39 / 19,500 Directors in the DGA are Native American.
I would like to be # 40 and change this statistic.
DEREK QUICK
Writer, Director
Educate, Elevate, Entertain
Derek Quick (Negane Meno) is a multi award-winning Native American/Hispanic Writer, Director, Producer, and U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard Veteran with over 10 years of military service.
He is a member of the Ottawa tribe of Oklahoma and his grandfather Chuck Red Cedar Todd was the Chief of the tribe. Derek's films have screened at Academy Award and BAFTA Qualifying festivals around the world including Short Shorts Japan, Imagine Native, British Urban Film Fest, Hollyshorts, and Cannes with the American Pavilion.
Derek's Film Kommando 1944 a WWII film about the Japanese Americans in Internment camp in Manzanar California won over 160 awards including Outstanding World War II Short Film winner at the 2019 Spielberg's Band Of brothers film festival, won two Telly awards for best director and best diversity film. He also won two Remmy awards for best director and best drama short film at the World Houston festival.
Educated at The American Academy Of Dramatic Arts and the New York Film Academy, Derek brings a disciplined, educated approach to his art. His involvement with the Writers Guild Veterans Foundation and the Native American Media Alliance Feature Writers Program, supported by giants like NBC Universal and Netflix, marks his dedication to the craft of screenwriting.
His screenplays have been featured on the Blacklist website's top screenplays and have won and have advanced in numerous festivals in 2023.
Derek writes with the aims of educating, elevating, and entertaining. Drawing from his varied background, he specializes in crafting underdog stories featuring diverse and intriguing characters across many genres and formats.
Derek is also an active stock investor running his own fund since 2006 and was in third place in the world stock investing championship against active professional hedge funds in 2023.
Features
tv pilots
Title: Rez Nation
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Logline: In the wake of a catastrophic Halloween rave on her reservation, a Native American DJ must fight to protect her tribe against a virus that turns attendees into savage killers.
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Comps: The Crazies meets Prey
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Genre: Horror, Drama, Thriller
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Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: 93 Pages, A refreshing take on the Horror genre with Native American leads, writer & director.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- BIPOC- BLUMHOUSE, A24, LIONSGATE, NETFLIX, NEW LINE CINEMA, UNIVERSAL, SKYDANCE, 20TH CENTURY FOX, WARNER BROS, FILM NATION ENTERTAINMENT.
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Updates: -Black List Top List, December 2023 - New Draft
- Completed via the Native American Media Alliance Feature writers program- November 2023- sponsored by NBC Universal, Netflix, A&E.
-Semifinalist, StoryPros -2023
-Quarterfinalist, Wescreenplay Feature writers lab 2024
-Quarterfinalist, SF Indie Film Festival 2024
-Quarterfinalist Outstanding screenplay awards 2024
-Quarterfinalist Emerging screenwriters 2024
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Black List Q4 2023 - Reader Quotes
"REZ NATION is highly commercial -- it's not difficult to imagine the film reaching the screen relatively painlessly.
Horror remains an increasingly popular genre, and this particular narrative stands to attract a serious creative team."
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Teaser Trailer
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"The production design here is exceptional, and the script's multi-sensory approach could attract a similarly virtuosic director. The casting opportunities are obviously exciting, especially as the industry's tiresome and historically exclusionary preferences are starting to improve. Additionally, the writer could conceivably carve out a solid horror career for themselves with REZ NATION as a versatile showpiece."
"The craft here is very powerful, and there would likely be a host of active assignments/adaptations on which it could be deployed."
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"REZ NATION is the product of some real showmanship. The fierce economy is unrelentingly propulsive (fitting for a film about an EDM DJ), and this writer knows exactly how to enter a story and exactly when to leave."
"The sense of place and atmosphere is a triumph -- rather than a hack gimmick, the reservation is granted an immersive seriousness that is the stuff of a production designer's dreams.
This combination of evocative setting and striking soundtrack creates a very modern result, and setting the bloodbath against a sea of literal Halloween costumes allows for some provocative and troubling juxtapositions of imagery and gore.
Though not overly serious, REZ NATION does take its premise seriously. Lesser authors would be tempted to cave and inject some embarrassed gags into the narrative, but this script holds fast."
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"The focus on Indigenous characters is obviously a welcome corrective, and doing so in the context of a classic genre rather than a drama is refreshing. The final moment is electrifying, a strong response to the nightmarish collection of images and social themes that have preceded it."
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Title: Maid To Steal
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Logline: A struggling Black church cleaner, grappling with a custody battle, plots to rob a megachurch for a shot at a better future with her daughter. Venturing into a risky criminal world, she establishes a cleaning company as a cover to launder money and conduct church heists with her team of immigrant workers.
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Comps: Breaking Bad meets Good Girls
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Drama, Heist / Dark Comedy
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Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: 59 Pages, based on Derek's personal connection as a working homeless veteran church cleaner during the global financial crisis in Texas.
Hour Long TV Pilot.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- 59% of the big studios are looking for this project.
BIPOC- NETFLIX , HBO, TYLER PERRY STUDIOS, ONYX AMAZON, HULU, FX , PEACOCK, AMC, ROKU, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC
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Updates: New draft - November 2023. Brad Wyman attached- Monster Oscar® Winner 2003.
-Coverfly Top 1% in Genre/Format.
-Red List: #1 All Time Genre-
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In 2023-2024 Won or have placed in
(From early drafts)
-Officially included Coverfly Pitch week 2024.
-Winner Creative Screenplay competition 2024
-Top 10- Filmmative TV Pilot 2023
-Semifinalist, ScreenCraft Film Fund Fall 2023
-Finalist WriterXWriter
-Semifinalist Screencraft Pitch fest 2024
-Quarterfinalist, PAGE International 2023
-Finalist, Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards - Diversity Initiative III
-Semifinalist WritersXWriters 2023
-Quarterfinalist Titan Awards 2024
-Semifinalist Outstanding Screenplay TV Pilot 2024
-Second Rounder Launch Pad Pilot Competition 11th Annual
-Quarterfinalist, Final Draft - Big Break 2023
-Quarterfinalist Vail Film Festival
-Semifinalist, StoryPros Awards - 2023
-Semifinalist, Creative screenwriting 2023
-Semifinalist Big Apple Film fest 2023
-Quarterfinalist Filmatic Inroads fellowship S6
-Finalist, Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Fest 2023
-Semifinalist, Scriptmatix 2024
Proof Of Concept Trailer Below:
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Derek's writing stats:
2023
--Completed 3 new features.
--Completed 3 new Pilots.
--Completed 3 new shorts.
--Placed or won in 25 of the top writing contests in 2023 with earlier drafts.
--His new short (Camping) premiered at multiple Academy Award and BAFTA qualifying film festivals in 2023.
--Rez Nation feature on the Top ranked scripts on the Blacklist website.
--Completed the NBC Universal sponsored Native American Feature writers program.
--Accepted into the Writers Guild Veterans program.
Derek's goals for
2024
--Find representation that has the same goals.
--Finish 2 new features.
--Finish 3 new pilots.
--Pitch and Sell a Spec.
Future Big Goals
--Write & Direct Nintendo's Live Action TV series - Metroid.
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--Write for Stranger Things a 1990's sequel.
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Derek lives near Portland Oregon now but will fly to Los Angeles at a moments notice for a meeting.
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Title: Donor
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Logline: After a U.S. Navy SEAL goes AWOL to donate his kidney to his critically ill wife during Christmas, he finds himself a fugitive, pursued by relentless military police. The stakes soar when, post-surgery, his wife is kidnapped by a billionaire in the illegal organ trade, facing a threat from a U.S. aircraft carrier hunting his submarine. In a race against time the seal is forced into a dire choice — sink the carrier docked in port for Christmas or his wife will be denied the life-sustaining anti-rejection medication she urgently needs to live.
Comps: John Q meets John Wick - The classic holiday heroism of Die Hard.
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Thriller, Action, Drama
Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: Connections-Based off Derek's time in the military, having a Navy Seal contract and his wife needing a life saving kidney transplant.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- BIPOC- LIONSGATE, THUNDER ROAD PICTURES, PARAMOUNT PICTURES, NETFLIX, MGM, AMAZON STUDIOS, FILM NATION ENTERTAINMENT.
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Updates: Currently writing - December 2023.
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Title: J-Com Man - BNF
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Logline: Inspired by the true events of (BNF) Takashi Kotegawa, a Japanese day trader who turned $12,000 into hundreds of millions in the early 2000's, this series captures his monumental overnight trade that earned fifteen million and incited the fury of the Yakuza gangs of Japan.
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Comps: Tokyo Vice meets Billions
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Crime, Thriller
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Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: 60 Min pilot. Connections- Based off Derek's connection to the stock market and the documentary he made on Takashi Kotegawa aka BNF.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- 59% of the big studios are looking for this project.
HBO/MAX,NETFLIX, AMAZON, PARAMOUNT+, HULU, PEACOCK, STARZ, ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC.
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Updates: Treatment- 1st draft Q1 2024.
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Title: Tides Of Liberty
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Logline: BASED ON A NEVER BEFORE SEEN TRUE STORY.
A Black Union Army veteran leads his all-black life-saving crew through perilous rescues at sea, combating both nature's deadliest storms and deeply-rooted racial prejudices, forever altering the course of maritime history.
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Comps: Glory meets The Perfect Storm
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Drama, Action, Period 1890's
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Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: Based off Derek's history as a U.S. Coast Guard lifesaver: Based on the true events of the all black Pea Island Lifesaving crew.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- BIPOC - A LIST ATTRACTION, DISNEY, UNIVERSAL PICTURES, AMAZON STUDIOS, APPLE TV.
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Updates: December 2023 - Treatment.
Writing -End of Q1 2024 first draft.
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Title: Z Machine
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Logline: With the clock ticking towards Y2K, a Japanese American girl delves into her family's atomic past, uncovering a government conspiracy that threatens her life and the fate of the world.
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Comps: Stranger things meets Oppenheimer with a touch of Back To The Future - set in 1999.
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Sci-FI, Drama, Thriller
Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: Treatment, 1st Act. Hour Long TV Pilot. High Concept.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- 41% of the big studios are looking for this project.
NETFLIX, AMAZON, PARAMOUNT+, ONYX, FX , PEACOCK, ROKU, CBS, NBC.
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Updates: Treatment - Act one - Writing next act Q2 2024.
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Title: Surfmen Of The Pacific
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Logline: A Native American young man joins the U.S. Life-Saving Service to conquer the deadly and treacherous waters of the Pacific Northwest, aiming to save his Chinook tribe from forced relocation to reservations at the turn of the century.
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Comps: The Last of the Mohicans meets The Perfect Storm.
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller, Period 1890's
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Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: 91 Pages, Script -Connections- Based off Derek's connection to the U.S. lifesaving service having been only one of the few Native American surf crewman and Engineers in the U.S. Coast Guard.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- BIPOC- DISNEY, UNIVERSAL PICTURES, AMAZON STUDIOS, APPLE TV.
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Updates: Next new full draft Q1 2024.
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Title: Rez Nation - Pilot 1Hr
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Logline: In the aftermath of a cataclysmic Halloween rave on her reservation, a Native American DJ finds herself thrust into a harrowing role of leadership. As a mysterious virus rapidly transforms attendees into savage killers, she must unite and guide her tribe in a world suddenly thrown into chaos.
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Comps: The Last Of Us meets Dark Winds
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Horror, Drama
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Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: 60 Pages, A refreshing take on the horror genre with Native American leads, writer & director.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- 41% of the big studios are looking for this project.
BIPOC- NETFLIX, AMAZON, HULU, FX , PEACOCK, AMC.
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Updates: November 2023- Completed via the Native American Media Alliance writers program- sponsored by NBC Universal, Netflix, A&E.
-Top 10 Creative Screenwriting Unique voices 2024
-Semifinalist Screencraft Pitch fest 2024
-Semifinalist Filmmatic Horror Screenplay Awards 2024.
Quarterfinalist Story Pros.
-Quarterfinalist, Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition 2024
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Title: The Drone Ranger
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Logline: In a quest to cover his grandmother's medical bills, a reclusive Native American gamer levels up to Army drone operator, where an accidental clash with terrorists propels him toward a shot at heroism or game over.
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Comps: War Dogs meets 21 Jump Street
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Genre: Thriller, Drama, Dark comedy
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Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: Treatment
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Studio Mandates: 2023- BIPOC- SONY PICTURES, PARAMOUNT PICTURES, 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS, NETFLIX, ENDEAVOR CONTENT, FILM NATION ENTERTAINMENT, BAD ROBOT.
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Updates: 1st Act, Writing 2nd Act Q4 2024.
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Title: Guardians Of The Pacific
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Logline: A Native American young man joins the U.S. Life-Saving Service to conquer the deadly and treacherous waters of the Pacific Northwest, aiming to save his Chinook tribe from forced relocation to reservations at the turn of the century.
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Comps: The Last of the Mohicans meets The Perfect Storm.
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Drama, Action, Period 1890's
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Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: 52 Pages, script -Connections- Based off Derek's connection to the U.S. lifesaving service having been only one of the few Native American surf crewman and Engineers in the U.S. Coast Guard.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- 32% of the big studios are looking for this project.
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BIPOC- ONYX- OPRAH, APPLE TV+, PARAMOUNT+, NETFLIX , EPIX, AMAZON, FX, PEACOCK.
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Updates: December 2023- Full Draft update.
-Finalist Story Pros Q4-2023.
-Quarterfinalist, Atlanta Film Festival
-Quarterfinalist, Emerging Screenwriters Screenplay Competition 2024
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Title: Ride Home 2030
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Logline: In a near-future where AI-driven ride share dominate the streets, a black single mother's routine journey home escalates into a desperate quest to protect her daughter and secure their last shot at a brighter future.
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Comps: Blade Runner 2049 meets Fruitvale Station
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Sci-FI, Drama, Live Action Short
Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: 9 pages, Based of a concept from Derek's film Camping.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- 55% of the big studios are looking for this project on a larger scale. Proof of concept currently for a series.
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Updates: --Just released on the festival circuit November 2023.
--Red List #11 Sci-fi short.
--Semi Finalist SWN Short film competition.
--Quarter Finalist Vail Film Fest 2023.
--Quarterfinalist- Outstanding Screenplays Shorts Competition 2023.
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The goal: This short is for a proof of concept for a high concept broad feature.
Blade Runner 2049 meets Fruitvale Station- About the dangers of AI, where humans will eventually stand as things progress.
Title: Tides Of Liberty
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Logline: A Black Union Army veteran leads his all-black life-saving crew through perilous rescues at sea, combating both nature's deadliest storms and deeply-rooted racial prejudices, forever altering the course of maritime history.
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Comps: Glory meets The Perfect Storm
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Request Script: Click Here
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Genre: Drama, Action, Period 1890's
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Writer: Derek Quick
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Details: Based off Derek's history as a U.S. Coast Guard lifesaver: Based on the true events of the all black Pea Island Lifesaving crew. Hour Long TV Pilot.
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Studio Mandates: 2023- 32% of the big studios are looking for this project.
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BIPOC- TYLER PERRY STUDIOS, ONYX- OPRAH, APPLE TV+, PARAMOUNT+, NETFLIX , EPIX, AMAZON, FX , PEACOCK.
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Updates: Treatment - 1st Act- Writing next Act Q1 2024.
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