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THE MIGHTY VARIANTS
By Steven Blows
An out-going man with down syndrome and his introverted best friend navigate the unclear waters of entering adulthood with the aim of winning a robot fighting championship but find it more than they bargained for when they strike a rivalry with the toughest competitor around.
SYNOPSIS:
This is a buddy love coming-of-age about Ike who is a twenty-two-year-old man with high functioning down syndrome who has one of them days where everything goes wrong, but the worst part is the look of disappointment his younger brother has after he spills gravy all over his new friend. Ike wants a way to show to everyone, including himself, that he can do something right and be the role model Jacob deserves. After reminiscing on the time he met his best friend Dalton (who has autism) and was speaking about the TV show “Robot Wars” he is stuck with the inspiration to finally follow his dream of creating his own white flipper robot with blue flames.
Ike is a perky and caring person who doesn't think twice, rushing headfirst into whatever comes into his imagination. His emotions can change in a snap if he is provoked in the wrong way. For example, a small snigger at his expense will make him alight with anger and sadness, however, with his age, he has learned to control this. He loves rock music and playing the drums. He never plans too far ahead, being content with the moment at hand. His learning difficulty means that some jobs and tasks are beyond his capabilities, but nothing is beyond his grasp when he applies his positive attitude. As a result, he now works at a Snack Bar and enjoys his time there.
Dalton is the pleasant opposite of Ike and the two blend together with their unique understanding and acceptance of each other. They are old friends made to fit together. Dalton's blunt comments can seem rude to other people, but Ike has a way of seeing their actual harmless meaning.
Dalton is an intelligent university student who studies for a maths degree online, loves documentaries by Professor Brian Cox, and collects New Scientist magazines. His love for science comes from his need and craving for order. He has a compulsion to have things in his life be in a certain order so that he can feel comfortable. This leads him to live a somewhat introverted lifestyle, preferring the indoors over the outdoors. He is nervous around loud spaces, bright lights, and new environments, although he can feel at ease whenever he is around Ike.
After Ike passes the first hurdle of persuading Dalton to join him on his quest, the pair must save money by taking up odd jobs and extra shifts. Meanwhile, they attend local events to see what makes a winning robot tick where they strike a rivalry with No Mercy; a one-man team led by an arrogant university student wielding the meanest robot around with the sharpest pincers and saw.
Before long, they are ready to build their flipper robot in Dalton’s garage. After training their robot they experience their first taste of battle as they fight in the qualifiers where the diversity of robot designs is as diverse as their creators. Some wield axes, some fight with brute force, others hit with the force of a two-ton hammer, and one even wears a medieval knight's helmet for protection. The Mighty Variant makes its way to the final where it losses to an opponent who has been edged on by their rivals No Mercy. However, The Mighty Variant is crowned winner and through to the finals when it is discovered that their opponent cheated by removing a restriction bolt giving their weapon more power.
In the meantime, Ike begins dating a free-spirited young woman named Lola, and Dalton prepares for his upcoming move to on-campus living for his final year at university that he is yet to inform Ike of due to fear of breaking their friendship apart. After fighting their way through the live televised finals competition, emotions, tensions, and feuds reach boiling point as everything is put on the line in the final matchup between The Mighty Variants and No Mercy.
Awards:
"Quarter-Finalist - Final Draft Big Break - Comedy Screenplay"
"Top 10 - Table Read My Screenplay - Comedy Genre Screenplay Competition"
"Top 16 - Table Read My Screenplay - Legion M Award"
"Top 9% of discoverable scripts on Coverfly"
"Finalist - London Independent Story Prize - Feature Screenplay"
"Finalist - Screenwriting Master Contest - Feature Screenplay"
"Semi-Finalist - Cult Movies International Film Festival - Best Screenwriting"
"Winner - Best Screenwriting - CKF International Film Festival"
"Honorable Mention - London International Screenwriting Competition"
"Honorable Mention - London International Film Festival"
"Honorable Mention - Oz Indie Film Festival - Feature Screenplay"
"Honorable Mention - London International Monthly Film Festival"
"Official Selection - North Europe International Film Festival - London Edition"
"Official Selection - Megaflix Film Awards - 'ScreenReaders' category for Best Screenplay"
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This logline needs a little bit more about what stops them from winning. Then I think it is Down with a capital D. Neither the logline nor your synopsis tell if you will have stereotypical traits for Down's syndrome and what it is to be an introvert. I hope you'll have original characters with depth and facets.
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Thank you for your constructive feedback Desiree!!! Yep, you're right there should be a capital D there. I don't think the logline has enough scope to include the Down syndrome character traits of my character and the same with his introvert best friend. However, I will highlight these traits in the synopsis for sure as these are two characters who ruminate with each other so well with all their finer details.
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I feel like the main should either be outgoing, or have DS, not both as it clogs up the read of the logline. Maybe something like this:
A man with down syndrome and his introverted best friend strike a rivalry with the toughest robot champion when they enter a robot fighting tournament.
Hi Tim. Thanks for the comment. I get what you're saying, however, I think it is important to have an adjective to describe the protagonist so that we know what kind of person he is. Down syndrome is part of his life but it isn't who he is. We need a quality of his that we can relate to so that we relate to him. The word 'outgoing' paired with the word 'introverted' also creates an aspect of irony. The fact that these two best friends are opposites and are about to embark on a demanding challenge suggests that their relationship has potential for conflict.
I will consider shortening the ending as you suggest. I did have the logline finish at the same point before but kept seeing feedback suggesting that there wasn't enough of a defined antagonist in the logline.
Thank you again for the comments. It means a lot :)
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