Franklinstein

Beastiality and Cannibalism are nothing compared to the ultimate horror that lies in the hold of the H.M.S Terror, where the technological Beast is making plans for Mankind. 'Dr. Strangelove' meets Roger Corman's 'Treasure Island' in this surreal pseudo-Technicolor epic of paranoid hallucinations bred from lead-infested canned goods.

GOD BLESS THE QUEEN

It is the year of our Lord, 1845. Britain, at the peak of it's technical and imperial global supremacy, dispatches the aging, bumbling hero Sir John Franklin to discover the elusive and profitable Arctic trade route to the Orient. Putting their blind faith in the hands of modern science, Franklin, his Cabin Boy and a mystic Inuit-Scotsman set out on their steam-propelled quest packed full of patriotic optimism and canned goods. Yet they sink into the Machiavellian net of the aristocratic Commander Pound, who employs technology, psychology and theater to manipulate the men to suicidal ends. For the first time in history this story is revealed for the modern parable it is:

PASSAGE OF THE TERROR

Feature Film, Written by: David Bouck & Erik Whittaker
Script Development supported by Telefilm Canada

LIONS GATE (The story about building a bridge)

The 1920's and 30's were a time of final frontiers. The world was not quite 'set'. New opportunity was around every corner, in every hole dug in the ground, every forest to be logged, every lake and sea waiting for the net. It was a time of passionate political struggles, extremes of wealth and poverty, promise and despair. It was a time of blues and jazz and the golden age of that modern wonder, cinema. It was a time where the city met the wilderness and nature trembled.

This story is loosely based on the real life of Alfred James Towle Taylor, engineer, land developer, capitalist; a man who has risen from a simple background to a life of riches and fame. His dream was to build a bridge connecting the bustling new city of Vancouver with the raw, unexploited virgin land across the water. It took him 15 years to build the bridge, fifteen years of battles with corrupt politicians, railway barons, workers, and the British financiers he so badly needed but despised. Bound to Taylor's struggle were the hopes and dreams of new immigrants, dispossessed Indian tribes, families torn apart by World War I, and all the hangers-on, schemers, and sharks smelling 'easy' money or a way out of their desperate lives.

Lion's Gate will thread itself through this wold of hope, fear, ambition and belief in the future, telling the story of Taylor and all the other dreamers of this conflicted age.

The Bedaux Expedition

Charles Bedaux was born a penniless Parisan in 1887, Tutored by a Pigale pimp he mastered the fine points of street crime. On the violent death of his mentor he moved to the USA and made his fortune promoting the concept of scientific management to American industry.

With his wealth he bought a castle in France where the Duke and Duchess of Windsor were married in 1937. Bedaux then arranged their public relations tour of Nazi Germany.

In 1934 Bedaux convinced his dying friend Andre Citroen to give him five of his famous half-tracks and set off to cross the untamed wilds of northern British Columbia. He took with him his wife, his mistress, a film crew lead by Academy Award DP Flloyd Crosby, limousines, a thousand pounds of books and over 130 cowboys and pack horses.

Hansen's Lagoon

At the turn of the 19th century two Danish fisherman discovered the perfect place to build a utopian community. The place was called Cape Scott. To this day it remains an inaccessible, inhospitable piece of wilderness completely cut offf from roads, towns and cities. But the Danes liked it, perhaps for all those reasons.

They convinced more Danes to join them and the population grew. The settlement was isolated from civilization and accessible only be sea. Against all odds they cleared the forests, built roads, a church, post office, and a school. They also brought in horses and dairy cows and begain to farm.

There was a narrow inlet of sea stretching into the middle of the colony and they named it Hansen’s Lagoon after one of the founders. The settlers saw the lagoon as future pasture land for their dairy herd so they set to work to build a dike across the mouth. The night they finished, after months of work with only hand tools, terrible weather, and many set-backs, the community held a celebration in the hall. Then came the storm. The dike was destroyed and so was the will to go on. Within a few years all but the fields remained.

Hansen’s Lagoon is a unique opportunity to build a story of Danish adventure and determination on a rich and exciting past.

Spirit Wrestlers

Leo Tolstoy gave much of his fortune to a Christian sect rebelling against the Russian Orthodox Church. These Doukhobors, also known as Spirit Wrestlers, emigrated to Western Canada where they remain to this day. Their life in Canada became a strange and complicated affair of pacifism, home burnings, naked parades through the cities, and even bombings.

LAND OF HARMONY

Sointula - it means "harmony" - is a tiny community on Malcolm Island, a short ferry ride from northern Vancouver Island. It was founded at the turn of the century by the Kalevan Kansa Society, a group of Finnish utopians, and Matti Kurikka, their charismatic but impractical leader. Despite serious setbacks, including a disastrous fire in 1903 that killed eleven people, the Finns built a thriving community. Even after the Kalevan Kansa ended, locals were blackballed all along the coast for their fervour in organizing loggers' and fishermen's unions. A fresh wave of utopians arrived in Sointula in the 1960s, and while they were shunned by many residents, some of the older generation recognized in the "hippies" the hopes and dreams of their forefathers.