Marietta Wilk's Lounge Discussions

Great news! Thanks for including the bit about the less-rosy parts of your effort. Good luck with all your work.

Could you post your pitch here for us to see.

Here is my pitch to Paradigm. Title: ASTERION Logline – In mythological Greece, Theseus journeys to Crete to slay the Minotaur and save his sister from sacrifice. Hi Niki and nice to meet you through Stage 32. My name is Kieron Holland and I’ve written a coming of age fantasy adventure called ASTERION that I’d like to send your way. I am writing to you because of your specific request for coming of age, historical, young adult scripts. ASTERION is adapted from the classic Greek myth “Theseus and Minotaur” and is written along the lines of films such as “Snow White and the Huntsman”, and “The Hunger Games”. It is a four quadrant fantasy action script and it recently won the Fantasy Sci-Fi genre of the Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting competition. My other successes include a period action heist thriller called AS THICK AS THIEVES that is currently a quarterfinalist in two international screenwriting competitions (The Final Draft Big Break, and Stage 32’s Search for New Blood Screenwriting Competition) and earlier this year was listed on the Black List among their top unrepresented action scripts. And, my co-written spec script, LOVE BY SHAKESPEARE, has just ranked on Stage 32 among their top scoring scripts covered in August 2014. ASTERION… In ancient Greece, Athens is a subjugated citistate, dominated by the cruel tyrant King Minos of Crete. For a past transgression, every nine years they must provide seven boys and seven girls to sacrifice to the immortal Minotaur that lurks in the labyrinth beneath his kingdom. When the story begins, the nine year cycle is almost up. The Cretan Selectors, led by the vicious Captain Straton, arrive to claim their due. Theseus, who is a charming though irresponsible young man, must hide his sister Hypatia - but on the day the Selectors arrive, his youthful irresponsibility results in Hypatia being taken for sacrifice. Scorned by his family and feeling wretched and ashamed, Theseus vows to stop at nothing to get her back. Theseus and his best friend Alkaios set sail for Crete to rescue Hypatia. When they arrive, Theseus and Alkaios meet an old Athenian, Solon, who was once in their position years ago, having journeyed to Crete to save his friend. Solon failed and was too ashamed to return home so he now runs the Inn in Crete. He takes the boy’s under his wing to train and guide them in their task. Solon reveals that Hypatia and the other Athenian sacrifices will be held in a clifftop prison until the feast of Poseidon. Theseus decides that this is their best chance to save her. Though he is afraid of heights, Theseus braves all to scale the two-hundred foot cliff to the prison’s secret entrance; a waste disposal shoot that hangs over the cliff. He sneaks inside and finds his sister. Here he learns a sinister truth; if he rescues Hypatia King Minos will murder the other Athenian sacrifices and return to Athens where it is his right to select another fourteen youths to replace them. Hypatia won’t have their lives on her hands. She won’t go with Theseus and tells him to leave. Now, if Theseus wants to save her there is only one option; he must slay the Minotaur. However, the beast is said to be immortal. There is only one person that might know the secret to killing it, and that is Princess Ariadne, the daughter of the sinister King Minos. Theseus’ only chance is to deceive Ariadne, to trick her into falling in love with him and giving up the secret. But how will Theseus get close to her, let alone get her to fall in love with him? Not only that the Minotaur is an eight foot tall monster with the strength of ten men. Even if he could kill it, how would he stand a chance? While they come up with a plan, Solon begins to train Theseus in speed and agility so that he can fight the beast. They learn that Ariadne has a passion for philosophy and so Theseus and Alkaios construct a complex plan to attract her by setting up a night of oratory debate in the Inn in Crete and pretending that Theseus is a visiting Athenian philosopher. The snare works, Theseus captures Ariadne’s interest with a witty speech and the love game begins. However, Theseus quickly becomes a victim of his own ploy, falling to Ariadne as she falls for him. The longer the game continues the harder it is to maintain the deception, and now in order to save his sister he is sure to break the heart of the unique woman he has come to love, as well as his own heart in the process. The net is closing. Captain Straton and the Selectors have become aware of Theseus and Alkaios presence in Crete and are on the prowl to catch them. They nearly succeed when they storm the Inn where Theseus is staying. Theseus is given a chance to demonstrate his new skills as he leads the Selectors on a hair-raising chase through the city, barely escaping with his life. Time is running out. Tensions between Theseus and Alkaios come to the fore with the increasing threat to their lives and Theseus constantly delaying his confrontation with Ariadne. On the feast of Poseidon, the eve of the Athenian’s sacrifice, Theseus reveals his true intentions to Ariadne and begs her forgiveness and her aid. Broken hearted Ariadne tells him the horrible truth; though she can forgive him, there is no way to slay the Minotaur. Theseus is devastated; his yearning to free his sister shattered, and his desire to sail away with Ariadne will be forever tarnished by this failure. Theseus resolves to face the monster anyway, to stand with his sister and defend her until he is overcome, accepting responsibility for his part in her fate, and to atone by giving his life for her. Theseus and Ariadne declare their love and Theseus goes to fight the Minotaur. As Ariadne wallows in misery she recalls a small fact that might give Theseus a slim chance of success. Se rushes to find him and catches him just as he is about to enter the Labyrinth. Theseus, armed with this new information, enters the labyrinth for the fight of his life, to confront the monster that has been the object of their dominance for generations… ASTERION is set in the same world as ‘Clash of the Titans’, ‘Immortals,’ and ‘300’, but unlike these films, ASTERION is a coming of age four quadrant action adventure based on a legendary tale, much more in the style of ‘The Hunger Games’ or ‘Divergent.’ And like the original ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, it works well as a standalone film with easy franchise adaptation. Thanks for your time and consideration. Best regards,

awesome

"Mr Kieron Holland, maybe you'll be willing to help us with our pitching process. We just have one question? Can you just submit, a pitch without the screenplay to the pitch. Cause our Synopsis project are all very elaborate"