Discussion STEVEN: 13x Award-Winning 1975 Contained Horror — Seeking Producer & Financing

[BarryM]

Hi all - Barry Miller, WGAE Registered #I347110, Phillipsburg NJ — Stage32 Logline Rated 5.0/5 (3 ratings).

Introducing STEVEN — 100p contained 1975 horror.

LOGLINE: John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN meets THE OMEN and CARRIE. On Halloween night, 1975, a silent 6-year-old boy, cursed at birth in a hospital, sets his entire world ablaze.

WHERE IT STANDS: Locked one-pager v11 matches public FilmFreeway synopsis. 100-page script offline for qualified review only (not public). Festival circuit.

AWARDS: 13x for STEVEN in 2021:

• Best Horror Script — Gold Star Movie Awards (Newark, NJ)
• Best Feature Script / Screenplay — Gona Film Awards — WINNER
• Best First-Time Scriptwriter — Horror Bowl — WINNER
• Best Debut Script Writer — Red Dragon Creative Awards (Dallas)
• Best Plot — Adbhooture Film Festival
• Best Villain / Award Winner — Frights! Camera! Action! UK
• Award Winner — World Film Carnival Singapore + Virgin Spring Cinefest
• Quarter Finalist — The Script Showcase (Best 1st Time Writer Feature)
• Selected — Venice Shorts, New York Independent Cinema Awards, Montreal Independent, Horrors4You London
Full list in one-pager.

TEASE (public only):
Oct 15, 1968 — Scott Hask delivers his own son in backseat. Same night, deranged woman steals newborn Steven from nursery, chants in strange tongues, eyes flash solid black, curses him. Hospital covers it up.

1975 — Steven is 6, silent, odd, obsessed with fire. Mom was 3 months sober at birth, now drinking. Dad's plant closing. Sister embarrassed. Baby Heather screams near him. Bullied as "Creepy." Matches disappear. Learns fire step by step, movie → bird → haunted house at County Fair → County Fair fire that shouldn't have happened.

Halloween Night 1975 — hasn't hurt anyone yet that day, until a car crash. That crash is the trigger. That night's payback is family-focused. All practical fire — matches/fuel, no powers.

TONE/BUDGET: Slow-burn 1970s small-town horror. Contained (small town + hospital), $100K-$1M range. Practical fire only.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR: Producer, financing, or sales/distribution conversation for contained practical horror.

Attached: One-Pager v11 with full awards + 13x Award Winner banner.

— Barry

 

[BarryM]

Hi all, Barry Miller, WGAE Registered #I347110, Phillipsburg NJ. Stage32 Logline Rated 5.0/5 (3 ratings).

Introducing STEVEN, a 100p contained 1975 horror.

LOGLINE: John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN meets THE OMEN and CARRIE. On Halloween night, 1975, a silent 6-year-old boy, cursed at birth in a hospital, sets his entire world ablaze.

WHERE IT STANDS: Locked one-pager v11 matches public FilmFreeway synopsis. 100-page script offline for qualified review only (not public). Festival circuit.

AWARDS — 13x for STEVEN in 2021:

• Best Horror Script — Gold Star Movie Awards (Newark, NJ)
• Best Feature Script / Screenplay — Gona Film Awards — WINNER
• Best First-Time Scriptwriter — Horror Bowl — WINNER
• Best Debut Script Writer — Red Dragon Creative Awards (Dallas)
• Best Plot — Adbhooture Film Festival
• Best Villain / Award Winner — Frights! Camera! Action! UK
• Award Winner — World Film Carnival Singapore + Virgin Spring Cinefest
• Quarter Finalist — The Script Showcase (Best 1st Time Writer Feature)
• Selected — Venice Shorts, New York Independent Cinema Awards, Montreal Independent, Horrors4You London
Full list in one-pager.

TEASE (public only):
Oct 15, 1968: Scott Hask delivers his own son in backseat. Same night, deranged woman steals newborn Steven from nursery, chants in strange tongues eyes flash solid black curses him. Hospital covers it up.

1975: Steven is 6, silent, odd, obsessed with fire. Mom was 3 months sober at birth, now drinking. Dad's plant closing. Sister embarrassed. Baby Heather screams near him. Bullied as "Creepy." Matches disappear. Learns fire step by step — movie → bird → haunted house at County Fair → County Fair fire that shouldn't have happened.

Halloween Night 1975: hasn't hurt anyone yet that day until a car crash. That crash is the trigger. That night's payback is family-focused. All practical fire matches/fuel, no powers.

TONE/BUDGET: Slow-burn 1970s small-town horror. Contained (small town + hospital), $100K-$1M range. Practical fire only.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR: Producer, financing, or sales/distribution conversation for contained practical horror.

Attached: One-Pager v11 with full awards + 13x Award Winner banner.

— Barry

 

[Hannah Collins]

Interesting

 

[Michael]

Hi all - Barry Miller, WGAE Registered #I347110, Phillipsburg NJ — Stage32 Logline Rated 5.0/5 (3 ratings).

Introducing STEVEN — 100p contained 1975 horror.

LOGLINE: John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN meets THE OMEN and CARRIE. On Halloween night, 1975, a silent 6-year-old boy, cursed at birth in a hospital, sets his entire world ablaze.

WHERE IT STANDS: Locked one-pager v11 matches public FilmFreeway synopsis. 100-page script offline for qualified review only (not public). Festival circuit.

AWARDS: 13x for STEVEN in 2021:

• Best Horror Script — Gold Star Movie Awards (Newark, NJ)
• Best Feature Script / Screenplay — Gona Film Awards — WINNER
• Best First-Time Scriptwriter — Horror Bowl — WINNER
• Best Debut Script Writer — Red Dragon Creative Awards (Dallas)
• Best Plot — Adbhooture Film Festival
• Best Villain / Award Winner — Frights! Camera! Action! UK
• Award Winner — World Film Carnival Singapore + Virgin Spring Cinefest
• Quarter Finalist — The Script Showcase (Best 1st Time Writer Feature)
• Selected — Venice Shorts, New York Independent Cinema Awards, Montreal Independent, Horrors4You London
Full list in one-pager.

TEASE (public only):
Oct 15, 1968 — Scott Hask delivers his own son in backseat. Same night, deranged woman steals newborn Steven from nursery, chants in strange tongues, eyes flash solid black, curses him. Hospital covers it up.

1975 — Steven is 6, silent, odd, obsessed with fire. Mom was 3 months sober at birth, now drinking. Dad's plant closing. Sister embarrassed. Baby Heather screams near him. Bullied as "Creepy." Matches disappear. Learns fire step by step, movie → bird → haunted house at County Fair → County Fair fire that shouldn't have happened.

Halloween Night 1975 — hasn't hurt anyone yet that day, until a car crash. That crash is the trigger. That night's payback is family-focused. All practical fire — matches/fuel, no powers.

TONE/BUDGET: Slow-burn 1970s small-town horror. Contained (small town + hospital), $100K-$1M range. Practical fire only.

WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR: Producer, financing, or sales/distribution conversation for contained practical horror.

Attached: One-Pager v11 with full awards + 13x Award Winner banner.

— Barry

Barry, the contained setup and defined budget range are strong selling points for a project like this. I’d probably lead with those when approaching producers and use the awards as supporting validation. Are you looking to package STEVEN with a producer first, or are you already having financing conversations?

 

[BarryM]

Barry, the contained setup and defined budget range are strong selling points for a project like this. I’d probably lead with those when approaching producers and use the awards as supporting validation. Are you looking to package STEVEN with a producer first, or are you already having financing conversations?

Hi Michael, thanks for that, really appreciate the note.

You're exactly right, I'm leading with contained + budget ($100K-$1M, small town + hospital, practical fire only — matches/fuel, no VFX/powers) and using the 13x awards as supporting validation.

To your question: Looking to package STEVEN with a producer first ideally someone with contained horror / practical effects track record. No financing conversations open yet, keeping it offline for qualified producer packaging.

100p, WGAE Registered #I347110, script available for qualified review under NDA. One-pager + 13x banner + 2-page Zoltan package are attached in the thread above.

Open to DMs if you have packaging thoughts thanks again.

— BarryM