CURRENT
PROJECTS
"RACE WITH THE DRAGON"
FEATURE FILM
PRODUCTION COMPANY: First Team Productions
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR: Stanley Livingston
WRITER: Stanley Livingston
CAST: TBA
LOCATIONS, Bejing, China, Zhoukoutien, China, Tiensen, China, , Los Angeles, CA
STATUS: In Development
RACE WITH THE DRAGON - SYNOPSIS
RACE WITH THE DRAGON is an action packed adventure-thriller surrounding the unearthing of perhaps the most significant anthropological discovery of all time. RACE WITH THE DRAGON is a real-life “Indiana Jones” story that took place at Choukoutien (Zhoukoudian), just outside Peking (Bejing), in Mainland China literally on the eve of World War Two at the end of 1941.
In the weeks just prior to the formal beginning of World War II with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a joint American-Chinese scientific expedition sponsored by the New York Museum of Natural History unexpectedly stumbles upon an anthropological find of the first-magnitude. The celebration of the discovery - and it’s monumental significance to the scientific world - is cut short as the scientists realize they have what may be an insurmountable problem… how to keep their anthropological treasure a secret and how to keep the artifacts from falling into the hands of the approaching Japanese military troops who now occupy most of China’s major cities and are now closing in on the site of the dig.
The Chinese and American scientific teams join forces as they race against time, danger and incredible odds to elude the encroaching and ever-menacing Japanese Army. The scientists hatch a plan of deception in order to escape Choukoutien and reach the coastal city of Chinwangtao where a Swiss cargo ship waits to whisk their priceless treasure out of the country before World War II explodes in the Far East.
Heroism, patriotism and cross-cultural friendship are put to the test as our heroes desperately struggle to save artifacts that are the story of "time" itself.
"BARSTOW"
FEATURE FILM
PRODUCTION COMPANY: First Team Productions / Barstow Productions, LLC
DIRECTOR: Steve Railsback
PRODUCER: Stanley Livingston
WRITER: Philip Railsback
CAST:
Scott Wilson
LOCATIONS: Los Angeles, CA; Barstow, CA
STATUS: In Development
BARSTOW - SYNOPSIS
BARSTOW - “what hell might be like if hell consisted entirely of convenience stores, cheap motels, auto part stores and fast food places” - by Philip Railsback
On the run from bills, the rent, life; MICKEY, a clever survivor who has spent more time in prison than a man really ought to (not violent, just a certain sense of bitterness), assumes the role of father, provider, protector to VICKY, who became a mother far too young, and her son EARL. Not enough money for rent and the motel room TV strapped to the roof of their car, they make off in the middle of the night; leaving the town of Redding behind them on to better opportunities.
These three lost souls find themselves in their own private purgatory – BARSTOW. For VICKY, it’s an unwanted return home to a home that never wanted her anyway. For MICKEY, it’s a chance at a new start in a long string of new starts. EARL, along for the ride, taking everything in, is wiser than his ten years but lets on to nothing. Their only refuge is a motel so rundown it doesn’t even have a name; times are good.
They may not find much luck but they do find the “We Won’t Tell” Bar. It may not be a great place but in Barstow, it might as well be the Plaza. For two people drinking their problems away, no place could be better. In a town like BARSTOW, nothing gets past big tipper JACKIE SHOOTER, a braggart that throws twenty dollars bills around like confetti and throws back as many drinks. Self appointed most dangerous man; not for a gun but for the secrets he keeps. These two were made for one another.
Night after night, drink after drink, MICKY and JACKIE come to trust each other. They are two bull-shitters stuck playing a crooked game the only way they know how. BARSTOW may be a hopeless pit in the middle of the desert, but for these two, sometimes even a deadly desert can allow a cactus to sprout a flower…and sometimes salvation.
"JOHNNY-NO-FACE"
FEATURE FILM
PRODUCTION COMPANY: First Team Productions
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR: Stanley Livingston
WRITER: Stanley Livingston
CAST:
Steve Railsback
LOCATIONS: Los Angeles, CA; Beaver Falls, PA
STATUS: In Development
JOHNNY-NO-FACE - SYNOPSIS
Johnny-No-Face is fast paced and unique horror film and is based on a real-life character that lived in and terrorized the residents of a small rural town just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The story, which opens in the mid 1920's, literally begins with a "jolt" as we witness Johnny's face deforming electrical accident as a young teenager. Johnny and a friend are flying a kite that becomes tangled the wires of a high-voltage power pole. Johnny struggles to disentangle his friend’s kite and comes into contact with a patch of un-insulated wiring. He survives the fall and the electrocution – but is horribly disfigured.
We flash forward to late 1950s and the story continues "American Graffiti" like to the beat of the early days of Rock and Roll. A group of hell-raising teenagers are out partying and looking for a good time… or trouble. We learn that Johnny, now a man in his early forties, has become a bit of "local eerie legend " and a constant topic of conversation among the teenagers!
To avoid contact with the townspeople, who scorn and are repulsed by him, Johnny has taken to concealing his grotesque hideousness in public by wearing a tattered and eerie looking burlap hood. Johnny ventures forth, apparition-like, from the refuge and alienation of his wooden shack deep in the bowels of the nearby forest… but only after dark! Johnny has become the perfect scapegoat and is blamed for every misdeed that happens in the town… from missing property, to missing people!
The audience soon discovers that despite his hideous disfigurement, Johnny is not a "creature-of –the-night", but merely a misunderstood and lonely soul (ala "The Elephant Man"). He is withering away internally from lack of human companionship, compassion and kindness. In fact, we discover that Johnny is a man full of redeeming qualities and incredible artistic abilities!
The "twist" to the story is the slow realization that it is the teens and the adults of this town who are the true "monsters", as they find increasingly cruel and malicious ways to tease, humiliate and terrorize poor defenseless Johnny.
Their twisted games continue until one night, one of their pranks goes to far. A gun discharges and Johnny collapses. Thinking that they have mortally wounded Johnny, the group of teens swears an oath of silence and then conspires to bury him in a shallow grave in the forest. But… Johnny is not dead! The gunshot wound has left him not only in agony, but also completely out of his mind.
Johnny rises up from near death to enact a horrible revenge on the guilty as well as the innocent who "just went along for the ride". The "good times" of the first half of the film fade away and are replaced by a chilling and suspenseful action that builds to our climax as the group of perpetrators try to escape Johnny's mindless wrath and vengeance.
Several twists and surprises in the film's second half culminate with a "mind blowing" revelation!
"THE TOWER"
FEATURE FILM
PRODUCTION COMPANY: First Team Productions
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR: Stanley Livingston
STORY: Stanley Livingston
SCREENPLAY: Stanley Livingston
CAST: TBA
LOCATIONS: Paris, France; New York, Los Angeles, CA
STATUS: In Development
THE TOWER - SYNOPSIS
In the world of Con Men, nothing is what it seems! It’s 1938. World War Two is imminent. THE TOWER is a fast paced action-thriller about a pair of Con Men who hatch an ingenious
scheme to sell what will soon be the remains of the Eiffel Tower. The “Mark”... an unscrupulous ferrous metal broker who is hell-bent on buying up any and all of Europe’s scrap-metal and smuggling it back to German armament concerns who are preparing for war... and big profits.
Full of twists, turns and surprises, The Tower moves inexorably forward as the Con Men help implement a top-secret government plan to blow up France’s national shrine - for political purposes - and have the blame for the sabotage placed on France’s new mortal enemy... the Nazis. The plan takes an unexpected turn and the Con Men suddenly find themselves trapped in their own high-stakes game gone wrong.
In a nail-biting ending, the Con Med struggle to save themselves, the Tower and their Big Score before the plunger is pushed. Will the Con Men be going down with the Tower and tons of steel - in the explosion - or will they be able to pull off their “Sting” and escape into the darkness of night?
"A FRIENDLY GAME"
FEATURE FILM
PRODUCTION COMPANY: First Team Productions
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR: Stanley Livingston
WRITER: Willam S. Leavengood
CAST: TBA
LOCATIONS: Los Angeles, CA
STATUS: In Development
A FRIENDLY GAME - SYNOPSIS
A group of policemen and detectives meet once a week off-hours for a friendly card game. Years of friendship and good times suddenly evaporate when one of the group is found murdered. All evidence points to Mark who must now exonerate himself or go down for murder.
To complicate things, Mark is having an affair with the dead man’s wife. The dead man was everyone’s accountant. All are involved in some shady financial deals that the accountant put together. Everyone has a motive... and nothing is what it seems.
Mark struggles to prove his innocence. Mark’s partner is working overtime to help him solve the crime and get him off... or is he? This who-done-it is full of twists and turns.
"STUNTZ"
Television Pilot (30 minute situation comedy)
PRODUCTION COMPANY: First Team Productions / Stuntz Guys Productions
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR: Stanley Livingston
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: John Michael Becker, Michael George Ahl
STORY BY: Michael George Ahl, John Michael Becker
SCREENPLAY John Strawbridge
CAST: TBA
LOCATIONS: Los Angeles
STATUS: In Development
STUNTZ - SYNOPSIS
He is James Bond. John McClane. Errol Flynn.
Stuntman Carey Stephanos has been shot, run over, set on fire, and pushed off of high rooftops – and has always landed on his feet. He is graceful, suave and cool… as long as the cameras are rolling.
It’s when the director calls “That’s a wrap!” that Carey – nicknamed “Icarus” – crashes and burns. Whether trying to pick up a dime off the street or pick up a “hottie” in a club, Carey always manages to fall face-forward into a pile of crap. Good thing he may also be the luckiest Son-of-a-bitch on earth, or he might be in real trouble.
“STUNTz” is an affectionate and humorous look into the life of a walking disaster area - a man whose greatest challenge may be learning to get out of his own way. From the broad physical comedy that only someone who falls down professionally can get himself into… to the intimate and occasionally painful humor that anyone who’s fallen in love at first sight can get themselves into… Carey’s life will, in some ways remind you of yourself. But in even more ways, it will make you glad you’re not him.
But don’t feel bad – it only hurts when he laughs.
"POTMELTING"
Television Pilot (30 minute situation comedy)
PRODUCTION COMPANY: First Team Productions
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR: Stanley Livingston
WRITERS: Catherine Chen, Mathew Ware, Stanley Livingston
CAST: TBA
LOCATIONS, Los Angeles, CA
STATUS: In Development
POTMELTING - SYNOPSIS
30 Minute Situation Comedy TV Pilot
Jaime and Christina return to Los Angeles after meeting at college back East. With great trepidation, they hatch a plan to announce their recent and secret engagement to their respective families. Jamie is Jewish and Christina is Chinese. Jaime wants to wait a little while longer until they settle in. Christina wants to get it over with and invites her mother (Joy) over for dinner. Brody (Jaime’s much older brother and very much “the dude”) accidentally lets the cat out of the bag and invites their Parents (Harry and Esther) over too. The “Dinner” is on. What could go wrong! Political correctness, minor language barriers and cross-cultural misunderstandings make for a hysterically awkward dinner party. Come meet the family.
"THE TITAN HORROR"
FEATURE FILM
PRODUCTION COMPANY: First Team Productions
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR: Stanley Livingston
WRITER: Stanley Livingston
CAST - TBA
LOCATIONS: Los Angeles, CA; Big Bear, CA
STATUS: In Development
THE TITAN HORROR - SYNOPSIS
An unmanned spacecraft, TITAN ONE, is racing back to Earth after setting down on and exploring Titan - one of Saturn’s many intriguing large Moons. Because of its frozen liquid surface, Titan is believed to be the most likely candidate in our solar system to harbor some form of life. TITAN ONE’s mission: to retrieve geological samples from the moon’s surface and to transport that priceless cargo back to earth for study.
MISSION CONTROL is preparing to bring TITAN ONE back down to Earth in a controlled soft landing off the coast of California. Suddenly… something goes wrong! TITAN ONE tumbles erratically. Staring at their monitor screens, the Mission Controllers observe the TITAN ONE re-enter the atmosphere and break apart. It is obvious that pieces of spacecraft are raining down in a wide footprint all over California, Arizona and Nevada. The Mission Controllers stare in silence. Titan’s moon rocks - possibly contaminated with germs and organisms of alien origin - may have just reached the surface of the Earth.
BIG PINE NATIONAL FOREST – FIRE WATCHTOWER – A RANGER chats on his cell phone. He stops talking as he watches what appears to be a bright meteor streak by. It falls to earth and disappears into the forest in the distance. He starts to resume his conversation… but the phone has gone dead. Suddenly… the lights in the Watchtower blink off.
BIG PINE LAKE – Embedded in the sand at the shore of the lake is a large scorched chunk of the TITAN ONE spacecraft. The metallic remains smoke and hiss in the cold mountain water.
BIG PINE PARK RANGER STATION – No phones. No lights! Park Rangers scramble in the dark to figure out what is going on. Campers arrive at the Station to summon the Rangers to the lake. Not sure what they have found… the Park Rangers remove part of the craft - and what appears to be a large containment chamber - and bring them back to the Station. They remove what looks like “rocks” and put them into a large horizontal freezer for safe keeping in the Winter Vehicle Shed. Cut off from the outside world, the Rangers decide they must take action. They close and quarantine the park until outside help arrives. The Rangers head back to the lake to collect more debris and keep nearby campers away from the craft.
A Ranger left on guard duty at the Station hears a sound emanating from the freezer. The freezer begins to violently vibrate and shake. The Ranger moves cautiously towards the freezer. Just as he reaches out to open it… the freezer door bursts open. A terrifying life form emerges. We hear the Ranger scream in the dark… and then silence. There is something alive and terrifying that has survived the long journey back from Titan! The CREATURE escapes from the Ranger Station and is now free to embark in a reign of terror in a national park campground filled with holiday campers.
The Park Rangers race against time and incredible odds to save campers from a horrifying creature of unknown origin that is loose in their national park. The Rangers must use their creativity and what little resources that have at hand to track down and kill a creature they know nothing about.
"THE QUARRYMEN"
FEATURE FILM
PRODUCTION COMPANY: First Team Productions
PRODUCER / DIRECTOR: Stanley Livingston
WRITER: Jefferson Perry
CAST: TBA
LOCATIONS, Liverpool, England; Los Angeles, CA
STATUS: In Development
THE QUARRYMEN - SYNOPSIS
THE QUARRYMEN begins in Liverpool, England in 1957. The story centers around a group of teenage boys who are on the cusp of graduating high school. The choices facing all of them in the near future are simple and limited: go off to college and postpone the inevitable – or, get it over with after high school and take your place as a human-robot in the stifling conformity of factory work. There is a third choice of a life of non-conformity – but that does not sit well the adults, teachers and parents who make the rules and are in charge of everything.
Like most teenagers… these guys shirk responsibility, school and homework. They just want to hangout, have fun, smoke cigarettes, act rebellious, meet girls, spin 45rpm records… and listen to a new beat emanating out of the radio called “rock-and-roll”. This new and aggressive sound has captured the hearts, minds and souls of all teenagers – not only in England – but around the world.
One of those teens – John Lennon – is so inspired by what he hears, that he motivated to do more than listen – he wants get in on the action by starting his own band. This is easier said than done - as John knows nothing about music in general, has little actual musical ability and can barely play the mouth-harp (harmonica) given to him by his Uncle George. However… these challenges are just minor inconveniences to a young man like John Lennon.
Undaunted by the obvious, John persists and assembles a “band of his closest friends”, forms a “Skiffle” group called “The Quarrymen” and strikes out to conquer the big time world of rock-and-roll music. Along for the ride with John are Colin Hanton, drummer - Eric Griffiths, guitar – Rod Davis, Banjo – Len Garry, tea chest bass - Pete Shotton, washboard.
These are the friends without whom the Beatles would never have come to be. How did THE BEATLES really begin? That is what the story of THE QUARRYMEN is all about.
When you are 16 years old… nothing seems impossible!
