In 1925 JOSEPH KENNEDY makes the risky move to buy a Hollywood studio and, with a group of Irish friends, flees Boston to make a fortune in pictures.

SYNOPSIS:

PILOT

It is November 1925 and JOE KENNEDY, 37, is in his prime. Having found success as Boston's youngest bank President and a lucrative deal to manage Universal Pictures theater group in New Hampshire, Joe gets the attention of Hayden Stone, a respected investment advisory firm for Boston's wealthiest clients. Hayden Stone wants to jump on The Picture Business bandwagon and charges Joe to sign Babe Ruth to a contract to get a footprint in the business. The pilot begins with Joe meeting with BABE RUTH, 30, at the height of his career. It is Joe's flaming red hair and imposing demeanor we notice first - a conniving dealmaker with a lot to prove and not one to skirt around issues, he bristles and lays into Babe. He wants answers on his less than stellar season. Babe and Joe go head-to-head with Babe walking out calling Joe, "An Irish Mick." Joe is soon fired from his role and is forced to take matters into his own hands - he sets his sights on Film Booking Offices of America, the US Presidency and to Hollywood for the cash to support his candidacy with the hostile takeover of FBO.

"If a Hungarian Jew can become a studio president, so can an Irish Catholic" - JOE KENNEDY, 1925

COMPS

The series episodes focus on the political deal-making in the early days of Hollywood. Like FRANK UNDERWOOD (HOUSE OF CARDS), Joe Kennedy is a power-hungry player and corrupt as NUCKY THOMPSON (BOARDWALK EMPIRE).

FUTURE EPISODES

The series follows Joe on his Hollywood journey of running three studios - FBO, First National, and Pathe, his torrid affair with GLORIA SWANSON, the death of several actors, the jailing of innocent film executives and to 1929 when he sells all of his assets to David Sarnoff for RKO Studios and fleeces Hollywood for 5 million dollars (Today's value $500 million). With the cash to pursue his political ambitions, Joe donates heavily to FDR's campaign and is named SEC Chairman. The final seasons of the series focus on Joe's time as Ambassador to Great Britain, his testy relationship with Winston Churchill, whom he fought bitterly against in the wake of Adolph Hitler's onslaught. After Joe slams the "Jewish American Media" (Boston Globe, 1940), leads to his tragic, public fall from grace and end of his political dream, to become the first Irish Catholic US President.

TONE

As an avid researcher, I found JOSEPH KENNEDY's story of bigotry, shocking and surprising. Why tell Joe's story now? Today we hear the cries of "Black Lives Matter." One hundred years ago it was, "Irish, Go Home." Systemic bigotry in the United States needs a platform.

Themes of rejection, injustice and the effects of bigotry over a lifetime

BIO

I have been writing screenplays off and on for ten years. As a writer and quasi-journalist, I like telling stories that get to the heart of the matter. I grew up in Boston and had a fascination with The Kennedy.

My first address was Kennedy Boulevard.

JOE HOLLYWOOD is inspired by true events.

Contact:

E: Janehenning73@outlook.com