Proposal and Business Plan

 

 

EB Productions

1736 Harman Street, 2R, Ridgewood, NY 11385

9175862447 | joyia@ignitingwater.com
 
 

Leaping Tall Buildings Productions LLC

4424 SW Freeman Street, Portland, OR 97219-3574

917 617 6870 | jon@ignitngwater.com |

Igniting Water © 2010
 

Introduction:

 

Igniting Water

A fast paced eco-thriller set in Hartford, CT that takes place over three decades from the late 1990’s to our current time. We follow JJ (Jacob Bremen) and his quest to recreate his father's work in the development of a simple additive, composed of common household products, which causes plain water to become a clean burning fuel when introduced into any vehicle's fuel system. Our story is mixing fantasy and reality by placing ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances. This is a story of hope for average people all over the world, of dreams coming true, and of David ultimately bringing down Goliath.

 

The screenplay is approximately 120 minutes long and will be shot on the highly sophisticated "Red" digital camera system, which approximates the look and feel of 35mm film. Steven Soderbergh, the Oscar-winning director, borrowed two prototypes to shoot his Che Guevara biopic, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, and he later purchased three for his film The Informant. Peter Jackson, the Lord of the Rings himself, bought four. Director Doug Liman used a Red on Jumper. The work done on the feature Love had Kodak wondering how that amazing look was created. Recently, Guardians of the Galaxy, Jurassic World, and The Great Gatsby used the Red as well.
 

Synopsis:

As the price of fuel soars, a young scientist (Jacob Bremen) is on the verge of a breakthrough with a formula that will make fossil fuels basically obsolete. Jacob—or JJ—must figure out a way to make it viable and get it into the public’s hands before a major oil corporation either gets ahold of it or destroys him. As a young boy, he witnessed the death of his parents at their hands. Now, that same corporation has lured his brother into working for them. JJ must convince his friends and loved ones to rally on his side and help him unlock the secrets to the clues his father left for him.

Treatment:

This is a story of JJ Bremen, a man facing seemingly insurmountable odds. He believes in his heart that he remembers the actuality of his father's invention, but the  traumatic memory of seeing his parents’ murder when he was a child is somewhat hazy and difficult to access. Awaking every night from nightmares, he perseveres in his dream of honoring his father's legacy. Finding the truth is all-important to him. Although his father, CJ Bremen, did leave clues, they have been hidden away in a basement lab located in JJ's childhood home, now inhabited by his grandparents.

 

Carefully questioning his grandparents,  JJ finally gains access to that lab and his father's papers.  JJ begins connecting the dots between the work, his father's dying words, and what he remembers. After some new experimentation and help from an odd assortment of characters, JJ ultimately recreates his father's work and discovers the murderers of his parents: Global Oil Development or AKA G.O.D.

 

Global Oil, the single largest producer of gasoline in the world, takes action to stop JJ as they stopped his father some 34 years before. However, with the help of his family and friends, JJ drops out of site long enough to begin marketing the new product. Before Global Oil can prevent further activities and close them down, JJ and his crew release details on the internet explaining how to make the additive, which will not only provide free fuel for all, but will also bring down the corporation, and bring justice to his parents and their legacy.

 

This is a story of back-yard inventiveness, a throwback to when a person with an idea could go out to the garage, tinker with a few things at hand, and come up with something completely new. It is a challenge to every person to think outside the box of corporate conformity. The underlying message in our story is: No matter how large the obstacles on your path may be, it is still within your realm to make it happen with hard work and perseverance.

Summary:

Jacob (JJ) Bremen is a young man obsessed with re-creating a formula composed of common household items that when added to a small amount of gasoline will cleanly run an automobile for 100,000 miles without refueling.

 

Jacob was only eight when he witnessed his parents’ brutal murders by mysterious strangers. His childhood memories, however traumatic, inform his adult mind that this formula, invented by his father, was real and should not be lost. After many failed attempts he stumbles across his father’s lab behind a hidden door in his grandparents’ home.

 

Global Oil Development, a major oil company, has been keeping tabs on Jacob and his younger brother, Zach, for years on the off-chance that one of them will indeed rediscover the formula that could bring down the entire oil industry. Zach, perceived as the more intelligent, businesslike, and resourceful of the two, has even been recruited into a high-powered position by Global Oil so that they may keep a closer eye on him.

 

The brothers’ grandfather has known all along that the formula might be a death sentence to anyone who could reproduce it and has kept his own knowledge of its reality a secret from everyone. After a home invasion, he suffers a heart incident in the hospital when he sees that Zach is thrust into the spotlight of the very company that is responsible for the death of the boys’ parents.

 

Jacob, however, is not deterred from his work on the formula. He and his ex- girlfriend, Stella, with whom he is still in love, look deeply into the rather arcane methods developed by his father CJ Bremen, and they discover the key to replicating the formula. Global Oil becomes frantic in their efforts to stop them.

 

Going underground, a core group that includes Jacob, Stella, Zach, Tilda (JJ’s boss), Charlie (an unwanted hanger on) and the grandparents have finally become convinced that Global Oil is the enemy, begins producing and marketing the product on the streets of Hartford. Their success is overwhelming until Global Oil moves in to stop them dead in their tracks. The team of renegade entrepreneurs moves on to Plan-B, and they release the instructions for making the formula over the internet.

 

Global Oil is thwarted and, even in this collapse of their company, they still have no idea that the financial disaster they face will become, for the rest of the world, a phenomenon destined to transform energy production from a commodity into a personal freedom.

Central Characters:

JJ/Jacob Bremen is the head chef at a local Hartford, CT restaurant, Zia, but his heart lies in recreating his father's work on a product that will all but eliminate the need for carbon-based fuels. He is an avid environmentalist and doesn't care all that much about his choice of clothing other than it be comfortable. He is the iconic backyard scientist, riding his bike whenever possible. (Donald Glover Type)

 

Zach Bremen is everything his older brother is not: a classy dresser who likes fast cars and beautiful women. He works for a company that was taken over by Global Oil. Zach was just a baby at the time of his parents’ murder and is not attached to "all that." As a man with a high degree of business acumen, his life is all about getting ahead and doing whatever it takes to get there. However, when the evidence mounts against Global Oil, Zach quickly jumps ship and joins his brother and family to help in every way possible. (LaKeith Stansfield Type)

 

Vanessa is Zach's long time girlfriend; smart and worldly. She's a psychiatrist. This is a woman who will not take BS from anyone. She's on very good terms with GeeGee and is often the mediator between the straight-laced Zach and his considerably more casual brother. (Ariana Debose / Logan Browing Type)

 

Papa is grandfather to JJ and Zach. When the boys’ parents were killed, he and his wife, GeeGee, took over care of them. He loves his family and does everything in his power to protect them even when they do not particularly want protecting. He shares a secret love of video games with his wife and they are active in social gaming. (Darnell Williams signed on)

 

GeeGee is the grandmother and matriarch of the family. She is the one who worries about her boys (all three of them), and works to secure their well-being and stability in life. It is she who resolves all arguments and makes final decisions. (Margaret Avery Type)

 

Tilda Murphy is the owner of Zia restaurant where JJ works. On the surface she is hard-boiled and even bitter, but she does hold a soft spot for JJ and his ex-girlfriend Stella, who also works in the restaurant. After being pushed around by Global to tell the whereabouts of JJ, she joins JJ and helps him to attain his dream. (Tantoo Cardinal signed on)

 

Stella is JJ's ex-girlfriend. She is the manager of Zia, though she has some aspirations of being a writer. She is really the one who works with JJ to discover the key to what his father was trying to tell him across the years from the time of his death. (Stephanie Hsu Type)

Charlie is the doorman in Zach's building. He is something of a savant with mild social issues and a penchant for computers. He become's JJ's closest assistant in the ongoing work on the formula itself and in getting the formula out into the world.

 

Parker is Tilda's estranged father who, after a single phone call, provides a safe space for JJ and Charlie to experiment. (Willie Nelson Type)

 

Wyatt Turner Jackson is the CEO of Global Oil. He rules with an iron fist answering to no one but his stockholders who will follow him blindly to the very edge of the cliff. (Beau Bridges Type)

 

Abby Ericson is an executive at Global Oil. She is the only one at that level who is utterly appalled by what the company intends to do as it moves forward in its attempts to squash JJ, Zach and everyone else involved in the Igniting Water project, and even more by what the company intends to do in the world by chasing down greater profits. (Amber Paul signed on)

 

Marlow is the other only woman executive at Global Oil. Saying that she is ruthless is an understatement. (Rutina Wesley Type)

 

Mike and Joey are tough guys chasing JJ and crew and generally making life miserable for everyone involved.

 

Ramsey is the head of security for Global Oil and is the one in charge of Mike and Joey's activities. He comes on board when things turned out to be too much for Mike and Joey alone.

 

Stephen is Vanessa's brother. He's a detective with the police department, and is instrumental in helping JJ and crew avoid being captured by Global Oil and its high-level plants within the department.

Principal Staff and Talent:

• Writers: Jonathan Wayne Ellis, Joyia D. Bradley, Georgina Young-Ellis
• Directors: Joyia D. Bradley, Jonathan Wayne Ellis,
• Producers: EB Productions, Leaping Tall Buildings Prod., LLC
• Executive Producers: Josephine Puisigver
• Talent: Talent who’ve signed are listed in Pitch Deck
• Casting: Sujotta Pace Casting, CSA
• Lawyer: TBA
• Original Music: Dallin Burns
• Crew: Signed crew listed in Pitch Deck

 

Background:

Igniting Water came to us as a result of the world going through crisis after crisis in obtaining fuel to power our vehicles. We have lived through the prices of gas doubling and tripling over just a few weeks. Our imaginations tell us that this squeeze is often enough the result of greed at the very highest levels of industry and government. All over the internet, various "answers" to the problem can be found, and more than a few conspiracy theories. During the time we researched the film we even came across a burgeoning industry that works with people to create HHO systems for their cars - developing Hydrogen on Demand systems that actually improve gas mileage by as much as thirty percent.

 

The idea of what might happen if a product such as we propose in the film were to come along is something that we believe touches upon an unspoken secret fantasy held by much of the driving public. The idea that cars might run forever on nothing more than the most abundant element on our planet, plain water, is at the very least fascinating and beyond the sci-fi aspect of that. According to considerable information easily found on the internet concerning cars that run on water and conspiracies in abundance, it might well be possible.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=water+car+inventor+killed&aq=1

At the very least, this is a subject that opens doors to discussions, lights imaginative thoughts, and leaves people talking about what is possible for a long time after being exposed to the very concept of Igniting Water

Market Potential:

The information contained in the table below shows the viability of projects that, while not spending a great deal of money in production, or rather allocating the budget in a more effective way, still managed to capture the imagination of the movie going public to a degree that they generated extraordinarily high ratios of profits for their investors.

Movies with low budgets that grossed millions in profits.

                                                         Source: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls055140840/

Our story will touch the Everyman who dreams of making their mark in this world. It is a story that will grab at the core of anyone who understands the complexity of fighting back when all odds are against them, with the added bonus of intrigue, a little science, action, and the ability of one person to change everything. It will hit the market that represents the fighter in every one of us. At this time, in 2023, when the political and economic forums are at odds around the world, more and more people are looking for ways to do their part and help others and our planet. What is even more compelling is that big corporations are now helping to drive the force that started with just a few people.

 

Real Estate is always fluctuating and has to grow over time for a return investment. Currencies and governments are being crushed, and the stock market is due for a recession. Investments are seeing returns in the entertainment arena since that arena has changed in terms of theatre releases, streaming platforms, new media platforms, and world-wide distribution at a rate that has never been seen before. People still need hope, laughter, dreams, and something else to think about, while the grave situation of our nation’s financial stability, wobbles and the crippling fear of the other and what if grows at an alarming rate.  

 

Financial Proposal for Investor(s):

 

Budget: $7.5M

 

Location: NYC (LIC) and Baldwin Long Island

 

Talent: A-list/Recognizable actors for a few roles. The rest of the roles will be rounded out by working actors from NY, LA and Atlanta, GA

 

Crew and Equipment: Red Camera, operators, and top of the line production and postproduction.

 

Your investment will allow us to green-light this project. With your investment, we will be able to draw big talent and an expert crew which will be a major draw for festivals, and which will garner the attention of the top studios for a theatrical release, streaming platforms, domestic distribution, foreign sales, and internet.  

 

Since NY offers a tax rebate for qualifying films that shoot in NY, you will see part of your investment within a year of the completed project.

 

The credit is claimed on the applicant's NYC and NY State tax returns for the year in which the production was completed. Since both of our companies are registered in NY State, we can go through a quick audit process and have funds recouped for the investor. 

NY Tax Incentive: After the audit, a Certificate of Tax Credit may be issued and sent to the applicant listed in the final application.  We will pass this credit in the form of cash back to the investor by 2024.
 
NY State Credit: We will be offering 30% of the money you allotted to the budget of our film.

 

At the time of a distribution deal, you will receive the 70% remaining of your investment plus an additional 10%. Upon a theatrical release, you will receive 30% of the net receipts to be split according to the percentage of your initial investment/the monies that you allotted to the film. 

For domestic DVD, foreign sales, television and any other media, including the streaming that results in monies being made on the film, you will receive 20% of the distribution deal and net receipts to be split according to the percentage of your initial investment/the monies that you allotted to the film.

 

With our savvy and knowledgeable sales agent by our side, we are sure to land the best deal for recoupment of your investment and high visual dominance within the domestic and global marketplace of the film industry.