Screenwriting : Time Travel Films by Imo Wimana Chadband

Feel free to steal this one...

I was asked to write a play for a friend's drama group and I pitched the idea of a gardener who (through a magic herb) accidentally travels through time and winds up in a barbaric land where the people and their way of living is very primal. The gardener has to find a way back to the present or they will most certainly be killed/perish. In short, they think they've gone back in time but turns out they've travelled to the future - post brexit. I never figured the ending but I was gonna call it 'The Thyme Traveller'

Uber-cool premise, Adam!

Thanks Juhani! They didn't go for it as it's too political and would polarise their audience. I'll keep it on the back burner though.

I wouldn't mind tackling something along the lines of "Time Bandits", using time travel to pull off historical heists.

I like time travel but they are a pain in the ass to write. Anyway I’ve written the following time travel screenplays.

HAUNTING MELODY - A modern day seamstress is thrown back in time to the 1919 Ziegfeld Follies where she has to deal with jealous chorus girls, a murderous madam and kidnappers and she has to figure out how to return to the present. Note: Just finished doing a rewrite on it today.

OUTSIDE TIME - Present day sixteen-year-old twins are trapped in the wilds of King Arthur's Britain and have to fight off the attacks by Saxon Warriors and find a way back to the present time or one of them will die.

TAPESTRY - Obsessed with changing the past so her married lover will be free to be with her, a woman agrees to participate in a revolutionary time-travel project. The process introduces a combination of biofeedback into the human brain, the use of psychotropic drugs and psychic ability to open the doorway to the past. The fact that the experimental program could prove fatal does nothing to deter her.

LOOKING GLASS - An alien scientist who, along with a lost tribe of Neanderthals and other beings who are working to help mankind, has discovered a way to send a couple back in time 30,000 years to be reunited with their missing daughter.

Want to see this Time-travel horror at TIFF festival 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu79D0gmFP8

I was in stitches at the title Adam Harper haha Creative! I wasn't expecting the twist that it was actually the future.

Me and you both Marjolein Smit me and you both haha

Tristain Nathaniel nice!. I always shy away from historic. I respect writers who can create stories on it with quality. Kudos to you!

I agree with you on that Dan Guardino I think of them and it just seems a tough write lol, but I'm eager to tackle one. Still though, you seem to have a knack for them, and you bring them together nicely.

Rutger Oosterhoff not only a time travel script, but also a comedy. You really are squeezing those creative juices. I will try my hand at the time travel, but even attempting a comedy by itself is my fear as a writer lol much less fuse it with time travel. The story line sounds like it'll have some wild moments though.

Man I really wish I was out there to go to these things personally Dan MaxXx It's crazy how just the simple setting of the scene has you feeling like something is about to happen. Would be cool seeing it

Currently working on one that's best described as "Rescue Dawn" meets "Quantum Leap."

I've got a script about 90% first-draft finished about an LA cop who gets sucked back in time to the 40s to help his Grandfather solve a case that initially ran him off the force and into a life of crime. The aspect that I'm enjoying the most about it is writing the bulk of the script in a film noir genre.

It's been a fun story to write, but Dan's right on one thing, it's a pain in the ass keeping the characters true to their time periods.

I just posted my most recent time travel screenplay HAUNTING MELODY if anyone wants to read it.

I also posted another time travel called OUTSIDE TIME.

Thanks, Imo! That was a fun one to do! I LOVE time travel projects and hope to tackle one myself one day. I keep coming back to the idea of

I am sure you will crush it when you ultimately start working on yours.

Dan, you posted the script?

@Imo I’m studying the whole subject at present cos one of my scripts involves time travel. Its a never ending topic/study. A lot of writers take the SCIENCE route Eg Quantum leaps, or the invention of transport to be able to travel near to speed of light etc. However there is another aspect of study involving time, which is “SPIRITUAL” theory. Its about (passed on) human vibrations all around that move quicker than us because we are in solid physical form. In other words the “Infinite Ether” has no actual “Time” cos if you do not have physical mass, you could get to Himalayas to Oxford Street London in the blink of an eye. Good luck Imo in your time travel script. My favourite yet is Doctor Who and the Tardis. If one of us could nail a legend idea like that would be Cool!

Debbie, let's me think of the movie " Lucy" .

Katheryn. Yes I posted a couple of time travel scripts here.

I started a short story with time travel and I plan to convert it to a short film at some point! Love the Writer's Room.

I can't find where to post it. Is it in the profile somewhere?

A. S. Templeton, I did not know about TVtropes. Just checked it out. Love it.

Katheryn. Yes. Click on my name. Go down the page until you see “Loglines” Click on the screenplay you want and if you’ll see the “logline” and “synopsis” and below those two things you will see “view screenplay” where you can download it.

Oh I'm definitely going to check them out Dan Guardino! Dan always has those creative ideas guys. I recommend you give them a read as well.

Nice! Holly Jurbergs Go for it! The Writer's Room is truly a gem.

Jason Mirch it's a crime that you have yet to try your hand at one, with the passion you have for them lol I hope you get to writing one soon.

Thanks for the vote of confidence in my future time travel script!

Imo. Thanks for those kind words.

Debbie Croysdale that's quite the in-depth take, and I love it! There's so many ways that it can go. It's something where there's only theories of it's existence and not really solid facts, so it's just to use an avenue that explains it in your script that makes it believable to the story being written. I hope you stick with it and complete it. Seems an interesting script!

I've been messing around with a couple ideas, but there's so many stories I have which I want to write, so I'd tackle the time travel idea a bit later.

Here's wishing the best to us both(^_^)

Reid Johns haha I already have a hard time keeping my characters from rebelling against their path, so I can see us having a real fight when I jump on my time travel script lol

@Imo KUDOS! Here's to wishing both our scripts zoom off into 3019.

Could you please read my script and donate the funds for it?