THE STAGE 32 LOGLINES

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PRISM
By David Michael Kelly

GENRE: Sci-fi, Fantasy
LOGLINE:

On a dystopian planet, Marc seeks a new beginning in life through the illicit, spirit-crystal trade, scamming and selling highly illegal and revered stones, that range in purpose from common psychedelics, to uncommon, powered artifacts. As Marc unexpectedly uncovers the score of a lifetime, the brutal, intergalactic government, White Pyramid is made aware of his findings, and the resulting confrontation will reveal unexpected truths to this struggle in the stars.

SYNOPSIS:

On the distant planet of Hashanna, ne'er do well Marc has always wanted more out of life for himself, his brother, and their adoptive native father Ubi, than what was available in their family arboretum. Ubi does not know, and Will does not approve of Marc's decision to infiltrate the illicit, native spirit-crystal trade, by allying himself with his not-girlfriend Kaya, and her lifelong friends and loyal business partners, Audra, Brenna, and Milo, successful members of the spirit-crystal trade syndicate from their same very poor district. Kayas friends do not trust Marc the way she does, due to his status of indentured servitude to the poor districts governor, Ross, but are won over by Marc's show of loyalty and the prestige of the singular spirit-crystal in his possession, belonging to his father. Marc and his brother are then given a glimpse of a particularly mysterious spirit-crystal, that is stuck in a cave wall deep within an abandoned mine. Marc then realizes that he is watching his own memories, and being held captive underground by a twelve foot tall being, Prisman, who is made entirely from these rare crystals. Marc is in disbelief, as no creature like Prisman has been thus far known to exist. Prisman is watching Marc's memories to ascertain the location of this strange crystal, that Prisman alleges Marc has already stolen and hidden, that he calls the "last known life-bearing crystal," which Prisman has spent countless years protecting. In moving this, Marc has not only alerted the brutal, intergalactic government of White Pyramid to the crystals presence on the planet, but he may have also inadvertently triggered the planets destruction.

Above ground, Ross is under intense pressure from a monotone voiced, robbed figure, representing White Pyramid, to reclaim the crystal. Not understanding exactly what's been taken, Ross knows that this happening in his district could mean lethal retaliation, and intensely carries out White Pyramid's orders for raiding parties to recover spirit-crystals from native lands. In Marc's unexplained absence, Will is requested to take his brother's place in the raiding party, and must grapple with the guilt of knowing he can end this bloody search by turning in himself, and what he's helped his brother steal. Kaya is left heart broken and betrayed with her friends above the site of Marc's robbery, which has become ground zero for White Pyramid soldiers looking for culprits. While his brother and scorned lover are left holding the bag for Marc's crimes, Prisman takes Marc through his own memories, so that Prisman may ascertain where Marc has sent the "last life bearing crystal." Marc tries feebly to resist divulging any information, in an effort to hold on to the valuable crystal, but Prisman's superior technology and intellect bring Marc along as a projection floating unnoticed in Marcs memory of his crime.

In desperation, Kaya's group contacts Saterna, their old mentor on the native tribal council, who has since disavowed them for their connection to the spirit crystal trade. They tell Saterna a favorable recollection of what had happened and lay the blame on Marc and Will, providing a picture they have of the two brothers. In their escape to native territory, The group crosses paths with the Ross's raiding party that Will has been forced into in Marc's absence. Kaya knows there is more to what's happening when she sees a tribal sentry call for Will by name before starting a shootout between the two groups, in which Will actually kills two of his fellow raiders in an attempt to protect the lives of natives, as he flees for his life. The native sentry is taken alive by Ross's enforcers, and knowing that he will have his memory extracted which will reveal the picture Kaya sent, and thus implicate the group as well, all travel to the native tribal council via a secret underground tunnel system. After Marc and Prisman watch the rest of the memories pertaining to the theft, Marc is regretful of his actions and Prisman feels pity for a small lowly person, grasping at any chance of a better life. Marc tells him that he asked Will to hide the crystal in the planets orbit, and decides he will help Prisman recclaim and again hide the crystal. Marc is frustrated with Prisman's refusal. In frustration, Marc tries to use Prismans memory retrieving crystal technology against him, and winds up having his own conscious mind trapped within Prisman's memories.

With the native sentry as his prisoner, Ross learns that Saterna was using the information she had from Kaya, to attempt to recover the crystal and anyone associated with its appearance to turn in to White Pyramid in exchange for legitimizing a native state with land that is currently his. Enraged, Ross and his enforcers go to the arboretum to keep Will and Ubi hostage, while they try to find where Will has hidden the crystal and find out where Marc is.

Deep in Prisman's memories, Marc is in awe to see that Prisman's life goes back to before our universe, and that his people not only triggered the big-bang, but used crystals made in the hearts of dying stars to progenate all biological life in the universe. He goes on to see that in the pressure of maintaining an infinitely expanding universe of life, half of Prisman's society chose to become a singular mind as White Pyramid. Marc watches billions of years of war on a massive scale between White Pyramid and other large, colorful crystal peoples, wane into a sparsely populated universe, with few spirit-crystals left as remnants of a once great society and White Pyramid left victorious, to weakly rebuild what it can. Marc's vision ends at the present, with Prisman arriving to his families arboretum to see that Ross is keeping them hostage and that Will still has the box containing the life-bearing crystal. As Prisman engages the White Pyramid security droids in combat, their metal casing is beaten away to reveal their white crystal bodies. Marc awakens with a new perspective and races towards his home to help his family and Prisman.

Kaya and her gang are almost caught in Saternas trap, but narrowly escape, and run back to the wastelands around the mine defeated, where their day had began, to hide until they can escape the doomed planet. The group is dejected by their second major betrayal, but are stunned to see Marc by himself coming out of the mine. Marc is able to convince the group of the sincerity in his apology by giving Kaya his fathers sentimental crystal, which Prisman has revealed to be a powerful weapon. He goes on to explain that the large crystal he'd taken from them at the beginning of their journey, is of grand cosmic importance, and that Prisman, a large crystal person, is the only thing stopping the White Pyramid from taking it from his brother and using it as a weapon, and as such, they all need to help Prisman take the crystal, so that he can take it as far away from their planet as possible.

As the group comes together and races towards the arboretum, Prisman begins to lose his battle with the last and largest white crystal person. Prisman tells Marc telepathically through the device he'd used to look at his memories, that he knows he will not survive, and that they will not be able to take the crystal off world undetected. Prisman now wants Marc to use the life-bearing crystal, and that the process to do so is as simple as letting the stone touch the ground. He tells Marc that the crystal will then leave the planet on its own as it begins its cycle home, and that this is the new beginning he's been looking for, not only for himself, but for their entire planet. The group arrives just as the last white crystal person destroys Prisman. Armed with the crystal weapon, Kaya is able to avenge Prisman's death, and scatter Ross and his forces. The brothers reunite and open the box, allowing the last known life-bearing crystal to fall to the ground. Walls of green fire emanate from the point of contact, leaving a thriving forest ecosystem where their techno dystopia once stood . The fire does not hurt the many beings on the planet, and even transmutes the soldiers weapons to harmless flora, as the life-bearing crystal rises into the planets orbit, carrying Marc with Ross clinging onto him. Below, Ubi and Will are safe, with Ubi overjoyed to see his once lonely arboretum not alone. Kaya and her friends stand powerfully above their would be oppressors, and the lines between the "haves" and "have-nots" all fade into the jungle. As Ross falls to his death, the crystal forms a protective barrier around Marc before beginning its journey home, and launching him into the stars.

Daniel Morris

the log line is a little run on sentiency, and the summery is a little verbose, generally one wants to stick to the main beats, and only the main beats in a summery, focus on one or two characters max, the rest can be .discussed during pre production. This may have a bit too much for one movie, may in fact be better for a mini series. Kudos on having everything planned out though

David Michael Kelly

Appreciate any and all feedback Daniel! I tried to include as many of the plot points as I could in the synopsis, because that's where I was getting the most positive feedback in meetings. I am considering though, repurposing this synopsis as a "one-pager."

Tasha Lewis

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