to carry immigrants.
Synopsis:
The Vegan Combine have taken delivery of their refitted
trading vessel, TANITH SEA. Leaving the local system they travel to
CEPHEUS MINOR 2. The only planet suitable for their purposes is the
second from the local sun. On approach they discover it has no
oceans and is completely covered in vegetation, not just ground
cover but in most places reaching over two kilometers in height. The
only way to land is to clear an area on the ground through fire
generated by lasers.
On
the surface they carry out further tests and all is given the green
light. The only initial problem encountered is the re-growing
vegetation and the large levels of pollen which seems to get into
everything.
Then in the shadow of the trees they see a figure. The
planet is inhabited. Later they try to make contact with the tree
people, but it is hard going. What contact there is does not lead to
communication. The tree people treat the Vegans like pariahs.
Eventually there is a very basic exchange. But it is not what the
Vegans expect. They are told that they must leave or they will be
destroyed. This threat is not taken seriously until there is a
growing realisation that most of the those on the planet are
beginning to suffer a deep sense of lassitude. They have no energy.
They then begin to find that not all forms of technology are visible
in the normal sense of the word.
On
this planet, co-operation can mean every creature, every plant
combining to remove the threat to their existence. And it doesn't
stop there!
Concept Drawings
The prequel to Forest World is Catch the
Sun which deals with the discovery and sacrifice which result in
the coming of inter-stellar travel. The story involves four main
characters: YURI SORCH and FREDERICH MANNERSCHEIN who develop the
drive, DOUGLAS HARRISON who captains the flight of the ill-fated
Prometheus and PETER W. GLASSER who makes the attempt
to rescue those on board the ship.
The final part in the trilogy is The Far Frontier.
On the far side of our galaxy an alien spacecraft is discovered
many years after it has been damaged on landing. The alien culture
is vastly different to human orientation and is centered on
destruction of all other intelligent life forms. It soon becomes
apparent that on most of the continent on which the ship has landed,
there are a series of berserker deathtraps which will be triggered
by any encounter with a life form, human or other. It is decided as
part of an attempt to understand the alien intelligence to find and
disarm all the death machines as well as the intelligence which is
directing them.
Copyright John
Hall
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