A Marine unit led by a female sergeant must defeat an army of deadly supernatural beings while on a desert training mission to become part of an elite force preparing to fight a global invasion of interdimensional entities.

SYNOPSIS:

SERGEANT EDNA “E” HAROLDSON has big boots to fill. Her deceased mother was a highly decorated Marine, and now E is on a mission to prove that she is just as good a Marine, to not only the ghost of her hero mom…but to herself. That’s why she accepts a request to be a part of a special desert training unit out in the middle of nowhere. E hopes it will not only test her mettle but lead to a juicy promotion as well – a soldier worthy of her mother’s legacy.

E rolls up to a diner in Yuma, Arizona in a beat-up sedan with a Semper Fi bumper sticker. The hostess, MILLICENT BLATSKY, learns E is heading toward the desert and warns her to stay away. Her grandson, CORPORAL MIKE BLATSKY, went missing in the same area a few months ago and Millicent believes the military is covering up what really happened. E ignores the warning.

SERGEANT RICHARD “RICH” ARBOR just broke up with his girlfriend when he gets ordered to Yuma for training. He’s immediately attracted to E but keeps it on the down low. Six other Marines are a part of the team. SIMON DOUGLAS is friendly and goofy but has a heart of a lion. JENNIFER SIEBOLT is a former beauty queen who plays it tough to hide her insecurities. SHAWNISHA GREENWOOD is witty, sharp and direct. DEXTER FREEBIRD is the typical wanna-be-alpha male with a temper. CARLOS ACEBO is thoughtful and superstitious to a fault. ANTHONY COVELLI is a smart-ass and a smart-mouth, and TOMMY KANG has a good head on his shoulders and plays by the rules. Together, they comprise the unit that COLONEL CRAIG MAHONEY has put together to see who has the skills to become part of an elite Special Ops team.

Meanwhile, Millicent Blatsky gets a knock on her door one night, and is shocked and elated to find her missing grandson Michael standing on her porch. But something isn’t right about Michael…something in his eyes…

Once the Marines are briefed, they head to the training site – a ghost town outside of Yuma surrounded by mountains and desert. Harsh. Isolated. The Colonel puts E in charge, which doesn’t sit well with some of the male Marines, and soon she is dealing with strong personalities and exhausting conditions under the hot, desert sun. Huge, violent thunderstorms rattle the camp, searing the sky with sheet lightning, and strange events begin to happen. Terrain shapeshifts, looking different one day to the next. Simon shoots a target during training, but when it drops, a child stands behind it. When he looks again, the child is gone.

Friction mounts between E and Rich. He is totally into E, but knows it’s hands off during training. One by one, the Marines are having visions and encounters with forces beyond their understanding that play on their most personal weaknesses and fears. Including E, who sees her dead mother in camo gear during a shooting practice and suffers a huge emotional setback, something a good soldier cannot afford. Only when four more Marines go MIA under suspicious circumstances does E realize they are under attack by black-eyed beings once thought to be the stuff of urban legends – beings that feed off of their isolation, fear and desperation. E demands the Colonel shut down the training and get them out of there immediately.

The Colonel arrives and gets them to a waiting chopper. He confesses that a past unit vanished at the same location months ago and admits E’s unit is being “tested” to fight a larger invasion. Suddenly, a swarm of black-eyed beings takes down the chopper. Only E, Rich and Simon escape just before the chopper explodes. Disoriented, Simon attacks and injures Rich, then cuts his own throat. E is on the verge of giving up the mission and maybe even her military career, but she can’t let her mother down, or her fellow Marines. She and Rich vow to destroy the ghost town, burning it to the ground with a horde of black-eyed kids and adults inside.

Days later, E and Rich are in a top-secret debriefing and informed they are now part of I.D.E.A. – the InterDimensional Entity Agency. The goal of I.D.E.A. – to stop the coming global invasion of interdimensional entities. The black-eyed beings were only the beginning. What is now coming out of mysterious vortexes appearing all over the world is much more sinister, and only the best of the best can stop it. Rich jumps at the chance to play superhero, but E refuses to be drawn back into the fray. Outside the briefing room, Rich pulls E into a kiss, realizing this may be the last time they ever see each other.

But when E goes home and SKYPES her father, she is horrified to see a black-eyed kid appear on his computer screen. When the screen goes black, she calls I.D.E.A. and says she’s in.

· BLACK DESERT is a feature script with franchise potential for a feature/television/cable/streaming limited series, I.D.E.A. – InterDimensional Entity Agency. Pilot and bible are available!

BLACK DESERT